Product category:
Electrical Services
News Release from: Kopex International | Subject: Correct conduit specification
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 April 2005
Conduits secure a healthy service
environment
Martyn Turner of Kopex International examines the importance of correct conduit specification.
Building services engineering may be a discipline with a relatively short history, but it has remarkable similarities to anatomical science and its complex network of nerve fibres, blood vessels, ducts and other conduits, functioning in unison to sustain individual beings Pipework, cabling and other systems enable different types of property to function and in respect of the way such vital networks as data cabling is routed, the technology has also seen an extremely steep learning curve
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 5 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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While facilities such as call centres may enjoy the protection of uninterruptible power supplies, it is within the hospital environment that maintaining the continuity of building services becomes quite literally a matter of life and death.
Accordingly, given the sensitivity of equipment required for the care and examination of patients, mechanical and electrical engineers must exercise the greatest possible caution in guarding against electro-magnetic interference.
In the same way that the advent of fly-by-wire has forced the airline industry to ensure passengers turn off their mobile phones in case the signals interfere with the plane's controls, building services engineers must guard against their installations causing false readings or failures in locations like operating theatres.
Further reading
New Kopex electrical conduit catalogue
Kopex International publish new catalogue covering Electrical Conduit and Cable Management Systems for Hazardous Areas.
New conduit accessories for hazardous areas
Kopex International has introduced an extensive range of conduit accessories - all tested to ATEX and IECEx standards.
ATEX and IECEx certified hazardous area products
Kopex International now manufactures a wide range of ATEX and IECEx approved cable management products.
Heart monitors, electro-cardiographs, pulse oximeters and other anaesthetic machines are all reliant on a delicate electronic balance; while CAT scanners and the even more subtle magnetic resonance imagers have to be 'cocooned' against stray electro magnetic signals.
Designers involved with the PFI hospital building programme and other healthcare sector contracts therefore seek to specify installations which will guarantee failsafe protection throughout the premises.
High performance conduit systems have been shown to play a pivotal role in achieving this aim.
It is also vital that specifiers ask the correct questions of their conduit suppliers.
There are a number of technical approvals, such as the requirements of IP 67, against which compliant conduit systems will have been measured.
In terms of electro-magnetic compatibility, however, it is absolutely essential that the customer checks that system performance extends past the straightforward lengths of conduit to include the connectors and any braches or manifolds.
Only in this way can the specifier be confident in the performance of the installation as a whole.
There are, of course a variety of other technical considerations which will come into the selection of a conduit system, including fire risk and the control of contamination.
The Government and the Health Service have mounted a series of initiatives to deal with MRSA and other hospital acquired infections.
While studies have identified the importance of such basic hygiene measures as hand washing, hospital management has been targeting cleanliness throughout the healthcare environment.
For building services installations this means combating the build up of dirt and germs in all situations.
Also in locations such as operating theatres it is quite likely that conduits will have to be tolerant of regular washdown using aggressive cleaning agents or even steam cleaning.
As part of its offer to the market, Kopex International has available a variety of sealed and extremely resilient conduit systems.
These include the Liquid Tight Flexible Metallic Conduit System and the widely specified Stainless Steel Metallic Conduit System.
While at the core of the Kopex range's performance in terms of electro-magnetic compatibility is the use of multiple layers of leaded steel sheathing, the specification of these two systems ensures they can resist immersion in the fluids commonly found in industrial as well as hospital environments.
It is fundamental to the performance of any conduit system that if a cable becomes damaged, it should be impossible for a short-circuit to occur.
In hospitals this is not only vital to protect personnel from electrocution but also to make sure a spark cannot start a fire or cause an explosion.
For not only are some of the anaesthetic gases very volatile, but the fumes given off by substances such as the cement used to secure orthopaedic implants are also highly inflammable.
Such risk assessments may also steer electrical and mechanical engineers towards specifying the ATEX Flameproof Gland which is suitable for Zone 1 and Zone 2 applications.
This product is basically employed to assist in securing compartments outside of the initial flash zone and thereby prevent the spread of a fire.
Importantly the ATEX Flameproof Gland incorporates the use of a special two component putty that is packed around the cable within the metal casing.
This arrangement then permits the gland to be demounted and reassembled as is required for routine safety inspections.
Thanks to the medical profession's profound understanding of human anatomy and the intricate biological processes carrying on within the human body, our life expectancy has been extended while many once serious conditions have been brought under control or eradicated.
In parallel with this, those responsible for creating modern healthcare premises have much improved products and systems at their disposal to ensure contemporary buildings will continue to serve the population far into the future.
High performance conduits are an essential element to this holistic approach to specification.
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