Fire Doors with Fire Dampers

[Dymalica]

I have a job where they are asking to change a room into a server room. They want to put a fire door and damper on the door with a fan to suck in conditioned air from the main conditioned area. Then the hot air in the server room will be exhausted through the top. Has anyone ever heard of this being done or why would you even do this? Wouldn't you suck in room space air? Which is around 70 to 72 degrees. Is there a manufacturer that makes these doors?

 

[Wareagl487]

Dymalica -

I've not heard of a fan in a fire rated door before (if that is what you meant), but grille manufacturers do offer fire rated door grilles.

As long as you have adequate cooling capacity in the adjacent space where the air will be drawn from, there is not a problem with doing it that way. I usually calculate a 10 degree delta T (85 degree server room temp is usually not a problem) drawing in conditioned air from an adjacent space then discharging it into the plenum space where it is picked up by the HVAC unit's return. The method you describe is the old school way. The majority of the time now I use a dedicated unit for the space - usually a cassette type is sufficient.

Andy W.

 

[RossABQ]

You could not provide enough cooling for a very large load thru a grille on a standard 36" door even if nearly the entire door was grille'd. Figure 50% free area on the grille, 7' door, 6" minimum frame on the door (around the grille), you're left with a 2' x 6' max grille. Say you push it to 700 fpm, that's right around 12.5 kW worth of cooling at a 10 deg. rise. Nowadays that is at most 2 cabinets' worth of cooling. Most server manufacturers want 68 - 72 air, too.

I doubt you can get a fire rating on a door that is that much grille, even if the grille has a rated fire damper.

 

[riskengr]

This would not be permitted by most fire codes, as there are limits to the type of harware and modifications that can be made on a rated fire door. Take a look at the IFC or the local fire code.

Stephen Haines, P.E.
Haines Fire & Risk Consulting

http://www.hainesfire-risk.com

 

[DonPhillips]

I think this is specifically addressed in Chapter 7 of the IBC.

Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com