Energy Savings and dynamical Control of HVAC Systems in operating Theatre: an Experimental Approach

In this paper the problem of anaesthetic gases dilution in operating theatres has been examined, by experiences carried out in a full scale testing room. The performance of two different HVAC plants have been compared, one of them working in static conditions at 20 external air changes per hour, whereas the other has been dynamically driven by an automatic control system between 10 and 20 external air changes per hour. In the latter case, the flow control operate as a function of the concentration level of tracer gas, simulating a pollutant, sampled in real time by a suitable monitoring system. The results demonstrate that a dynamic HVAC system can guarantee good environmental conditions and satisfactory comfort, as well as remarkable energy savings.