Calculation Software A6V13696649 - en

Calculation Software for
Fire Extinguishing Systems

Equipped with the
FiWaRec® F212 Pressure Regulator (Siemens CDT NXN)
User Instructions
For Software Version 1.4
© VdS Schadenverhütung, October 2022

A6V13696647 User instructions for VdS calculation program Siemens CDT NXN V1.4, 2022-10-31 1
Table of Contents
I. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4
II. Quick start guide .............................................................................................. 6
1. New Project ...................................................................................................... 7
2. Entering the pipe layout .................................................................................... 7
3. Definition of Storage Parameters .................................................................... 19
4. Definition of the Protected Zone ..................................................................... 20
5. Hydraulic Calculation ...................................................................................... 21
6. Hydraulic Calculation Report ........................................................................... 26
III. Installation and Set-Up.................................................................................. 27
1. Download ....................................................................................................... 27
2. Installation ...................................................................................................... 27
3. License handling.............................................................................................. 28
4. Basic principles for handling the software ....................................................... 28
5. Default Values................................................................................................. 29
6. Catalogues ...................................................................................................... 30
6.1. Pipes .................................................................................................... 30
6.2. Valves................................................................................................... 31
6.3. Nozzles ................................................................................................. 32
IV. Working on a Project .................................................................................... 33
1. Creation or modification of a project ............................................................... 33
1.1. Project.................................................................................................. 34
1.2. Section Graphic .................................................................................... 35
1.2.1. Determining the sections ............................................................... 35
1.2.2. Input of the sections ...................................................................... 37
1.2.3. Isometric Drawing.......................................................................... 39
1.3. Section Table ........................................................................................ 41
1.4. Calculation Zones ................................................................................. 42
1.4.1. Volume and Surface (VdS 2380) ..................................................... 43
1.4.2. Pressure Vent Opening .................................................................. 43
1.4.3. Concentration ................................................................................ 43
1.4.4. Design quantity.............................................................................. 43
1.5. Storage, Discharge Time ....................................................................... 44
1.6. Nozzles ................................................................................................. 45
2. Calculation of a system ................................................................................... 45
3. Calculation Results .......................................................................................... 49
V. Limitations of the pressure regulator ............................................................. 50
VI. Vocabulary and abbreviations ...................................................................... 51
VII. Example ....................................................................................................... 52
1. Example data .................................................................................................. 52
2. Printout .......................................................................................................... 53
I. Introduction
Elementary for the optimal application of inert gas fire extinguishing systems are the hydraulic
equations connecting the technical data of the installation components (e.g. pipe diameters,
resistance coefficients of armatures) with the specific values of the extinguishing agent and the
physical situation within the installation during discharge (e.g. flow velocity, pressure in the pipes and
at the nozzles) and the balance equations that have to be fulfilled. The necessary data for the
installation such as discharge time, pipe diameters and nozzle diameters result from these equations.
Downstream of the FiWaRec® F212 pressure controller, a maximum pressure of 60 bar is established,
so that pipe qualities for lower pressures than the cylinder storage pressure may be used for the pipe
system downstream.
A model of the pressure regulator action is implemented in this software. The model was adapted to
and successfully validated against real measurements for a specific range of mass flow through a
single pressure regulator.
The VdS calculation program takes into account the phenomenon of the over-critical flow near the
nozzles, which is hydraulically difficult to handle.
The calculation program is able to calculate inert gas installations of very different constructions,
using your definition. Your definition of flooding zones, of the inert gas storage and of the pipe
system will be saved in data files (project files). You can change these parameters at any time and
carry out a new calculation with modified parameters. Also, you can change any of the pipe or nozzle
dimensions set by the calculation program, and do a re-calculation of the modified system to check
the effects on discharge time, gas distribution and pressures.
The results can be printed or visualized on the screen.
Special catalogue files contain the characteristic values of the components for the installation such as
selector valves, nozzles, and pipe types. Catalogues are provided with the software, containing the
nozzles (.noz), a generic selector valve (open-bore ball valve, .arm) and pipes (.rkl). Additional valves,
nozzles and pipes can be included by the user. NOTE: Each user has to ensure that the components
used in the calculation, match the hardware used in building the actual installation.
In addition to the calculation of the installation, the program issues lists including the lengths resp.
number of all the necessary components. The program also calculates reference values for the
required pressure relief opening as well as the oxygen concentrations after the discharge.
The VdS calculation program offers the following choices:
• Calculation of required inert gas quantities (according to various guidelines)
• Optimal dimensioning of inert gas systems (i.e. determination of pipe and nozzle drilling
diameters)
• Calculation of discharge time of an already designed inert gas installation
• Calculation of required pressure relief opening
• Calculation of approximate values for inert gas and oxygen concentrations after discharge
• Listing of components
• Isometric 3D view of pipe system
The program allows a simultaneous calculation of
• 21 calculation zones
• 999 pipe system sections
• 200 nozzles
Please note: This program is not suited to calculate installations using a restrictor plate to reduce the
pressure between gas storage and gas distribution pipe work.
Version numbers: A change of the first two numbers of the version number indicates that the
calculation module has been altered and that the calculation results can be expected to be different.
Modification of the third group of numbers indicates modifications of the user interface.
II. Quick start guide
After downloading and installing the software and transferring the license to your USB dongle, you
are able to launch the calculation program, using the link on your desktop. After the start of the
program, you are on the start screen:
This guide refers to the IG-100 (Nitrogen) version. The design concentration and cylinder filling will
be different with the other Inert Gases. For each Inert Gas Agent, please use the individual software.
1. New Project
To start a new project, click on the top-left icon. You can start a new project or open an existing one
at any time. However, only one project at a time can be edited, so you will be asked to save the old
project.
In the project screen, you can enter your project information. The only information relevant for the
actual system design (i.e. the calculation of the total flooding quantity) is the altitude above sea level,
the regulation to be used and of course the hardware catalogue files.
The next three steps are necessary, before the system can be calculated:
• The pipe layout must be entered
• The storage parameter and the target discharge time must be set
• The protected zones must be defined and the nozzles assigned
2. Entering the pipe layout

You can enter the pipe layout
- either in the form of a table (→ Tab Section table)
- or in the form of a isometric drawing of the layout (→ Tab Sections graphic).
The section table is the more versatile way of entering a pipe layout, while the isometric view is more
intuitive. For this quick start guide, we shall only consider the isometric view. Once you have
mastered this way, the section table can be easily understood.
At first, the isometric view is empty, except for a single node: the black dot labelled “1”.
Click on New section, the first icon in the second row (A). You will see an additional dot labelled “2”,
which is connected to the previous one by a red line, as well as the first cylinder, indicating that this
section 1-2 (the two nodes 1 and 2 and the pipe connecting the two) represents a manifold. To this
manifold all cylinders represented by the section 0-1 are connected. The pipe section is coloured red,
as this is the currently selected section. Its properties are shown in the table on the left. In the
section table the section selected here will also be highlighted.
To center your screen on any new point in the drawing, just double-click on it. Zooming in and out
will keep this center point. Rotation will however always be around the origin, the intersection of the
three light-blue axes.
You can now adjust the length of this section to be 2 meters and its pipe type. A new manifold will
automatically receive pipe type 30 (i.e. pipe class 3 and roughness 0). The diameter should remain 0,
as the program will later select a pipe size.
Then add the next section. The pipe is probably too long to fit into the window – you can zoom out
and reposition the view (double-click to center). For now click on to set a default view showing
the whole pipework.
If the pipe is drawn too long, you have two options: You can of course zoom out, but you can also
change the scale with which a specific section is drawn on the screen. That value is currently 2, which
is the default setting for a new section of 0.5m. You can change these default settings in the program
options. On top of the isometric drawing you find a button currently labelled “Custom Scale”. This
indicates that each section is drawn using its own specific scaling factor. Clicking on this button will
cycle through the following scaling options: Custom, Auto and Equal: With Auto Scale, all sections will
be scaled only according to their length, based on the default scaling settings. With “Equal Scale”, the
scaling factors of all sections will be set to 2. For now, select Auto-Scale by clicking the button once:
The new section is 2-3. It has inherited its pipe type from the previous section. This however is the
first section of the regular pipe type, so double-click at the pipe type cell and select pipe type 1,
“Medium class EN 10255-M”, roughness “galvanized”, so the pipe code is 11. Then set its length to
3m, which will make it appear shorter on the screen, because the Auto-Scale has adjusted the section
scaling to 0.2 after you have entered the new length. (Unless you select custom scale, you will not
see this value here).
Now add the next section, which will be section 3-4. The pipe type is 11 already, the same as
upstream. Set its length to 2m and orient it towards you. This will become one branch of a tee piece.
Add another section. The new section is 4-5. This shall become a nozzle section, so orient it in the
direction “down” and adjust its length if necessary. Then double-click at the end node number to
select the nozzle and the number of nozzle drillings from the nozzle catalogue. The first two digits of
the nozzle code have the following meaning: 21001 … nozzle type 2, 21001 … one nozzle drilling. The
last three digits can be chosen freely. You can ignore the text below the table for now. This will be
introduced at the end of this tutorial.
Select section 2-3 and add a new section. This new section will then use node 3 as its starting node,
and the resulting new section is 3-5. It is already oriented “back”, so you only need to set its length to
3m. This is now the second branch of the tee piece at node 3.
Add another section. The new section is 5-6. There will be a nozzle branch from node 5 down, but we
will first set up the rest of the piping. The new section is already oriented “back”, so you only need to
set its length to 5m.
Select section 3-5 again and add a new section. The new section is 5-7. This shall become a nozzle
section, so as before orient it in the direction “down” and adjust its length if necessary. Then double-
click at the end node number to select the nozzle and the number of nozzle drillings from the nozzle
catalogue.
Select Section 5-6 and add a new section. The new section is 6-7. This shall become a nozzle section
as well, so it will be the same procedure as before: orient it in the direction “down” and adjust its
length if necessary. Then double-click at the end node number to select the nozzle and the number
of nozzle drillings from the nozzle catalogue.
The three nozzles are automatically assigned to the one calculation zone, which the project started
with by default. In case you already have added additional calculation zones, you have to assign the
nozzles manually. You can check the assignment by clicking at the button “CZ”: The number of the
calculation zone assigned to the nozzle will be displayed below the nozzle. Similar overlays of other
pipe and nozzle information is available by the other three buttons on the left side of that row of
buttons.
If you need the tee at node 3 in a different orientation (e.g. the branch with the two nozzles should
be a straight tee outlet), you can uncheck “Rotate selected section only”, so that – if you select
section 2-5 and rotate it in the horizontal plane (give it a different orientation) – the whole branch
downstream of and including section 3-5 will rotate.
Check this option again and orient the pipe back to its original direction, to see the difference: only
the currently selected section will rotate.
Please note that the program will not check if the Branches of a tee are in the same plane, i.e. the
above configuration will not generate an error.
There are two more tools for entering the pipework: You can insert an additional node in any section;
it will be placed in the middle of the section: Select Section 1-2 and click at “split the current section”:
The new sections 1-7 and 7-2 will have the same total length, the same pipe type and the same
diameter as the original section 1-2. This means in this case you may have to adjust the pipe code of
section 7-2.
Adding an additional manifold to join at node 7 is done as follows: enter the manifold like you would
do it for any regular pipe branch: Select section 1-7, add a section, orient it, assign it a length, then
add another section orient it parallel to the first manifold and assign a length to it:
Then simply enter 0 as the end node, and the program will add the cylinder section and convert this
branch into a manifold (reversing the start and end node of the sections, therefore reversing the flow
direction).
Please note that the pipework must maintain a tree structure: with the cylinders as the roots, the
nozzles as the leaves and a single trunk in between. Mixing Manifolds and nozzle branches is not
allowed.
Finally, you can rename nodes and reconnect pipe branches by entering new or existing node
numbers: select section 5-6 and enter 2 as the start node: the branch will reconnect to node 2.
If you instead enter a node number, which is not yet in use, this will rename this node to the new
node number, e.g. change the start node of the section to 45 will give this result:
Renaming a node is possible using both starting and end nodes, whereas re-connecting is only
possible with start nodes. This is different to older versions of this program as well as other VdS
calculation programs, where this was essential for entering multiple manifolds.
The above pipe layout will give an error, because the end node of the “trunk” section 7-45 is a tee, so
before the calculation we shall reconnect this section to node 5 as it was before.
3. Definition of Storage Parameters
The program needs to know how the gas is stored and how long the discharge time shall be. Both
parameters are set in the storage screen. Let’s assume the following storage parameters:
80Liter/300bar cylinders, filling temperature 15°C, storage temperature 21°C, discharge time 120s
(e.g. server room). The supplement factor according to VdS depends on the number of cylinders
required for the design quantity. This will be set automatically unless you actively choose a specific
value. Please note, that the storage pressure is entered as absolute pressure.
You can choose from the standard nominal cylinder sizes and pressures available in your product
range. If you have different cylinders, you can also enter their data manually here. If you do so,
please note that there may be a small discrepancy between the nominal cylinder volume and the
actual cylinder volume required to store the nominal amount of gas at the nominal filling
temperature and pressure. This has several reasons: actual cylinders are allowed some tolerance to
their exact volume, and the nominal volume is accounting for that. Also, gas blends have
intermolecular interactions, only some of which are modelled, so IG55 and IG541 will show slightly
larger differences to the nominally expected values.
There will be a reminder, if you try a calculation without having selected a nominal cylinder volume:
You can choose to continue anyway – the program will then use the values you have entered.
4. Definition of the Protected Zone
Finally, we need to specify the gas quantity to be discharged. This quantity is calculated by the
program in the Calculation Zone Screen – depending on the regulation specified and the parameters
of the room to be protected.
The zone is called a calculation zone and not a protected or flooded zone: With this program, you
can divide the protected zone into up to 21 calculation zones. The program will calculate the design
quantity separately for each calculation zone and distribute the gas equally among all nozzles
assigned to the same calculation zone. For example, you can divide your protected zone into the
three calculation zones Floor, Room and Ceiling, each of which has to have their own nozzles
assigned and each of which will very probably require a different part of the total design quantity,
and thus a different quantity per nozzle. Another way of looking at this is that you create groups of
nozzles by setting up the calculation zones.
The input fields on this screen adapt to the regulation selected back in the Project Screen. Please
refer to the regulation selected for the input data required.
Other regulations than VdS will have different requirements for extinguishing or design
concentrations. In many cases there is just a minimum concentration specified by the regulation. In
those cases, the program will inform about this value and provide a button to set the concentration
to the minimum value. If you have entered a concentration lower than the minimum concentration,
there will be a warning about that.
For this test project, we will assume the following: Regulation VdS 2380, design concentration for
computer installations (L), room dimensions: 14x4x3m³ (K), design temperature 20°C.
The expected final concentration in the zone is significantly higher than the design concentrations,
which has several reasons:
• There may be supplemental quantities required by the regulation
• You can only use an integer number of cylinders for storing the required quantity
• The expected final concentration is considering altitude and temperature corrections, even if
the regulation may not require or allow this for the calculation of the design quantity.
5. Hydraulic Calculation
Now that everything has been set up, we can start the calculation:
The program will now check the project and ask you to confirm any issues, such as altitude above sea
level or the number of cylinders specified so far:
If you forgot to move section 45-6 and connect it again to node 5, you will receive an error message
reminding you of the tee at the end of the trunk section (node 45).
There are various options to control, how the pipes and nozzles shall be dimensioned:
Only pipe sections, which you have set to a diameter of zero will be affected, i.e. all from our
example.
The central control item for setting the pipe dimensions is the design flow velocity: A higher value
will let the program use smaller pipe sizes, at the expense of higher pressure losses in these pipes.
A high pressure loss in the pipes can be problematic, especially in larger systems, because then the
flow is controlled more and more by the pipes and less and less by the nozzles. That way it will
become increasingly hard to adjust the nozzle outputs by just varying the nozzles drillings. Therefore,
there is the second control item, the minimum nozzle pressure, which is entered as a ratio: 60%
means that the pressure has dropped by at most 40% due to pipe friction: e.g. from a manifold
pressure of 40 bar to a nozzle pressure of 24 bar. This will allow for some control remaining for
modifying the nozzle drillings.
If you go with these default settings, most calculations will run, but there may be cases in which
extending these limits will work fine and save pipe diameters or will allow to dimension a system not
feasible otherwise.
The remaining check boxes will help you to reduce the number of different pipe and nozzle sizes,
usually at the expense of using the larger variants:
Enforcing constant pipe sizes will make sure that the pipe diameter will not increase in the direction
of flow. Different to liquefied extinguishing agents like CO2 in particular, which stay more or less at
the same density, expanding pipe sizes are useful for inert gas pipeworks. The pipe size must be
adjusted so that the flow velocity stays within the desired limits despite the pressure and the gas
density dropping due to friction losses. The solution offered by this option is to increase upstream
pipe diameters until the next tee branch, i.e. this will increase pipe sizes, even if smaller pipes would
be just fine.
Forcing equal pipe sizes to all nozzles in a calculation zone will mostly simplify the part list and the
installation of the pipework, again at the cost of using larger pipes. The largest pipe needed for any
nozzle will be used for all nozzles.
The calculation will then run until a nozzle pressure falls below 3 bar, which is the limit for the nozzle
calculation model. You can stop the calculation at any time by hitting Escape. In case all the discharge
times have already been calculated (displayed in the bottom right table), there are no disadvantages
to do that.
For larger systems or slower computers, you may consider running a draft calculation first. It will be
faster, i.e. you can quickly check the feasibility of a system, but you will need a precise, but slower
calculation at the end.
You can choose to be notified when the calculation is finished, in the form of a pop-up message and a
system sound.
After the calculation is finished, you can check the calculated pressures and flow velocities. You can
select to display only the manifold and the nozzles in the table on the left, allowing for a better
overview of the pressure losses in the system. You can also choose the time, for which the pressures
are displayed.
In this example project, the pressure losses do allow to try a different pipe dimensioning with a
higher flow velocity limit, e.g. 60m/s instead of the default 40m/s: Click at “Start Calculation”, enter
the new velocity limit, and you will find that some pipes are now smaller. The opposite may be
necessary for larger systems or for systems, which have a storage quantity only slightly larger than
the design quantity.
However, the pressure losses are now so high that the first attempt of dimensioning the nozzles was
not as successful: the discharge time is too long. The next step would now be a recalculation of the
system with some parameters adjusted. With larger systems and especially with more than just a
single calculation zone this is likely to happen even with the default design settings.
It will usually take a couple of iterative dimensioning and calculations to get a working system: You
can decide which way the program should try -- there are three main possible ways of action now to
get the system design working:
• Optimize pipe and nozzle diameters:
This is usually the best option when the gas quantities at the nozzles are not quite right, but
the nozzle pressures are still reasonably high, i.e. not lower than about ¾ manifold pressure.
The example is right on the border of this.
The program will re-dimension the pipes and nozzles, based on the discharge rates observed
during the recent calculation. If 2-4 iterations of this option do not improve things, try one of
the other two.
You can fix the pipe diameter of a section, so it will not be changed by this option, by clicking
at it in the “Fix” column of the table. The section will then be marked with a “√”:
• Recalculate with larger pipe diameters:

This is the option to choose when you observe high pressure losses in the pipework between
manifold and nozzles, maybe due to the program trying larger and larger nozzles but the flow
being restricted mostly by the high pipe pressure losses.
The program will make a new dimensioning attempt with a slightly lower flow velocity limit.
If the program is too cautious and slow in this, you can also manually set a lower flow: Select
“Start Calculation” in the top left corner and enter a value there in the calculation options
window.
Fixing a pipe diameter is also possible here, so pay attention if you have set pipe sections
with high pressure losses or high flow velocities as fixed: If you do not allow the program to
alter those, the recalculation may fail to give better results.
• Add one cylinder:
If the system fails due to the nozzle pressure dropping too low before the design quantity is
discharged and larger pipes are not desired or not helpful, adding one or more cylinders will
help to provide more energy to the system in order to propel the extinguishing gas through
the pipework.
The program will increase the number of storage cylinders by 1.
Adding a cylinder will reduce the flow rate through the individual pressure regulator, thus
increasing its outlet pressure, increasing gas density and decreasing the flow velocity and the
pressure losses throughout the pipework. Additionally, the duration of the phase in which
the pressure regulator can actively control the gas flow, is extended, so the maximum flow is
reduced even further. Consequently, pipes, nozzles and pressure vent may be reduced as
well.
A cost analysis is recommended for larger projects, in order to find an optimum between
higher cylinder costs and lower pipe and installation costs.
If the results are ok, you can close the calculation window and transfer the results to the project
("Close and transfer results to project"). Then you can start to modify them manually, if necessary,
e.g. for the following reasons:
• You can try to reduce the number of different pipe sizes, to simplify installation work,
especially if you did not use the calculation options forcing constant pipes or equal nozzle
pipes.
This can be done by changing the pipe sizes in the isometric view or in the section table,
section by section: In the isometric views, use the “+” and “-“ buttons or, if you are already in
the input field, hit page-up or page-down key or the left or right arrow key. In the section
table, select the section and use the “+” or “-“ key on your keyboard to quickly switch a pipe
diameter.
Another way would be to prepare a special pipe catalogue for this project, which would not
list the pipe sizes you wish not to be used. Then reset all the diameters to zero and let the
program find new pipe sized for the project. The program will choose only the pipe sizes
present in the catalogue.
• You can try to reduce the number of different nozzle drilling sizes, again simplifying
installation work.
• If you have made any modifications, you will of course have to repeat the calculation.
One final note: The more restrictions you apply on the program (e.g. by manually specifying too small
pipe sizes), the more difficult it will be to find a solution meeting all requirements, i.e. the calculation
might fail, reporting no discharge time. On the other hand, if the program fails to find a solution, try
to provide greater freedom by removing some restrictions: reset pipe sizes or nozzle drillings to zero
for the first dimensioning attempt or just mark them as not fixed when making the calculation.
6. Hydraulic Calculation Report
After clicking at Calculation Report: Preview, the calculation report will be displayed on your screen.
It has the following structure:
1) Project information: General information and error messages
2) Input data: Your input data
3) Calculation Results: The actual results, i.e. the designed system as it is to be evaluated
The points for you to take a closer look at are in part 3, Calculation Results:
• The calculated diameters of nozzle drillings and pipes. Maybe you would like to modify them
manually to have fewer different sizes. After modifying them, you of course have to repeat
the calculation to test the consequences on discharge time and agent distribution.
• The calculated discharge time. If it is greater than the discharge time set in the storage
screen, you will see an error message. It should be ok after this first run, but it may become
too great after you manually change some diameters.
Please note that the discharge time is evaluated for each calculation zone. If the discharge
times differ greatly, there is probably a problem with the discharged quantities: The
calculation zone with the shortest discharge time will receive more gas than required, during
the overall discharge time, and vice versa.
• The remaining Oxygen concentrations in the different calculation zones
• The part list: the different pipe diameters and the amount they are used
III. Installation and Set-Up
1. Download
The VdS software installation package is provided via the Siemens STEP Asset Portal.
Additionally, the Codemeter Runtime Kit is required to properly access the USB dongle containing the
license. The CodeMeter User Runtime for Windows shall be downloaded directly from the manufac-
turer www.codemeter.de or https://www.wibu.com/support/user/user-software.html, respectively.
Please make sure that you have at least Codemeter Runtime version 7.21 installed.
2. Installation
Minimum technical requests for the installation of the program are a PC running on Windows 7TM or
higher. There is no online connectivity required for installing or running the program.
The installation is started by executing the downloaded files.
You have the option to do a complete installation or to select only some parts of the software for
installation, e.g. only IG-01.
By default, the software will be installed in “\VdS\CDT-NXN\” in your program files folder. If you
prefer to change this destination, just enter the desired path.
The program requires Administrator Privileges during its installation run, as it needs to modify the
access permissions to the installation directory, so the program can save the user information and its
configuration file to its installation directory, even if launched by a user without administrator
permissions.
During installation, program icons (IG-01 calculation etc.) are created on the desktop and in the
windows start menu in the folder “\VdS\CDT-NXN\”.
Two subdirectories will be created in the installation directory, COMP and PROJECTS. You can change
these folders in the Options dialog. The directory COMP contains the catalogue files with the
component data (→ III.6). The directory PROJECTS contains the project files (→ IV). You can delete
the subfolders in the Project directory without losing information about the projects. Those
subfolders and their content are required during the calculation only.
3. License handling
To run the software, a matching and valid license on a USB dongle connected to the PC is required.
As a reminder that the license will run out in near future, a message window stating the remaining
license duration will pop up at program start, if the expiry date is less than 40 days away:
“License expiry warning: The license for the user interface will expire soon. The following number of
days are left: 37”
Please follow separate instructions provided by Siemens to order and extend VdS Software for the
use with Sinorix™ dry extinguishing systems.
You can always check the state of your licenses via the CodeMeter WebAdmin: Either via this link:
http://localhost:22352 or this way: Click on the icon in your Task Bar to open the Codemeter
Control Center, then click on the button WebAdmin in the lower right corner:
You can find the expiration date and time in the column Valid Until. A value of n/a means that the
license has not yet been activated and therefore the expiry date has not yet been set.
The columns Unit Counter and Feature Map are not used. License Quantity is usually 1.
In contrast to other VdS calculation programs like CO2 or CDT-R, there is only a single license entry for
each CDT-NXN license, and not two.
4. Basic principles for handling the software

The handling of the program is WindowsTM-based including use of keyboard and mouse.
The main menu is located in the upper part of the window. It is supplemented by further options
depending on the active menu.
In addition to the menu in the upper part of the screen, once a project has been opened, there are
several tabs showing different information about the project, like “Project” (general information),
Isometry, Storage etc.
In most cases, you can find helpful information in the status line at the bottom of the window.
5. Default Values
After starting the program, you can access the menu FILES with the submenu OPTIONS.
Here you have the possibility to enter user-specific default values.
DIRECTORIES: You may define the default directories for program, projects and catalogues. For
example, you can select a network directory to share the projects and the catalogue files with your
colleagues or to access these files from different workstations:
DEFAULT VALUES: You may define some default values for the installations, which appear as
proposals in the corresponding input masks each time you create a new project file:
SCALE FACTORS: You may define default values for the scale factors used for auto-scaling the
isometric view of the system and their default lengths for which they apply.
6. Catalogues
To calculate installations, the program uses component parameters such as pipes, valves and nozzles
that are relevant for the calculation. These parameters are taken from the corresponding data files.
Additional valves, nozzles and pipes can be included by the user.
NOTE: Always ensure that the components used in the calculation, as well as the pipe sizes and the
nozzle drillings, match the hardware used for the actual installation.
In order to edit the catalogue data, the main menu offers you the menu CATALOGUES with
submenus PIPES, COMPONENTS and NOZZLES.
You have the possibility to change this data by modifying components, and to insert additional data
of new components to make them available for the calculation.
6.1. Pipes
In this context, the term pipe has a general meaning, also standing for hoses. The pipe classes offer
the possibility to provide four different gradings of internal pipe diameters, e.g. for all your pipe sizes,
for your different manifolds or for specific nozzle connections.
The left column is the actual inner diameter of the pipe, which is used for the calculation. In the right
column, you can enter a denomination for that pipe diameter.
You have the possibility to define several pipe catalogues. The pipe catalogues are indicated by the
file suffix .rkl, which will be added automatically upon saving the catalogue. In each project you may
only refer to one of the component files for pipes (i.e. 4 pipe classes). Please save the catalogue after
modifying it.
6.2. Valves
This program assumes the following setup at the cylinder bank:
- Cylinder Valve F230
- Flex Hose F105/106
- Check Valve F017
- Pressure Regulator F212
No additional cylinder valve information is required in this program (contrary to other VdS hydraulic
calculation programs you may be familiar with). For this program, the option to include valves in the
design only concerns selector valves. The catalogue installed along with the program already contains
a value for a full-bore ball valve to be used as a selector valve.
In the project file, such components are entered either with their resistance coefficient (0…99) or
with a code (100…999), which serves as a reference in the component catalogue. The program will
register values < 100 as a resistance coefficient and  100 as a code.
If you use the code instead of just a coefficient, the program can read both the coefficient and a
description from the catalogue, so the calculation report will also contain this information.
The resistance coefficients ψ need to be determined by measurements, using the continuity
equation and Bernoulli’s equation:
𝜋
𝒎̇ = 𝐴√2Ψ∆𝑝𝜌 = 4 𝒅2 √2𝚿∆𝑝𝜌
This means that for every resistance coefficient there is a specific diameter, which has to be used
for that section. For small resistance coefficients like those of full-bore ball valves used as selector
valves, this does not matter. They have no impact on the hydraulics of the system and are only
includes to mark their position in the pipe system.
You may create more than one component file under different names, similarly to the pipe
catalogues. The file suffix .arm as an indication for files containing components will be added
automatically. However, in each project file you may only refer to one of those component
catalogues.
Alterations to these files may be made in the same way as to component files with pipes.
6.3. Nozzles
Nozzles are represented in the program by a set of nozzle coefficients 𝑘1…3 , as described in VdS 2380
Annex I.2:
𝑘1 𝑘2 𝜋 2+𝑘
𝑚̇ = 𝑒 ×𝑝 × 3
𝑑𝑛𝑜𝑧𝑧𝑙𝑒 × 𝜌(𝑝, 𝑇) × 𝑤𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 (𝑝, 𝑇)
4
Pressure and temperature are referring to the conditions in front of the nozzle drilling (𝑚̇…mass flow
[kg/s], 𝑝…pressure [bar abs], 𝑇…temperature [°C], 𝜌…density [kg/m³], 𝑑…diameter [mm], 𝑤…velocity
[m/s], 𝑒 = 2.71828…).
Nozzle coefficients must always be determined by measurements. The number of drillings is specified
later in the project itself. Up to nine different nozzle types may be considered in one nozzle
catalogue.
Similar to the component catalogue, you can create several nozzle catalogues (with the ending .noz
being added automatically). In each project you may only refer to one of the nozzle catalogues.
Nozzle catalogues can only be edited when no project has been opened. Alterations to these files
may be made in the same way as to the component or pipe catalogue files. From inside a project you
can only access the nozzle catalogue for the purpose of selecting a nozzle from it.
IV. Working on a Project
1. Creation or modification of a project

For demonstration purposes, please see following Project.
The name of the project you are working on is indicated in the title bar of the window.
The project data is structured in the following way:
Project (→ IV.1.1): description of the project, selected catalogues, selected regulations for calculation
of the quantity
Section Graphic (→ IV.1.2): geometry of installation, data of each section of pipe system
Calculation Zones (→ IV.1.4): data of enclosure, design concentration, design quantity, maximum
overpressure in the zone, list of nozzles.
Storage (→ IV.1.5): description of the storage and the discharge time.
Section Table (→ IV.1.2): Input table for pipe data.

Nozzles (→ IV.1.6): List of nozzle drillings.
For installations with selector valves and different flooding zones, each of the flooding zones must be
entered and calculated as a separate project. Pipe sections that belong to other zones shall not be
entered.
1.1. Project
In this Project information screen, general information can be entered concerning the project and
required for the calculation:
• Optional: general information such as project No., building, object
• Description of the project
• Compulsory: The selection of catalogues with components data for the project. This
assignment may be changed later if necessary. Double-click with left mouse button to view
the list of available catalogues for selection.
• Altitude above sea level. The relevance of this value depends on the regulation rule that has
been chosen. The calculation methods described in the ISO 14520 and NFPA 2001 take into
account the altitude of the installation above sea level. For calculation according to the VdS
2380, the altitude must be taken into account if it is higher than 1000 m
(→ III.1.3 and VdS 2380 Chapter 2.2.1).
• Regulations: For the calculation of the design quantity and minimum storage quantity (not
for the dimensioning of the system), you may select between the following regulations: VdS
2380, ISO 14520, NFPA 2001, EN15004, APSAD R13.
1.2. Section Graphic
The information on the geometry of the installation may be entered or modified in the screens
Sections graphic (→ IV.1.2.3) and/or section table (→ IV.1.3).
The sort of required information and the way you enter them for each section do not depend on the
regulations you have selected in PROJECT.
1.2.1. Determining the sections
The pipe system shall be divided into sections. Each section shall be determined by a starting and an
end node, each of which are fixed by a node number.
Defining the node points
o All node points shall have different numbers.
Exception: In the starting section the cylinder must always be marked with the
common node number 0.
o The cylinders of one battery line are represented by the data of the most
unfavourable storage cylinder.
o The manifold of a battery line is represented by a pipe with two node points. The two
node points are the entrance of the most unfavourable cylinder and the manifold
exit.
o All nozzles are node points by definition (because they form the ends of sections).
They are identified by nozzle numbers (→ III.6.3).
o No section may exceed 20 m. Longer pipe sections must have node points at least
every 20 m.
o In addition to the above rules node points may be placed wherever they seem
necessary.
o A maximum of 999 sections and 200 nozzles cannot be exceeded.
o The node numbers do not have to be numbered continuously in the direction of
flow, though this is recommended to make the pipework easier to visualize. It is also
recommended to leave gaps between the numbers in the beginning, as to simplify
adding in nodes with matching consecutive numbers at a later point.
There are the following three types of pipe sections:
Starting sections
A starting section begins at the cylinder with the node point 0. Even if several storage cylinders are
connected to a manifold, only one starting section is required to represent all of them. The amount
of cylinders can be entered in the last column of the section table. After entering the data for the
manifold, the amount of cylinders will be shown in the isometric view automatically.
In the calculation, the cylinder battery will be represented by the most unfavourable cylinder
(longest flow way to the end node of the manifold). In case of more than one cylinder battery / more
than one manifold, all cylinder starting sections will have a starting node 0.
Nozzle sections
Nozzle sections are determined by a 5-digit code at the end node: KNXXX:
K … nozzle type, according to the nozzle catalogue selected
N … number of drillings per nozzle
XXX … the serial number of the nozzle in the installation
E.g. a nozzle with the code 12004 is a nozzle of type 1 with two drillings and the serial number 004.
Pipe sections
All other sections of the pipe system may be considered as pipe sections bounded by two node
points. There is a maximum length of 20m to a pipe section. If you wish to enter greater straight pipe
lengths, please place several sections of less than 20m length one after another.
Fittings
A Tee-piece is identified automatically by being a node connected to 3 other nodes or sections.
A Bend or Elbow is identified automatically by a change in direction of the two sections it connects
to. You can choose whether the upstream node of a section is a bend or elbow by double-clicking the
input field in the section table or in the table next to isometric drawing.
Tee-pieces with only one 90° downstream continuation shall be considered elbows.
Other Components
Other Components such as selector valves are entered as a component code referring to an entry in
the component catalogue or simply as a resistance coefficient for that component. Using a
component code is preferable, as the information from the component catalogue will be included in
the calculation report instead of just printing the resistance coefficient entered.
1.2.2. Input of the sections
For each pipe section, please enter the following data:
Starting node
The starting node is the beginning of the section. In case of a cylinder battery, the starting node for
the cylinder section must be 0. There must be as many cylinder sections as there are
batteries/manifolds. The section downstream the cylinder section is the manifold for that battery: A
manifold must not be connected to anything else but a single cylinder section at its starting node.
End node
The end node is the end of a section. Each end node must also be the starting node of one or two
sections, except for a nozzle section. There the end node must be a nozzle code.
Pressure Regulator
This only serves as information that the cylinder section contains the CDT-NXN / F212 pressure
regulator. Nothing can be entered.
Number of cylinders
This is only available for a cylinder section. By default, one cylinder is entered as the minimum. You
can leave this number as it is: At the start of the calculation this will be checked, and a suitable
number of cylinders will be proposed.
Length
The section length is the distance between the node points, i.e. the length of the pipe section.
On-screen scaling factor
This is a factor, which the section length is multiplied by before drawing the isometric view of the
system, unless you have selected Equal or Auto scaling.
Pipe Type
The pipe type is determined by a two-digit code of the format CR. The first digit C represents the pipe
class (C = 1…4) and second digit R represents the pipe roughness:
R = 0: smooth pipe (e.g. drawn) / hose
R = 1: galvanized steel pipe
R = 2: coated
R = 3: black pipe
Example: Pipe Type 23 means black pipe with diameter listed in pipe class 2.
Diameter
Here you may enter the actual internal diameter of the pipe. If you set the diameter to zero, the
program will select a pipe with a suitable diameter from the specified pipe class in the specified pipe
catalogue.
Note: you can quickly switch the pipe sizes to the next in the catalogue by using the keys Left/Right
(Isometry only) and PageUp/PageDown.
Bend/Elbow
For a bend enter 1, for an elbow enter -1. The bend/elbow is located at the start node. You can open
a dialogue window to choose this value visually by double-clicking.
Bends/elbows are entered automatically, based on the orientation of the sections. In the program
settings you can specify, whether the default type is “bend” or “elbow”.
Component coefficient:
This value refers to additional flow resistance coefficients, as entered in the component catalogue.
Here you enter either the resistance coefficient itself or the three-digit code as set in the component
catalogue. A double-click will open the component catalogue to choose from. Please note that no
further input is needed to select the cylinder valve or hose or check valve. This is hardwired in this
software.
Discharge quantity:
For this, the standard procedure should be to leave this value at [Auto]. The program will then
automatically distribute the design quantity uniformly among all nozzles in the same calculation zone
(→ IV.2). If you enter an inert gas quantity (unit: kg), the program will let this quantity be discharged
by the nozzle and distribute the remaining design quantity uniformly among those nozzles with no
such value specified. Enter “0” to reset this to [Auto].
Section orientation
Spatial Orientation of the pipe section in the room. This information is used for the isometric drawing
of the pipe system (Sections Graphic) and for automatically detecting any tee-pieces or
bends/elbows. The direction is: from start node to end node.
This setting is not available for cylinder sections. The cylinders are always considered standing
upright.
1.2.3. Isometric Drawing
On the left-hand side of the screen, you find the input

mask:
The upper part shows different buttons for working on
the installation. Information concerning the handling and
functions of the different buttons is shown in the bottom
line of the screen.
The first line of buttons may be used to change the
orientation and zoom level of the isometric drawing. Double-click in the isometric drawing to center
the view on that point.
Using the buttons in the second line, you may enter new sections and delete existing sections.
By pushing the buttons , , and you can toggle the display of the nominal diameters,
the length and the nozzle drillings and the assigned calculation zone in the isometric drawing. The
text for the nominal diameter has to be entered in the second column of the pipe catalogue. Note:
To edit the pipe catalogue you need to close the current project and access it via the menu in the
start screen.
The button will render a higher-quality isometric drawing, and differentiate the pipe diameters
by the line thickness of the sections. This is a bit slower, so you can disable it for larger pipe works.
The button will print the isometric drawing full-page into a pdf file. The program will
automatically select the most suitable orientation (landscape or portrait).
The button will generate a dfx file containing a line drawing of the pipework for import into CAD
software.
Under “Section No:” you can directly jump to a section by entering its section number and browse
through the sections one by one.
In the lower part, you will find information about the active pipe section.
On the right-hand side of the screen, the already entered part of the pipe system is shown as an
isometric drawing. The currently selected pipe section is coloured red.
For adding a new section, click . A new section will have a default length of 0.5m and inherit the
pipe class and direction of the upstream section, if possible.
You can split an existing section into two, i.e. insert a node in the middle of a section, by clicking .
This allows to easily add a Side-T-Branch. Note that this is not available in the section table.
For modification of an existing section, you have the following possibilities:
• Enter the number of the section under Section No., to select it or browse the sections using
the arrow buttons next to the section number field
• Left-click the section in the isometric view.
• Use the Section Table screen (→ IV.1.3).
If you enter the data for a pipe section, general information will be presented in the status bar. For
some input field, further information or catalogues can be accessed by double-clicking the field:
• End node: Nozzle catalogue
• Pipe type: Pipe catalogue (only the pipe code will be affected)
• Diameter: Pipe catalogue (both pipe code and diameter will be affected)
• Components: Component catalogue
• Bend/Elbow: Dialog window to choose between bend and elbow
You can hit the plus [+] or minus [-] keys to quickly increase or decrease the pipe sizes by one step.
The direction of a pipe section may be selected from the list on the left-hand side of the screen. Only
90°-angles are possible. The program uses this information to identify bends/elbows or Tee-pieces.
The scale factor modifies the size in which the current section is drawn, to provide a better overview.
The scale factor has no influence on the calculation of the system. You can quickly switch between
equal scaling of all sections and auto-scaling the sections according to the table in the program
options by using the button on top of the drawing. When you change any scale factor manually, the
button will show “Custom Scale”. Clicking on it will again toggle between equal, auto and custom
scale.
1.3. Section Table
The Section Table screen provides a table for the input of the pipe system without showing the
isometry at the same time. It allows direct access to any property of any section. Each row
corresponds to a pipe section. The section market with “->” after its section number is the one
currently selected in the isometric view. Selecting a different section here will also change the
selection in the isometric view.
The section table is automatically sorted whenever it is updated. The sorting can also be triggered by
pressing .
You can reset the pipe diameters of all sections by pressing to enforce a new dimensioning
attempt during the next calculation of the system. The same can be done by manually setting the
section to a diameter of 0 or by un-fixing them in the calculation window.
If a section is selected, which has a tee as its start or end node, all other instances of the tee nodes
are highlighted by indenting the node number, such as node 7 in the example above.
For the columns End node / Nozzle, Pipe code, Diameter and Component, the corresponding
catalogues can be accessed by double-clicking the field.
There are several ways to add a new section in here:
• Click at the button New Section
• Press Crtl+Insert
• If the checkbox “allow new sections” is selected:
o Move to the last row in the table and press Down
o Move to the last row and the last column and press Down, Right, Tab or Enter
1.4. Calculation Zones
You may divide a flooding zone into calculation zones – there is a maximum of 21 calculation zones.
Calculation zones can be added or removed using the two icons left of "Select the calculation zone".
In the calculation zones, all the information required by the regulation used to calculate the gas
quantity has to be entered: solid geometry, required concentration, room temperature, highest
admissible overpressure in the enclosure. You also have to assign nozzles to the calculation zones, so
the program can determine the different nozzle quantities.
The layout of this screen may differ between the regulations, because the requirements differ
slightly. Based on the data entered and the rules set by the regulation selected (in the project
screen), the design quantity and the storage quantity are calculated.
When designing pipe and nozzle diameters, the program will assume the goal that the gas is to be
distributed equally among the nozzles assigned to a calculation zone. If you have explicitly specified
nozzle discharge quantities, then the remaining gas will be equally distributed among the remaining
nozzles. Manually specifying nozzle quantities should be done with care to avoid poorly balanced
discharges.
On the following pages, you will find further information on the data to be entered.
1.4.1. Volume and Surface (VdS 2380)
In order to describe the calculation zone, you enter data for the geometry of the calculation zone and
the temperature at the beginning of the discharge in the calculation zone.
When the regulation VdS 2380 is selected, the surface of the protection zone will be considered. The
button opens a calculator for the calculation of volume and surface area of a cuboid room.
There you can also enter the common surface area with adjacent calculation zones there, so that will
subtracted.
1.4.2. Pressure Vent Opening
The program calculates the required pressure relief opening from the entered highest admissible
overpressure of this calculation zone, assuming a total flow resistance coefficient of the pressure
vent. Please ask the manufacturer of the pressure vent for the actual value. In case additional devices
are mounted or if a duct is used, a separate hydraulic calculation of the assembly or the duct is
required. The maximum mass flow to be used for this calculation can be found in the calculation
report, next to the recommended pressure relief opening.
1.4.3. Concentration
The calculation of the design concentration depends on the regulation selected, i.e. the values of
extinguishing concentration and scaling, design and supplemental factors. Please refer to the
regulations for details.
Using VdS 2380 the menu offers the possibility to select the extinguishing concentration for different
materials and special equipment from tables. If you select an extinguishing concentration, scaling and
design factors are selected automatically. Their input fields will then be locked or hidden.
1.4.4. Design quantity
The design quantity is calculated using the following data
• Protected zone: volume, (surface area), temperature
• Design concentration (→ IV.1.4.3)
• Altitude above sea level (→ IV.1.1)
• Number of Tee-branches entered (NFPA2001)
according to the regulation selected on the project screen.
The minimum storage quantity is the design quantity of all zones multiplied by the supplement factor
(→ IV.1.5).
1.5. Storage, Discharge Time
On the Storage screen, the parameters of the gas storage and the discharge time are entered. If you
choose a cylinder size and pressure other than the standard nominal ones please note that the actual
values will differ slightly from the nominal values.
Storage temperature
As temperature of the gas storage, you enter the lowest expected temperature at the storage place
of the gas quantity. In case of unfavourable conditions, the temperature should be reduced (e.g.
influence of winter). The program calculates the cylinder pressure based on this temperature. The
design of the installation and the calculation of the discharge time are based on this pressure.
Supplement factor
This factor allows increasing the stored quantity. By default, the program will select the value
automatically, based on the regulation and the number of cylinders required for the design quantity.
Discharge time
The target discharge time. This is not the discharge time to be evaluated according to the regulation.
Instead, the target discharge time is used by the program to design pipe and nozzle diameters. The
program will then run a simulation of the system, and only the discharge time resulting from this
simulation is the important one for evaluating regulation conformity. Due to the nature of the
automatic design process, this calculated discharge time usually differs from the target discharge
time in some extent.
If the calculated discharge time is greater than the target discharge time, an error will be reported.
1.6. Nozzles
This menu shows a list of all the nozzles within the installation and their drillings.
You may modify these values manually, to test diameters close to the calculated ones and to
calculate the discharge time and gas distribution resulting from these modifications. The button
Round nozzle diameters will round the drilling diameters to the nearest 1/10th millimeter.
The button in the icon bar on top of the window will reset all the nozzle drillings to zero, so they
will be re-dimensioned in the next calculation. There is no way in the calculation windows to do this
like there is for the pipe diameters.
2. Calculation of a system
After clicking on or selecting the menu CALCULATION, you can specify how the dimensioning of
the system should be attempted by the program:
The design flow velocity is the central control value for setting the pipe dimensions: A higher value
will let the program use smaller pipe sizes, at the cost of higher pressure losses in these pipes. A high
pressure loss in the pipes can be problematic, especially in larger systems, because then the flow is
controlled more and more by the pipes and less and less by the nozzles. It will become increasingly
hard to adjust the nozzle outputs by just varying the nozzles drillings. Therefore, there is the second
control value, the minimum nozzle pressure, which is entered as a ratio: 60% means that the
pressure has dropped by at most 40% due to pipe friction: e.g. from a manifold pressure of 40 bar to
a nozzle pressure of 24 bar. This will allow having some control left to modifying the nozzle drillings.
If you go with these default settings, most calculations will run, but there may be cases in which
extending these limits will work fine and save pipe diameters or will allow to dimension a system not
feasible otherwise.
The remaining two check boxes will provide a result in which fewer different pipe sizes are used:
Enforcing constant pipe sizes will make sure that the pipe diameter will not increase in the direction
of flow. Different to liquefied extinguishing agents like CO2 in particular, which stay more or less at
the same density, expanding pipe sizes are useful for inert gases pipe works. The pipe size must be
adjusted so that the flow velocity stays within the limits despite the pressure and the gas density
dropping due to friction losses. The solution is to increase upstream pipe diameters until the next tee
branch, i.e. this option will overall increase pipe sizes.
Forcing equal pipe sizes to all nozzles in a calculation zone will mostly simplify the part list and the
installation of the pipework. The largest pipe needed for any nozzle will be used for all nozzles.
The calculation will then run until a nozzle pressure falls below 3 bar, which is the limit for the nozzle
calculation model. You can stop the calculation at any time by hitting Escape. In case all the discharge
times have already been calculated (displayed in the bottom right table), there are no disadvantages
to do that.
The program will select pipe diameters and nozzles drillings for those sections and nozzles, which still
have a diameter of 0. Then it will simulate the discharge. While the simulation is running, the section
table on the calculation screen will be updated with the pressures, flows and velocities currently
calculated.
Calculation Speed vs. Precision: The duration of the calculation can be reduced in several steps by
increasing the time step between the pipe system iterations. Only setting the slider to the left will
produce a validated result, though. A draft calculation will be marked as such on the print-out.
After the calculation is finished, you can check the calculated pressures and flow velocities. You can
select to display only the manifold and the nozzles in the table on the left, allowing for a better
overview of the pressure losses in the system. You can also choose the time, for which the pressures
are displayed. For larger systems the option to Only show manifold and nozzles in this table is useful
to hide the less critical parts of the pipe system
After the very first calculation of a larger project, you will often find some error like an incorrect
quantity in a calculation zone or at a nozzle, especially if the pressure losses in the pipe system are
notable. This is equivalent to the discharge time being too long or too short for that zone or nozzle,
because the actual pressure losses in the pipe system could not be taken into account when
dimensioning the system. It will usually take a couple of iterative dimensioning and calculations to
get a working system: You can decide which way the program should try -- there are three main
possible ways of action now to get the system design working:
• Recalculate with optimized pipe and nozzle diameters.
This is usually the best option when the gas quantities at the nozzles are not quite right, but
the nozzle pressures are still reasonable high, i.e. not lower than about ¾ manifold pressure.
The program will adjust the nozzle orifices according the discharge rates observed during the
recent calculation. If 3-4 iterations of this option do not improve things, try one of the other
two.
Please note: If there are pipe sizes, which are not fixed (no √ in the “fix” column), these may
also be modified by this function. If you want to keep the pipe diameters the program has
chosen so far for a section, select this section as fixed by clicking in the column.
• Recalculate with larger pipe diameters.
This is the option to choose when you observe rather high pressure losses in the pipework
between manifold and nozzles, maybe due to the program trying larger and larger nozzles
but the flow being restricted mostly by the high pipe pressure losses.
The program will make a new dimensioning attempt with a slightly lower flow velocity limit.
Clicking on Start Calculation” and manually entering a lower flow velocity limit has the same
effect and may sometimes be faster, as the program will be cautious with this.
• Add one cylinder.
If the system fails due to the nozzle pressure dropping too low before the design quantity is
discharged and larger pipes are not desired or not helpful, adding one or more cylinders will
be necessary to provide sufficient energy to the system in order to propel the extinguishing
gas through the pipework.
The program will increase the number of storage cylinders by 1.
Adding a cylinder will reduce the flow rate through the individual pressure regulator, thus
increasing its outlet pressure, increasing gas density and decreasing the flow velocity and the
pressure losses throughout the pipework. The duration of the phase in which the pressure
regulator can actively control the gas flow, is extended, so the maximum flow is further
reduced, and consequently, pipes, nozzles and pressure vent may be reduced as well.
A cost analysis is recommended for larger projects, in order to find an optimum between
higher cylinder costs and lower pipe and installation costs.
Typical steps for the dimensioning of a new system are for example:
• Only the user-specific pipe diameters, e.g. for the manifold, have been entered. The program
will dimension the other pipes and nozzles. The user transfers the calculation results to the
project.
• The user alters the nozzle diameters to diameters available to him. This will run the
calculation with the specified nozzle diameters. The whole installation is defined now, so the
program will calculate the time to discharge the design quantity for this specific system. Then
the user checks the results of the calculation in relation to his requirements regarding
discharge time, pressures and gas distribution.
If necessary, the nozzle diameters can again be altered manually, or reset to zero to be
chosen by the program again.
3. Calculation Results
The results of the calculation of an installation may be displayed on the screen or printed any time. It
is not possible to directly modify any of the displayed data. That can only be done outside of the
calculation report or the calculation window, and it will usually require a re-calculation.
You cannot include custom diagrams into the printed calculation report.
The data behind these diagrams is accessible in 1-second resolution in the csv file under the same
name as the project file.
V. Limitations of the pressure regulator
There is a specific range of regulator flow rates, for which the software has been designed and
tested. A system with a result outside of these limitations will have a corresponding error message in
its report.
The flow rates are the time-averaged flow rates of the individual pressure regulators during the
controlled phase of the discharge. The corresponding data can be found in the pressure loss table in
the calculation report.
The limitations are as follows:
IG100:
Minimum flow per regulator: 0.08 ks/s
Maximum flow per regulator: 0.74 kg/s
IG01:
IG55:
IG541:
The flow rate limitations will prevent some combinations of cylinder size/filling and discharge time:
long discharges of small cylinders and rapid discharges of large cylinders will be challenging.
VI. Vocabulary and abbreviations
Container working pressure

Pressure in the cylinder(s) when approximately half of the design quantity has been discharged from
the nozzles. Used as basis for the calculation of the system.
Container working temperature
Temperature in the cylinder(s) when half of the design quantity has been discharged from the
nozzles. Used as basis for the calculation of the system.
Design quantity
Inert gas quantity to be discharged into the flooding zone during discharge time for reaching the
desired concentration. The calculation of this quantity is based on the design concentration, the
geometry of the flooding zone and the selected regulations.
Discharge time
Time between the release of the extinguishing gas and the instant at which the extinguishing gas
concentration in the flooding zone has reached 95% of the design concentration. This is not the time
when 95% of the storage quantity has been released, but approximately the time when 95% of the
design quantity has been released.
Gas composition after discharge
Gas composition in the flooding zone after the total discharge, i.e. the discharging of the total
storage quantity. The calculated concentrations are based on the same assumption used for the
calculation of the design quantity, i.e. instantaneous homogenous mixing and constant room
temperature during the discharge.
Minimum storage quantity
Design quantity multiplied by the supplement factor.
Nozzle discharge quantity
Inert gas quantity to be discharged at a specific nozzle during the discharge time.
Nozzle transport time
Average time required for the gas to flow from the storage cylinder to the nozzle.
Pressure relief opening / pressure vent
Device to limit the overpressure in the flooded zone generated by discharging the extinguishing gas.
Recommendation for the minimum opening is according to VdS 2380.
Starting container pressure
Pressure in the storage cylinders before discharge, related to the storage temperature.
Storage temperature
Temperature at the storage place of the cylinders, used as basis for the calculation of the system.
Storage quantity
Agent quantity per cylinder multiplied by the number of storage cylinders
VII. Example
1. Example data
All the following specifications are only meant as an example and are not transferable to any other
installations.
The flooding zone consists of a single calculation zone with 28 nozzles.
The installation shall be calculated according to VdS 2380.
Flooding zone
The flooding zone is used as a IT server room with the dimensions 21 x 8.5 x 4.8 m, plus a false floor
of 0.8m height:
There are no building parts that may be subtracted from the total volume.
According to VdS 2380, the design concentration is 45.2%Vol.
The design temperature of the flooding zone is 20°C.
The highest admissible overpressure in the zones is 1 mbar (=100 Pascal).
Further numerical values of this example:
The storage quantity (design quantity + 10%, i.e. a supplement factor of 1.1) is stocked up in
27 cylinders of 80 l each at a filling pressure of 301 bar absolute (15°C filling temperature), in 3 rows
of 8, 8 and 11 cylinders
The lowest temperature of the Inert gas storage is 20°C.
The discharge time for the system shall be 120 s.
On the next pages, you find the printouts for this demo project.
The pipe sizes are not yet optimized to use a low number of different pipe sizes. This can be changed
later manually.
The pipe diameter increases along the nodes 26-28-30 from 1½” to 2”. This can be changed manually
or by re-dimensioning the system with the option “Force constant pipe sizes” selected.
2. Printout

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Calculation Software for

Fire Extinguishing Systems

For Software Version 1.4

© VdS Schadenverhütung, October 2022

2. Entering the pipe layout

• Recalculate with larger pipe diameters:

4. Basic principles for handling the software

1. Creation or modification of a project

Section Table (→ IV.1.2): Input table for pipe data.

On the left-hand side of the screen, you find the input

The limitations are as follows:

Container working pressure

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