ASI
Anesthesia Specialties
1484 Medina Rd. Suite 113
Medina, OH 44256
DGSS availabe in October 2010 from Anesthesia Specialties in Ohio and Michigan. Contact Jonathan Uber for more information or vist the Anesthetic Gas Reclamation ( AGR) website.
Dynamic Gas Scavenging System (DGSS)
Energy and Cost Savings Estimates
By reducing the total flow through your facility’s waste anesthetic gas disposal (WAGD) system, the installation of the DGSS interfaces will produce an energy savings of 90-95% in the ongoing operation of your WAGD vacuum system.
Most WAGD systems specify a flow of 50-75 liters/minute (2-3 cfm) from each anesthetizing location during normal operation. Unless the system is disconnected or shut down after hours, this flow is generated 24/7. So, during one week, one operating room requires (50 x 60 x 24 x 7) or 500,000 liters of WAGD flow from your vacuum pump. Now, if you are dedicated and disconnect your anesthesia machines every night, then you only use (50 x 60 x 40) or 120,000 liters of flow per week (from each OR).
Depending on your brand of anesthesia machine, using the DGSS interface will flow from 2-8 liters/min, and only when a case is in progress…so the weekly total per OR is (8 x 60 x 40) = 19,200 liters. The best case is 4800 liters/week (a 99% reduction in WAGD flow) with some anesthesia machines.
Energy saving depends on the cost of energy…using US average commercial pricing of $0.10/kWh and a pump using 400 watts per OR (.400 x 24 x 7 x $0.10) is $6.70 per OR per week or $1/day for each operating room.
Without the DGSS, generating this high flow requires that the vacuum pumps at your facility run almost continuously. At our home institution, the normal “duty cycle” (percentage of time running) was about 92% - with the DGSS the duty cycle is now 8%. The life-expectancy of a vacuum pump would be significantly extended. With a 90% reduction in duty, the life-span could be as much as 3-4 times expected…
A surgery center with 5 operating rooms requires a WAGD system costing $15,000 ($3000/OR) with a lifespan of 3-5 years ($1,000/OR/year). Conservatively, doubling the life of the system would save another $15,000 or $1000/OR/year…with energy and pump-life savings you will pay for the cost of your DGSS system in under a year.
AGR Anesthetic Recapture System
The AGR recapture system is a cryogenic condensing system used for the recapture of waste anesthetics from a suite of 6-10 operating rooms. In conjunction with the DGSS system, it provides for a 98-99% reduction in emissions of halogenated anesthetic emissions from an operating room suite or ambulatory surgery center. It is fully tested but not yet in large-scale production. (Availability coming soon)
