Unique Customer Problem: Unnecessary Utility Consumption

For a recent customer, we supplied an equipment package of 11 autoclaves, varying in sizes from 20” x 20” chambers to bulk chambers, for a new state-of-the-art vivarium laboratory at a renowned medical school in the South Central US. The Beta Star team, with it’s raw plate to FAT approach, completed the design and manufacture at it’s company headquarters. Using company monitored warehouse space, Beta Star was able to store the sterilizers until the new building was completed.

After sterilizer installation and user training was completed, an issue which drove a significant increase in heat loss to room. In the bulk autoclave room, a vent fan was installed to pull out the heat released to the room once the sterilizer door is opened upon cycle completion. As designed, this step was a manual process that had to be written into the customer’s Standard Operating Procedures and executed by the laboratory technician. Not only was this process dependent upon manual execution after cycle completion and door unseal, it required that all cycles be completed during working hours to effectively mitigate heat loss to room. In addition, it frequently became a missed step for the laboratory technicians, who were rightly focused on conducting and monitoring their research.

The Beta Star Solution: Building Management System (BMS) Integration

From the outset of problem discovery, the customer and Beta Star’s Controls Engineering Team goal was to automate the fan operation to reduce utility consumption generated by the sterilizer’s heat loss to room. The custom developed plan, spearheaded by the Controls Team, created a connection between the new facility’s Honeywell Building Management System (BMS) and the Allen Bradley PLCs that power all Beta Star sterilizers. Through this connection, the exhaust fan system in the bulk sterilizer rooms would start upon door release and operate for 15 minutes. All of the parameters, such as fan initiation and operation time, were customized to suit the customer’s desires, and are programmable through their in-house BMS.

Are you experience problems with sterilization facility processes? Looking for a way to automate process steps to free up your technicians to focus on the search? Get in touch with Beta Star for a review of your existing problems.