Few pharmaceutical products are used as extensively around the clock in hospitals as medical compressed air. It is essential for ventilating all patients and, along with oxygen, is the most important medical gas of all. Only the certified conditioning system with filter and drying stages turns the compressed air into a pharmaceutical product, which is then fed directly to the patient via the central supply network. Medical Air Ensure (MAE) from Dräger sets standards here as an efficient and safe conditioning unit.

Medical Air Ensure meets the requirements for conditioning medical compressed air in accordance with the EN ISO 7396-1 standard and the guidelines specified by the European Pharmacopoeia. The guidelines govern compliance with safety limits for carbon oxides, oil vapors, sulfur dioxide, nitric oxides, and water vapor. A mechanically and hygienically safe system network in hospitals can only be operated with reliably filtered and dried compressed air. The ideal MAE unit with settings individually configured for each hospital can be selected from a total of 12 different sizes and two model series depending on needs and system parameters.

Several filtering and drying stages in the MAE remove harmful gases, oil, and water from the compressed air. On the input side two differently graded coalescing filters trap particles and aerosols such as drops of oil and water. Both water vapor and carbon dioxide are absorbed at the drying stage. A layer of activated charcoal and a catalyst made up of various metal oxides reduce oil vapor residue and carbon monoxide. The filling uses the entire volume of the column. This allows it to develop its full effect and makes it economical to use. A dust filter and a bacteria filter trap both dust and bacteria before the air is fed into the supply network.

The compressed air in the MAE is thoroughly dried in order to prevent the release of condensation, thus allowing the air to be purified with activated charcoal and catalyst. The water vapor is taken up by the drying agent in a drying column. After the set time or once the dew point sensor has detected the saturation of the drying agent, the MAE’s control unit switches to the second column, which has been regenerated beforehand. The air duct and control unit on the MAE ensure that the air is optimally dosed, evenly distributed, and fed through the dryer with no pressure surges. This guarantees optimal and energy-efficient drying performance, while protecting the material to ensure safe function and a long service life.

Medical Air Ensure meets all the requirements needed for certification as a medical device together with the entire compressed air system. It has been developed in accordance with the strict requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia and the EN ISO 7396-1 standard. Compliance with all safety limits has been carefully tested under laboratory conditions and the permissible input concentrations have been established. When devising the drying cycles for Medical Air Ensure, particular attention is paid to the safety limit for carbon dioxide, which is increasingly becoming a more topical issue due to its negative impact on the environment. Prepared in such a way, Medical Air Ensure can be used modularly for medical compressed air with all compressor systems. This flexibility applies to both new installations and existing system overhauls.

The Medical Air Ensure is the result of a continuous process of innovation and thus a manifestation of Dräger’s long tradition of expertise in the area of measuring and managing pressure. The innovative features of the MAE include:

• “DryAdjust” – the Dräger concept for configuring the MAE to be compatible with operating conditions in hospitals
• “FlowSecure” – designed to prevent the system volume flow from being too high
• “PressureGuard” – immediately detects changes in operating pressure
• “VaporCut” – used as an efficient measure to protect the drying agent from condensation.