b.offshore carries out Door Fan Test for TenneT's offshore converter station
Room air-tightness tests for extinguishing gas systems (also known as Door Fan Tests) have been routine practice in the area of building engineering for a long time. b.offshore GmbH has now carried out such a test for the first time for approximately twenty rooms of an offshore converter station in the North Sea belonging to TenneT.
As is the case with many safety-relevant buildings that are equipped with extinguishing gas systems, proof of extinguishing gas retention time is also required. Whether in a museum, server room or military facility, the room air-tightness test – or Door Fan Test – is often carried out to check rooms for their air-tightness, thereby ensuring the safe use of the extinguishing gas system in an emergency.
Gas extinguishing systems can only extinguish fires quickly and reliably if the required concentration of the extinguishing gas can be maintained for at least ten minutes. This inspection must therefore be carried out regularly over the entire life cycle of an offshore converter station to ensure that any leaks are detected and sealed in good time. Once they have been located, leaks can usually be sealed quickly and easily.
The offshore converter stations in the North Sea are large-scale structures with highly complex equipment. They convert the three-phase current generated by the wind turbines into direct current so that it can be efficiently transmitted ashore.
One clear advantage of a Door Fan Test is the minimal impact it has on normal operations at the station, unlike the alternative test method of flooding the rooms with extinguishing gas. The high costs associated with using extinguishing gas are also avoided. The objective of the Door Fan Test is to prove that extinguishing gas systems function safely in the event of a fire.
"The positive test results that we achieved at HelWin beta are a very satisfactory outcome for our first Door Fan Test at an offshore converter station belonging to TenneT. We are confident that our process will enable us to test the functionality of extinguishing gas devices on offshore converter stations quickly, efficiently and with the lowest possible disturbance of work processes on site," said Thomas Pontow, Managing Director of b.offshore GmbH.
Extinguishing systems must function correctly to provide optimum protection against fires! – Structures located in the North Sea are no exception. HelWin beta. Copyright: TenneT
Measuring setup – Here is where b.offshore contributes their previous experience and the right equipment. Copyright: b.offshore GmbH