Elements

Fully automatic shifting to reserve bank without fluctuating line pressure to the system.

High flow capacity for hospitals or any other medical gas installation.

Weather resistant case protects the internal components.

Easy-to-read LED lights to indicate the status of the manifold.

Audible alarm to indicate when the manifold shifts to the reserve bank of cylinders.

Gas continues to flow if primary power is interrupted; manifold returns to its previous stage when power is restored.

Primary power design accepts 115
or 220 AC volt.

Complies with NFPA 99 requirements.

Discription

The Medical Gas Manifold is fully automatic, including self-shifting to reserve bank on exhaustion of the service bank without interruption of gas delivery to the system. The unit complies with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Specification 99-1999 "Nonflammable Medical Gas Systems". All critical connections are gas specific, non-interchangeable, and designed to eliminate gas supply errors.

The dual line regulator/single vent 3000 Medical Gas Manifold Control Unit will include right and left header bars and pigtails for the appropriate medical gas. Also included for Nitrous Oxide and Carbon Dioxide gases only are heaters to guard against freezing. The installed system will automatically switch to the reserve bank when the primary bank is depleted. When the depleted cylinders are replaced with full cylinders the system will automatically reset itself in preparation for the next bank change. The primary side is the bank in use and the remaining side is the bank on reserve. This designation will automatically change from left to right and right to left as each bank is depleted and, in turn, refitted with full gas cylinders.

The LED indicator will show a depleted bank by turning red. A buzzer will also sound to indicate an empty bank or banks. When the system is reset by replacing the depleted cylinders, the indicator will turn green and will also silence the buzzer. If the manifold is connected to the health care facility’s central alarm system, that will also indicate that the bank was depleted and, in turn, reset.

The only manual activity the Medical Gas Manifold requires is the changing of the depleted cylinders.

When a bank is depleted, the Manifold will automatically switch to the fresh bank, delivering an uninterrupted gas supply to the health care facility. Changeover is performed by solenoid valves contained in the control cabinet. In the event of an electrical power failure, both solenoid valves shall automatically open to provide an uninterrupted gas flow.

Under normal operating conditions, the gas will leave the high pressure cylinders through the pigtails into the header bars. The pigtails have one-way valves (check valves) to allow the replacement of depleted cylinders without gas pressure back flow into the remaining depleted cylinders on that bank. In the event a safety relief device on an individual cylinder should activate or a pigtail should leak excessively, the local check valve will also prevent loss of gas from the rest of the cylinders on that bank.

The gas flows through the header bar to the Control Unit. A manually operated shutoff valve is installed downstream of each header bar. These valves are located outside the control cabinet, one on the right and one on the left side. The valves are normally left fully open to allow unrestricted flow of gas from the two cylinders banks. In case of an emergency, they can be closed to isolate one or both banks.

The gas flows through the manually operated shutoff valve into the primary regulator. This regulator reduces the high cylinder pressure to an intermediate pressure. The intermediate pressure gas flows through the solenoid valve to the line regulator for its final (line) pressure reduction for use in the health care facility. Two line pressure regulators are installed in parallel and each is capable of maintaining a constant dynamic delivery pressure at the maximum designed flow rate of the system.

The solenoid valve is the key to the "automatic" mechanism in the Manifold. This component ensures that the flow of gas is not interrupted and the pressure does not fluctuate during normal operation. When the operating bank pressure fails to a pre-determined level, which is controlled by the preset pressure switches (high and low), the switches will activate the electronically control board causing the solenoids to switch to the fresh (reserve) cylinder bank.

The Manifold control cabinet has three means of giving continuous information on the system status. First, pressure gauges to indicate the bank pressures and the delivery pressure. Second, six indicator LEDs, two green that indicate which cylinder is in use, two yellow for Reserve Ready and two red that indicate a bank is now depleted. Third, a loud audible buzzer gives an alarm when either or both banks are depleted.

The six indicators are controlled by sensing the bank pressure. Replacing the depleted cylinders on the empty bank resets the system, changing the indicator from red to yellow. At the same time the yellow LED will change to green to go from Reserve Ready to In Service. LEDs will show red prior to initial pressurization or whenever both cylinder banks are below the preset valve. The manifold is tested for proper operation prior to its shipment.