FITI is a premier testing laboratory located in urban Seoul Korea, providing a broad range of physical and performance testing to clients worldwide. When they decided to add flame manikin testing per ISO 13506 and NFPA 2112 to their capabilities, they faced a familiar challenge: where to put it without expensive new building construction?
In partnership with Thermetrics and our sales agent in Korea, Technox, the team at FITI came up with a creative solution: Repurpose some space from their underground parking garage to build out a new laboratory for the flame manikin system. The first level of their garage was convenient to access from the other lab spaces, had multiple openings to the outdoors to provide fresh air, and included an existing sprinkler system for safety. The underground location also provides a more stable environment in summer and winter months without expensive HVAC.
The first stage of the installation was to enclose the space with modular walls, and to reroute any existing electrical and ventilation.
The resulting fully enclosed space includes security doors, utility sink, and electrical and network service to create a world-class laboratory from essentially 7 parking spaces. If you look closely at the neatly sealed and painted floors, you can still find slightly raised areas marking the paint stripes of the former parking lot.
Every world-class flame laboratory needs a world-class flame manikin system. Thermetrics supplied a complete Burnie manikin for the FITI lab. The system was built and shipped from Seattle and the Thermetrics team spent several weeks in beautiful Seoul assembling the modular chamber, installing the manikin, commissioning the system, and training the research team at FITI.
Each flame manikin system installation is a little bit different. Site requirements and local code compliance vary by location. For this installation, FITI set a new bar for innovation with their parking garage reconfiguration. If you need some flame testing done or are in the Seoul area, we strongly suggest a visit to FITI. You will be impressed!
Thanks again to the team at FITI for putting their trust in Thermetrics, and also to Technox for their engineering and coordination support on this project. We love this work.
