Texas Medical Center Laundry handles the laundry operations for seven hospital located in the Texas Medical Center. An integral part of these institutions, they also sterilize and package the numerous surgical tools required for surgery.
Ventilation Issues:
A new, automated, state-of-the-art facility had been moved from a previous location to a new concrete tilt-up building with no provision for ventilation included in the original design. The building had various heat-generating sources that created an issue - the largest being numerous large dryers.
Another problem needed to be addressed in order to meet industry standards and accreditation: the area of the facility where soiled linens arrive and are sorted and cleaned, needed to be seperated from the part of the laundry where clean and sterilized items were stored. This required a wall to separate the two sides and a negative pressure differential between the dirty side and the clean side of the laundry.
Solution:
To increase air flow and avoid the unattractive installation of many wall louvers to the exterior of the concrete building, we designed intake wall fans with hoods painted to match the exterior of the building. Both wall fans and roof fans were utilized to pull the air across the width of the building - the roof fans placed at strategic locations over the heat-generating sources. A 2.0 minute air change was provided on the dirty side of the laundry and a 3.0 minute air change on the clean side to maintain the negative pressure differential that was required. This was a turnkey project and included the structural engineering, steel erection, welding and the electrical work required.
Results:
"I like what I see in regards to both cleaning and the air movement in the plant. I feel confident we have achieved what we set out to do. Thanks for what you do Tim!"
David Beavers
Chief Engineer
Ventilation Issues:
A new, automated, state-of-the-art facility had been moved from a previous location to a new concrete tilt-up building with no provision for ventilation included in the original design. The building had various heat-generating sources that created an issue - the largest being numerous large dryers.
Another problem needed to be addressed in order to meet industry standards and accreditation: the area of the facility where soiled linens arrive and are sorted and cleaned, needed to be seperated from the part of the laundry where clean and sterilized items were stored. This required a wall to separate the two sides and a negative pressure differential between the dirty side and the clean side of the laundry.
Solution:
To increase air flow and avoid the unattractive installation of many wall louvers to the exterior of the concrete building, we designed intake wall fans with hoods painted to match the exterior of the building. Both wall fans and roof fans were utilized to pull the air across the width of the building - the roof fans placed at strategic locations over the heat-generating sources. A 2.0 minute air change was provided on the dirty side of the laundry and a 3.0 minute air change on the clean side to maintain the negative pressure differential that was required. This was a turnkey project and included the structural engineering, steel erection, welding and the electrical work required.
Results:
"I like what I see in regards to both cleaning and the air movement in the plant. I feel confident we have achieved what we set out to do. Thanks for what you do Tim!"
David Beavers
Chief Engineer
