Bender is installing a residual current monitoring system in the main building distribution, at the central earthing point and in the floor distributions at the University Hospital Brandenburg an der Havel in building 3 (ward block, eye surgery and kitchen). In the coming years, all hospital buildings are to be successively retrofitted with residual current monitoring technology.
Martin Schürer has been Head of the Electrical Department at the University Hospital since 2021, and is thus responsible for the entire electrical installation and electrical engineering. An inventory of the entire electrical installation was still carried out in 2021 with specialists from Bender. As a result, the existing IT network distributor in the intensive care unit was first maintained and modernised. The consistently positive experiences during the inventory and modernisation led, among other things, to discussions about the problems in complying with periodic verifications. Here, Bender's experts were able to use their many years of expertise to propose a solution that was ultimately implemented or will be implemented further in the coming years.
IEC 60364-6 requires periodic verification of all electrical installations and fixed equipment every 4 years. In hospitals, these routine reviews are to be carried out at a shortened interval of 3 years. The audit at Brandenburg University Hospital, as at all other hospitals, involves a considerable amount of organisation, time and personnel. Since equipment and installations must be disconnected from the mains for the prescribed insulation test (Riso measurement), the power supply in the areas concerned is interrupted during this time. The periodic verification can therefore often only be carried out at night. In addition, the technicians are not available for regular operations during the time of the test.
Due to these conditions, it is very difficult to comply with the prescribed intervals of the periodic verification. The challenge is to make periodic verification as per IEC 60364-6 easier and to avoid shutting down devices and systems.
IEC 60364-3 states that the Riso measurement can be dispensed with during the periodic verification of an electrical installation if the installation is continuously maintained by qualified electricians and monitored by continuous metrological measures during operation.
At a meeting with the head of the electrical department of the Brandenburg University Hospital and the experts from Bender, permanent monitoring of the electrical installation by means of residual current technology in the main building distribution, at the central earthing point and in the floor distributors was proposed. This type of monitoring fully complies with the requirements of the periodic verification according to IEC 60364-6.
For test purposes, a pilot system was installed in building 3, level 2. The installation was carried out by the hospital's own staff and the commissioning in October 2022 by Bender Service.
When the pilot system was commissioned, a differential current of about 3.5 A was initially evident in one channel, while in all other channels the differential currents were in the one- to two-digit mA range. The first assumption of a faulty measurement or a defective measuring device proved to be wrong. After further measurements, an error during installation could also be ruled out. An LED strip light was finally identified as the source of the fault. After replacing the light strip, a differential current in the uncritical low two-digit mA range was also measured on the previously faulty channel.
This has completely convinced the customer of Bender measurement technology. His finding: Without the installation of the residual current measurement technology, the fault caused by the defective LED strip light would never have been noticed. Even the Riso measurement prescribed as part of the periodic verification would not have brought the fault to light.
After this successful test, the hospital extended the project to the entire House 3. The measuring system is scheduled to go into operation in September 2023. Gradually, all other buildings of the University Hospital Brandenburg an der Havel are to be equipped with residual current measurement technology.
‘A hospital has to run. You simply can't afford outages. Saving on the power supply in a hospital would be fatal. You don't know what will happen.’
Head of Department Martin Schürer sees the biggest advantage not only in the time saved by the simplified periodic verification. The installation of residual current monitoring also reduces the risk of an electrical fire. However, he sees the greatest benefit for the university hospital in economic terms. With residual current monitoring from Bender, it is no longer necessary to switch off and disconnect devices and systems for periodic verification in accordance with IEC 60364-6. In addition, even the smallest changes in the electrical system are now detected, so that it is possible to react quickly if, for example, a patient connects a faulty mobile phone power supply or a computer or medical technology device is out of order. For Martin Schürer, one thing is certain: "A hospital has to run. You simply can't afford to have failures." And he adds: "Saving on the power supply in a hospital would be fatal. You never know what's going to happen.“
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Aufgezeichnet von Heiko Brattig 2023
Bilder © Universitätsklinikum Brandenburg, Bender
