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June 27, 2013

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Apreco Pressure Relief Systems

Apreco have been producing environmental air pressure control devices since the 1990s. Synonymous with excellent build quality and customer service of the highest order, we have continued to design and produce the products in the UK — something we are proud of.

Many articles have been written about pressure relief venting of enclosures protected by gaseous suppression systems in recent years, whether the suppressant has been an inert or clean agent. During this time, Apreco has continued to work with organizations and experts within the industry, evolving with the demands of the market.

The Apreco range of FSV and SGV vents are designed specifically for inert and chemical suppressant gas systems, respectively. So what have we done to arrive at the products we now produce, and why? Our practical experience is one reason for the designs, and working in the healthcare and fire industry sectors for many years has provided us with the knowledge used to produce the current product ranges we have today. These designs have been supported with testing both in-house and by third-party organizations.

Apreco test facility
Professional organizations like the FIA have produced documents such as “Guidance on the pressure relief and post discharge venting of enclosures protected by gaseous fire fighting systems,” which are very welcome. But who regulates the suppliers to the industry, and should there be a standard to which pressure relief vents should be product tested?

Click here to view Figure 1.

During recent tests in our own test facility, IG-55 was used to carry out comparative tests of vents and their associated equipment. The free vent areas calculated were based on the FIA calculations in the guidance document previously mentioned. We carried out discharge testing both of our own vents and those of others supplying the market. The tests results clearly show that not all vents perform equally, and claims made by some suppliers are overstated.

The results conclusively showed that the counterweighted vents perform significantly better than the top-hung gravity vents, which typically provide 40 percent less free vent area than stated in their manufacturers’ literature. The results also confirmed that the performance of Apreco’s market leader FSV vents, designed for the inert gaseous suppression systems and which feature Apreco’s patented VARI-centric(R) balancing system, is at the highest level and in accordance with supporting literature.

So, how much impact do vent accessories have on their performance? Basic accessories provide external weather protection or internal screening. Conventionally, internal screening is provided by eggcrate grilles, which have little effect on performance. External weather protection can be provided either by conventional fixed-blade weather louvres or by dynamic weather louvres, which are basically top-hung flaps. Both these types of weather protection cause a reduction in the free vent area of 15-20 percent. Claims by some suppliers that external weather protectors do not affect the effective free vent area do not stand up to scrutiny. Research and development at Apreco is ongoing in this product area.

Click here to view Figure 2.

The vents supplied into the industry for inert gaseous suppression systems have been evolving over many years and are now established as part of the extinguishing system requirement. The pressure relief vents for the clean agent suppression systems using FM-200(R) and Novec(TM) 1230 are still reletively new to the industry. During our latest round of discharge testing, Apreco’s SGV vent outperformed vents manufactured by other suppliers by a considerable margin, with the peak pressure differential using the SGV being 155Pa compared to 330Pa achieved by the next best competitor’s vent.

Apreco has a large range of fire resistant products suitable for applications such as pressurised stairwells and operating theatres where precision pressure control is required.

Further information on products and services is available at www.apreco.co.uk.

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