Analytical Determination of Medical Gases Consumption and Their Impact on Hospital Sustainability

Abstract

Abstract:Medical gases are known to show a great environmental impact and also to consume relevant resources in terms of hospital management. The present work reports on a study performed between 2008 and 2016 in a target set of 12 Spanish hospitals with floor area and number of beds ranging 2314-23,300 m 2 and 20-194, respectively, for which the average annual consumption rates of oxygen, nitrogen, medicinal air, carbon dioxide and nitrogen protoxide were analysed. The annual consumption of medical gases in a hospital was proved to be correlated with the number of hospital discharges, the number of surgeries, the number of emergency interventions, the number of hospitalisations, the number of hospital beds, the useful floor area of the building and the number of workers. In particular, the annual consumption per hospital bed was computed as 350 m 3 for oxygen, 325 m 3 for medicinal air, 9 m 3 for nitrogen protoxide and 3 m 3 for carbon dioxide. It is shown that healthcare activity appears as an adequate variable to quantify and to monitor medical gases consumption in hospitals, to assess the size of their facilities as well as to optimise maintenance management.

Evaluation of HVAC Design Parameters in High-Performance Hospital Operating Theatres

“…Infection risk increases with bioparticles concentration due to its increased viability as a pathogen [51]. Anesthetic gas concentration increases can be caused by a leak in equipment or due to bad practical execution, and the surgical smoke increase is derived from electrosurgery, laser, or ultrasound use [52]. The recommended minimum value of ACH is very similar in UNE 100713 and ASHRAE Standard 170, however, this parameter is not specified in EN 16244-2.…”

“…On the one hand, increasing the amount of fresh air impelled improves dilution effectiveness [53] but, on the other hand, it does not guarantee an SSI rate decrease and, nevertheless, operating costs are always raised [54]. Infection hazard is reduced by controlling air movement pattern [52,55] which leads to an equipment expenditure and operating costs reduction. OA discharge into a room through the HVAC system also contributes to lowering the concentration of medical gases and surgical smoke generated during surgery.…”

Healthy Power: Reimagining Hospitals as Sustainable Energy Hubs

“…Hospitals commonly procure oxygen in bulk from suppliers as a compressed gas or as a cryogenic liquid, which is produced on a commercial scale through liquefaction and distillation. Oxygen is sold at a premium to the health sector, so generating it locally could save costs [49]. On-site production using compressed air with pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen concentrators (OCs) has been found to reduce costs for hospitals [50].…”

“…Using an average value from previous studies, it is assumed here that 49 percent of the total energy use is electrical demand and the remainder is thermal [24,29,69,70]. There are analytical data available for medical oxygen in hospitals [49] and the demand for this scale is assumed to be 708 kg per day.…”

Determination of the elimination costs of vibrations and dust transmission in refurbishment healthcare buildings works in Spain

“…The dust generated in these works is the main way of transmission of these fungi [6]. There is even a certain sanitary culture and sensitivity about the methodology to be used in the management of these works, mainly through the constitution of a Works Commission [7].…”