Why discard mechanical air filters in operating theatres?

The continuous changing of pre-filters and post-filters, high operational and maintenance costs, as well as occupant monitoring and well-being, are just some of the sufficient reasons to replace mechanical air filters in operating theatres with those using electrostatic technology.

Both doctors and nursing staff, as well as patients, are exposed to all kinds of contaminating agents and risky situations. This is why engineers must rely on those high-efficiency filters that allow them to achieve ideal air quality conditions and HVAC system operation, and this is achieved with technology capable of establishing control over all ventilation that prevents negative consequences for patients' health.

This means that the filtration system must be guaranteed to be adequate, because the amount of air that can be introduced from outside is established by regulations; in other words, the engineer or designer of these spaces cannot intervene or make decisions beyond the type of filter and brand to be used.

Contrary to what it might seem at first glance, replacing the existing mechanical air filters in operating theatres is not complicated. Installing an electrostatic air filter is a really straightforward process. In fact, the most difficult part, without a doubt, is convincing the operations manager to divert funds to these types of initiatives, as there are usually other items that demand part of the investment budget.

This is an acquisition that has a significant return, and while ensuring air quality levels is reason enough to do it, with the reduced budget for spare parts available to the maintenance manager, it's proving difficult to incorporate high-efficiency filtration systems to replace the mechanical air filters for operating theatres.

In Latin America, for example, investment budgets for the maintenance department are generally very modest. However, the budget for the initial installation of an HVAC system for operating theatres is usually more generous. This is why it is common and simpler to install mechanical air filters in operating theatres from the start of the project.

The return on investment to economically justify the implementation of an electrostatic filter is between a year and a half and two years. This data is one of the drivers for including electrostatic air filters in new investment initiatives for Mexican hospitals.

Mechanical air filters in operating theatres, among their other characteristics, consume more power, and lead to recurring expenses due to poor design and control of cleanroom air conditioning systems. Furthermore, time is wasted due to system downtime, resulting in irrecoverable production losses.

On the other hand, there is a high risk of multiplying the biological load, as, in the case of media filters, particles, along with various microorganisms such as bacteria, moulds and fungi, among others, also become trapped on the upstream side of the filter.

While that happens with mechanical air filters in operating theatres, this new technology demands high filtration efficiency. Operations and maintenance managers, design engineers, and operating theatre architects are the first who must start by including air filtration systems in their future projects, in order to achieve operational efficiency and energy improvement in the Mexican healthcare sector.

They are the ones who can propose improvement initiatives, such as a filter renovation plan, measure results, and thus subsequently justify the complete change of mechanical air filters in operating theatres for electrostatic air filters. When the hospital's board of directors sees the rapid payback through the costs that can be saved in terms of operating theatre availability, contamination risks in operating rooms that can be eliminated, and the operating and energy costs that can be achieved, they will end up approving the investment initiative.

It's no use having good mechanical air filters in operating theatres if they only last a couple of weeks, because in a fortnight they'll need to be replaced. In this regard, a suitable HVAC service provider in Latin America It should promote a culture of optimisation and efficiency of HVAC and ventilation systems in the hospital sector, from project conception through to implementation and subsequent operation.

This is because, at the end of all the stages of an operating theatre and hospital project, it is the hospital's maintenance manager who is left with the responsibility and will have to deal with it for the rest of their life.

Electrostatically charged air filters offer only advantages over mechanical air filters for operating theatres, which is why the Latin American hospital sector should dare to use this technology, because it is a more energetically superior filtration system, has a longer replacement life, and achieves a much more effective germicidal action than mechanical filters.

As you are interested in learning more details about the reasons why mechanical air filters in operating rooms should be discarded, we invite you to discover how the HVAC system monitoring can improve its performance, as well as subscribing to our Newslettera newsletter that provides you with technical content about the best technological solutions for industrial plants, focused on automation and maintenance.