• Complete support or air handling
• Hygienically clean air for operating theatres
• Both critical and non critical applications
• Over 100 drives supplied

Energy Problem

ABB Inverter Solution

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.

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.

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.