How to treat compressed air for medical use

Official explanation on medical compressed air treatment technology

In the medical field, compressed air is a key power source and process medium, and its quality is directly related to patient safety and the operating reliability of medical equipment. After systematically sorting out industry specifications and technical characteristics, the following professional explanations are made on the treatment process and quality assurance system of medical compressed air:

1. Core standards for medical compressed air quality
According to the “Hospital Compressed Air Quality Standards”(GB/T 14213-2013), medical compressed air must meet the following mandatory indicators:

1. cleanliness requirements

• Particulate matter concentration: ≤2000/cubic meter (particle size range 0.1-5 microns)
• Microbial indicators: Total bacterial count ≤100CFU/cubic meter, no actinomycetes can be detected

2. Chemical pollutant control

• Oil content: ≤0.1 mg/cubic meter (total oil content, including liquid oil, oil mist and oil vapor)
• Carbon dioxide concentration: ≤500ppm

3. Physical parameter standards

• Oxygen content: 20%-23%(volume ratio)
• Temperature range: 5℃-40℃
• Relative humidity: 25%-75%

2. Systematic treatment process flow
Achieving medical-grade compressed air requires the construction of multi-level processing barriers. The typical process flow is as follows:

1. preprocessing stage

• Air filtration: Adopt a three-stage filtration system, the first-stage filtration accuracy is ≥5 microns, and remove large particles of impurities
• Compression and pressurization: Use medical grade air compressor to increase pressure and control exhaust temperature ≤180℃
• Oil and gas separation: Equipped with high-efficiency separators to ensure primary oil removal efficiency ≥99.9%

2. Deep purification unit

• Freeze drying: Reduce the air temperature to 3-5 ° C through refrigeration cycle, removing more than 80% of water
• Adsorption drying: Adopt double tower adsorption dryer to achieve dew point ≤-40℃ and residual moisture ≤0.05 g/cubic meter
• Precision filtration: Set a 0.01 micron terminal filter, and the filtration efficiency reaches 99.999%
• Activated carbon adsorption: Equipped with a special oil removal module, using catalytic oxidation technology to decompose residual hydrocarbons

3. Sterilization processing system

• Ultraviolet sterilization: Set up UV-C sterilization devices at key nodes of the pipeline to destroy the DNA structure of microorganisms
• Ozone disinfection: Regularly ozone flushing the pipe network to kill antibiotic-resistant strains

3. Quality monitoring and maintenance system

1. on-line monitoring system

• Configure intelligent monitoring terminal to display pressure, temperature, dew point, oil content and other parameters in real time
• Set three-level alarm thresholds: warning value (yellow zone), dangerous value (orange zone), shutdown value (red zone)

2. Regular testing system

• Microbial testing: Conduct air sampling and culture every month, using R2A nutrient agar culture method
• Particulate matter testing: Use a laser particle counter to conduct all testing every quarter
• Chemical analysis: entrusting a third-party agency to conduct special testing of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) every six months

3. Preventive maintenance procedures

• Filter element replacement: Pre-filter replaced every 2000 hours, terminal filter replaced every 4000 hours
• Desiccant regeneration: adsorption dryer activates every 8000 hours
• Pipe network disinfection: Pulse steam disinfection is carried out quarterly, temperature ≥121℃, duration ≥30 minutes

4. Technical solutions for special scenarios

1. Dedicated air supply system for operating room

• Configure dual-circuit gas supply pipe network, automatic switching time ≤0.5 seconds in case of single circuit failure
• The terminal filtration device uses hydrophilic PTFE membrane to effectively intercept biological aerosols

2. Intensive care unit support plan

• Add activated carbon deodorization device to control total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) ≤0.3 mg/cubic meter
• Install medical-grade pressure regulating valve, and control the pressure fluctuation range within ±0.02MPa

3. emergency safeguard measures

• Equipped with diesel-driven mobile oilless air compressor, air supply can be started within 30 seconds
• Set up emergency air storage tanks with a capacity to meet the 30-minute gas demand in key areas

It is recommended that medical institutions establish a compressed air quality management system (QMS), including document control procedures such as equipment ledgers, maintenance records, and test reports. A compressed air system risk assessment is carried out every year, and potential risk points are identified using a FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) tool. For new projects, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations should be carried out to optimize the layout of the pipe network, avoid low-flow-velocity dead spots, and ensure the quality of gas supply from the design source.