scope:

Scope

This standard uses air as the test gas. Each test shall be limited to one PPV per test. A PPV tested in accordance with this standard shall be freestanding and without a ductwork connection to the test chamber, thereby allowing for the measurement of entrained airflow.

Any item of equipment designed or intended for applications other than positive pressure ventilation is not within the scope of this standard.

The parties to a test, for guarantee purposes, may agree in writing on exceptions to this standard prior to the test. However, only a test that does not violate the mandatory requirements of this standard shall be designated as a test conducted in accordance with this standard.

Purpose

This standard establishes a uniform method of laboratory testing for the determination of the aerodynamic performance of a positive pressure ventilator (PPV) in terms of airflow rate, pressure, air density and rotational speed for performance rating or guarantee purposes.

It is not the purpose of this standard to specify a testing procedure for the design, production or field test of any PPV, nor is it the purpose of the standard to serve as a manual for the construction, validation or calibration of the test facility.

Prior to the original publication of this standard in 1996, PPVs were tested to ANSI/AMCA Standard 210. The scope of ANSI/AMCA Standard 210, however, includes only air moving devices designed with the impeller enclosed within a shroud or housing. Due to variations in the design of PPVs, some could be tested to ANSI/AMCA Standard 210 while others could not. In 1992, AMCA created the AMCA Standard 240 Draft Committee to develop a single method of test applicable to all PPVs.

The test method devised by the committee is substantially the same as the outlet chamber test setup described in ANSI/AMCA Standard 210. The principal difference between ANSI/AMCA Standard 210 and ANSI/AMCA Standard 240 is that in the former, the outlet of the test unit is either mounted directly to the test chamber or connected to a duct that is mounted on the test chamber. In ANSI/AMCA Standard 240, the test unit discharge is directed toward a doorway-sized opening into the test chamber. This setup approximates a real-world application of the equipment and also accounts for entrained airflow.

ANSI/AMCA Standard 240 is a special case of ANSI/AMCA Standard 210. Therefore, a sizeable portion of the standard originates in ANSI/AMCA Standard 210. The later editions replace many sections of text with reference to the parent standard, emphasizing differences over similarities to simplify ANSI/AMCA Standard 240.