As you prepare to build a new hospital, one of the key considerations is setting up the medical gas plant room, which includes Medical Air and Vacuum Generators/Systems. The typical lifespan of these equipment is 10-15 years and proper installation is the first step in ensuring performance, reliability and peace of mind during all these years.
In this blog post, we will explore the installation prerequisites of medical air and vacuum generators, highlighting the critical factors you need to consider for a successful installation. The goal is to provide you with valuable information to ensure a safe and efficient installation process, whether you are a doctor, a medical gas pipeline contractor, an architect or an administrator.
1. Location Selection and Environment of the Medical Gas Plant Room
The fundamental parameter for selection of the Medical Gas Plant Room is that it should be well ventilated and yet, easy to keep clean. Ideal areas include basement or the terrace.
Locations near open fields, main roads or other such dusty areas should be avoided It should also be ensured that the Medical Gas Plant Room is protected from hot air, and should not be near kitchens or electric generators.
Medical air and vacuum generators cannot be installed next to the medical oxygen manifold, NO2 or CO2 manifolds, medical oxygen generator or water-cooling towers.
When selecting a location for Traditional Reciprocating Medical Air Compressors and Vacuum Pumps, it’s important to keep in mind that they will be the noisiest equipment in your hospital. Therefore, careful consideration should be given to their placement to ensure that patients, doctors, and hospital staff are not disturbed by its loud noise.
Alternatively, if you want to avoid noise associated with the traditional systems, you can choose our integrex Modular Medical Air Generators and Medical Vacuum Generators with Rotary Vane technology, which generates up to 80% less noise than traditional systems.
2. Walls, Roofing, Gate and Passage
The Medical Gas Plant Room should be enclosed on all sides, and should have a roof. This is to prevent the equipment inside it from direct sunlight, rains and dust.
For security and safety purposes, it is essential to install a gate for the medical gas plant room that can be locked and is only accessible by authorized personnel. Ensure that the gate is of sufficient height and width for the safe passage of the equipment.
Additionally, please make sure that there is unobstructed access for the truck to reach the location of the medical gas plant room from the main road on the day of installation.
3. Space Planning
Traditional Medical Air and Vacuum Generators are bulky equipment, and space planning is specific to the type and configuration of the equipment.
Nonetheless, it is important to maintain a maintenance area of 1 to 1.5 meters around all the components of the system to ensure ease of operation and maintenance. This also helps with ventilation and prevents heat buildup.
4. Ventilation
Medical air and vacuum generators inside the Medical Gas Plant Room generate a lot of heat. Therefore, proper ventilation of the room is crucial for performance and long life of the equipment.
This can be achieved by either natural ventilation or forced ventilation using ventilation fans.
5. Foundation
Traditional Medical Air Compressors and Vacuum Pumps generates significant vibrations. To minimize these vibrations, the compressors and pumps should be installed on a foundation of M20 grade with a minimum height of 150 mm or 6 inches and should be secured with anchor fasteners.
It’s also recommended to avoid installing them on the terrace unless absolutely necessary, as they can put a significant dynamic load on the building structure.
However, our innovative integrex Modular Medical Air Generators and Medical Vacuum Generators with Rotary Vane technology generates about 80% less vibrations than traditional systems. They can be installed even on a terrace and do not require any foundation at all.
6. Vacuum Pumps Exhaust Piping
To ensure safety, it is important to pipe and route their exhaust out of the medical gas plant room. Failure to do so would lead to the accumulation of exhaust fumes within the medical gas plant room and it being drawn in by the compressors of the medical air generator.
The following guidelines should be followed for exhaust piping:
a). In case of medical vacuum generators with two or more vacuum pumps, each vacuum pump should have a separate exhaust pipe to prevent backpressure from one pump to the other.
b). Install a union fitting at exhaust port of each vacuum pump to allow for easy disconnection of the vacuum pump, if needed, without disrupting rest of the piping.
c). Use long bends in the exhaust piping to minimize the risk of backpressure and maximize efficiency of the vacuum pumps.
d). Terminate the vacuum pump exhaust pipes horizontally outside the medical gas plant room, with a cowl of appropriate size installed at the end to prevent entry of rodents or birds.
e). The material of the exhaust pipes should be cPVC.
f). The diameter of exhaust pipes should be at least 4″ for medical vacuum generators with vacuum pumps from 1 HP to 3 HP (0.75 kW to 2.2 kW), and 6″ for vacuum pumps from 5 HP to 10 HP (3.7 kW to 7.5 kW).
7. Electrical Requirements
Now we come to the electrical requirements for both, medical air and vacuum generators:
a). Separate MCBs or HRC fuses should be installed for each equipment, placing them within a distance of not more than 3 meters or 10 feet from the equipment. A common incoming line can be used from a dedicated power source, and electrical power can then be distributed to the multiple MCBs inside the medical gas plant room.
b). Earthing line is a mandatory requirement for proper functioning of the equipment.
c). Since both medical air and medical vacuum are critical for hospitals and healthcare facilities, it is recommended that the incoming power source has an electric generator backup to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the equipment.
d). In addition, it is recommended to install at least three single-phase electrical switches at various locations inside the medical gas plant room to operate electric tools such as a drill machine in the future.
e). The medical gas plant room should be well-lit with multiple tube lights, ensuring that no corner is dark.
f). It is to be ensured that the single-phase electrical switches and tube lights have separate connections from the dedicated power source and are not connected to the MCB or HRC fuse outputs of the medical air and vacuum generators.
g). Follow manufacturer’s guidelines for information on ratings or other specific information.
We hope that we were able to provide you with valuable insights into the installation prerequisites of our medical air and vacuum generators, and that you now have a clear idea of the requirements – before our engineers arrive for the installation and commissioning of the equipment.
If you have any questions or concerns about your medical gas plant room installation, don’t hesitate to contact us for expert guidance and support.