ABB Variable Speed Drive Case Study
 

ABB Drives maintain clean air supply at hospital
The UK's larges new acute teaching hospital project has installed ABB variable speed drives to maintain a clean air supply in its operating theatres.
  • Complete support or air handling
  • Hygienically clean air for operating theatres
  • Both critical and non critical applications
  • Over 100 drives supplied
The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary will use over 100 ABB drives of varying sizes to control the air handling throughout the hospital.

Energy Problem

  

ABB Inverter Solution
The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is the UK's largest new acute teaching hospital and needs a dedicated clean air supply throughout the hospital.  Some areas, such as the operating theatres, have very stringent standards for air cleanliness.

Strict airflow requirements were specified and all drives are fitted with RFI filters, in order to prevent interference with electronic medical equipment.  Any solution had to use energy effectively as this would impact on the running costs of the hospital.

   A variety of variable speed drives were chosen to maintain a clean air supply in the hospital.  To ensure air of the proper standard was being correctly distributed, the air handling units were divided into critical and non-critical applications. 

All of the 20 operating theatres are classed as critical applications and each has three to four ABB drives.  The operating theatres need a filtered airflow with a maintained air volume.

Five of the operating theatres are dedicated to orthopaedics.  Bone operations need a particularly clean environment, with more frequent changes of air.  The drives need to maintain a flow rate of 1.65 m3/s with the air filtered through special ultra-clean hoods containing extra filters.  Other areas such as safety cabinets and fume cupboards also have air handling units powered by ABB Drives.
 
Equipment:   About 100 drives, up to 37kW
Investment:   £45,000
Benefits:   Strict airflow requirements maintained
RFI filters prevent interference with electronic equipment
 

ABB Inverter Benefits
McQuay (UK) Ltd., the company that supplied the air-handling units, comments: "One of the reasons we chose the ABB drive was because it could meet the strict air flow requirements that were specified.  It is also important that all the drives are fitted with RFI filters, in order to prevent interference with electronic medical equipment."

The ABB drives are integrated with the Building Management System (BMS).  This monitors the system for any reduction in performance and then signals the drive to increase the airflow accordingly.  For example, the theatres are not in constant use so the drives are often used in standby mode, maintaining a reduced airflow in order to save energy.

When complete, the £210 million Edinburgh Royal Infirmary will use over 100 drives, or varying sizes, from ABB's Comp-AC range throughout the hospital for its air handling applications.

  
RFI filters in the drives prevent interference with sensitive electronic medical equipment.
 

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