NFPA 2001, NFPA 12A, and ISO 14520 now all require an enclosure integrity test as part of the acceptance procedure for all clean agent systems, including all halocarbon and inert gas agents.

The Enclosure Integrity Test measures the size of holes in the enclosure using a door fan to pressurize and depressurize the room at 10 Pa and 50 Pa. Knowing the pressure inside the enclosure, the pressure across each wall, and the flow through the door fan to maintain the enclosure pressure, a computer calculates the gas retention time.

The test goal’s caculate three values.
- Measuring and calculating the Equivalent Leakage Area (ELA) in Enclosure
- Calculating the gas quantity duration of protection (Retention Time)
- Determine that the enclosure has adequate venting to provide peak pressure relief as required by NFPA 2001 (2012 Edition) section 5.