Operating rooms place unusually high demands on ventilation.
Air has to be continuously filtered, directed and supplied in a way that helps maintain a controlled environment around the surgical field. In this project, UV treatment had to be integrated into an existing ventilation concept for a private medical clinic equipped with a Category A operating block.
The system used recirculation columns followed by a laminar airflow zone above the operating table.
The engineering task was to add UV air treatment without redesigning the basic ventilation layout.
Initial conditions
Each recirculation column had to handle up to 5,000 m³/h of air.
The available installation parameters were:
rectangular duct section: 830 × 600 mm;
available straight section: about 1 meter;
warm indoor air;
existing supply and exhaust ventilation layout;
requirement to integrate UV treatment into the current construction.
Two possible approaches were considered from the beginning:
install a complete UV duct section;
install UV lamps and electrical components directly inside the existing recirculation columns.
The second option eventually proved more suitable for the available geometry.
Why integration was not straightforward
In ventilation projects, airflow alone does not determine the design.
The location of the lamps, available duct length and internal geometry all affect how long the air remains in the irradiation zone.
The project therefore had several constraints at the same time:
high airflow;
limited installation length;
fixed duct dimensions;
existing equipment around the recirculation columns;
requirements for safe operation in a medical environment.
This made a standard standalone section less convenient than a modular installation.
Two possible configurations
The first option considered was a complete UV Aero 6-type duct section, designed for airflow up to approximately 5,000 m³/h.
The second option was a modular set consisting of:
amalgam UV lamps;
electronic power supplies;
lamp holders;
ceramic connectors;
wiring components.
After technical review, the modular option was selected.
This allowed the lamps to be positioned directly inside the existing columns rather than adapting the ventilation system to a separate UV housing.
Equipment configuration
The final delivery included:
54 amalgam germicidal UV lamps;
54 electronic ballasts;
162 T5 metal lamp holders;
108 four-pin ceramic connectors with 2 m cables.
The lamps were intended for continuous operation and had a rated service life of 16,000 hours.
The source material specifies operation at a germicidal wavelength of 254 nm.
Why modular installation was useful
Using separate lamps instead of complete duct sections gave the engineering team more freedom in positioning the UV sources.
This was important because the existing recirculation columns already had their own internal geometry.
The modular approach made it possible to account for:
the actual column dimensions;
lamp spacing;
cable routing;
access for maintenance;
available mounting points.
In retrofit projects, this can be more practical than trying to fit a standard housing into a space that was never designed for it.
Electrical architecture
Each lamp was paired with its own electronic ballast.
This simplified the connection scheme and made the system easier to inspect and maintain.
Separate ballasts also make fault identification more straightforward compared with a configuration where several lamps depend on a single shared power stage.
UV treatment in an occupied medical environment
The UV sources were intended to work inside the ventilation system rather than directly in the occupied room.
That distinction is important.
The irradiation zone remains inside the equipment, while treated air continues toward the laminar airflow section.
According to the project specification, the system was designed to provide high-efficiency air disinfection, including performance measured against Staphylococcus aureus.
What this project shows
Integrating UV into an operating-room ventilation system is mainly an engineering task.
The main questions are not just about lamp power.
They also include:
airflow;
available duct length;
cross-section;
lamp arrangement;
maintenance access;
electrical layout;
integration into the existing ventilation path.
In this case, a modular UV configuration was chosen because it adapted more easily to the recirculation columns already included in the clinic design.
The result was a solution integrated into the existing ventilation architecture rather than a separate add-on section.
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