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Solutions to Surgical Suite Temperature and Humidity Control
Abstract
The demand for lower air temperatures
inside the operating room (OR) has placed unrealistic
expectations upon existing cued water systems in
hospitals. Lower temperatures are required to keep
the surgical staff comfortable during extended
procedures. Relative humidity (RH) must still be
controlled at these lower temperatures per code
guidelines and poses a major hurdle for facilities
located throughout the southeastern United States.
Heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC)
equipment designed to hold space conditions of 72°F
and 60% RH is now attempting to hold 65°F and 50%
RH or less. The lower temperature and RH reduce
the space dew point from 57°F to 46°F (Figure 1). To
obtain this lower dew point requires the removal of
33% more moisture from the air (Equation 1). It is
this additional moisture removal that has become the
concern of health care engineers, facility managers,
hospital administrators and surgeons. Desiccant
enhanced cooling systems can easily and efficiently
achieve both temperature and humidity control within
today's surgery suites while avoiding the pitfalls
common to low temperature cooling systems.
Citation
Crooks, K. W. (1996). Solutions to Surgical Suite Temperature and Humidity Control. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /6661.