Medical gas valves are critical pieces of equipment at your medical facility. These components may be small, but they regulate the flow of vital oxygen and other gases to your patients, so they need to be kept in full working order. From time to time, they will need to be replaced.
But how often do these replacements need to take place? What can affect the efficiency of the valve, and what indicators may suggest a replacement is necessary? Read on to learn more about setting a replacement schedule for your medical gas valves.
PLEASE NOTE: This article is designed to provide a rough guide and includes a number of things to consider as you plan when to replace your medical gas tank valves. It is not designed to be a substitute for a professional inspection. If you are unsure about the efficacy or safety of any of your medical valves, remove them from service right way, and have them checked by the manufacturer.
Even if your medical gas valves seem to be working just fine, with no apparent problems, they will still need to be changed and replaced according to a regular schedule. While medical facilities and institutions are, of course, concerned with optimizing the returns they receive on their investment and extending the lifespan of their equipment, the care of patients and the health and safety of everyone on the site comes first.
With this in mind, medical facility managers need to remain aware of the Reasonable Usable Lifespan of the medical gas valves in their system. Generally, the Reasonable Usable Lifespan of medical gas equipment is five years — and your gas tank valves will need to be replaced after this five-year period has elapsed.
Other components of your system, such as the equipment that delivers oxygen directly to the patient, will need to be replaced more frequently. For example, the oxygen tubing will need replacing after three to six months of operation but may need to be changed sooner if there is any damage to the tubing.
Similarly, the cannula will need to be changed every two to four weeks. If the patient has been ill during this time, or if there is a chance of infection for another reason, the cannula may need to be replaced before the two weeks have elapsed.
Maintaining a regular repair and replacement schedule for your medical gas valves is very important, but your personnel will still need to be aware of other signs that replacement may be required.
Dirt, damage, and other issues can reduce the lifespan of the equipment or may reduce its efficiency. This is why regular inspections are important, as the patient can be put at risk if there are any problems with the equipment. Any medical facility or institution that uses medical gas valves and other similar equipment will need to carry out tests on a regular basis and remain vigilant for anything that could affect the operation of the valve.
Valves may need replacing in the following instances;
Medical oxygen valves will need to be regularly inspected by qualified personnel. Usually, this will be the medical professional tasked with operating the gas system, as they will usually have had appropriate inspection training alongside their operational training. The professional will check for blockages and other potential issues within the valve.
If there is dirt, grease, or another obstruction, the valve component will need to be removed and cleaned before it is passed fit for service again. If there is any damage or another defect, the gas tank valve will need to be replaced to ensure optimal safety and efficiency.
As medical oxygen equipment is designed to operate under pressure, it must be tested to ensure it can handle these operating conditions. This process will put the cylinder valve — i.e., the valve that regulates pressure from the gas source — and the pressure-reducing device’s inlet valve under strain. The inspector needs to check that they are working correctly.
After the equipment is connected, open up the pressure-reducing device’s inlet valve and the cylinder valve in turn and examine the pressure gauge for a response. If no response is visible on the indicator, you will need to get the equipment checked by the manufacturer, and the valves — or other components — may need to be changed.
Medical oxygen and gas equipment — including gas tank valves — is designed to be highly robust. In other words, it is tough enough to stand up to regular usage and can even withstand heavier impacts without endangering the health and safety of professionals and patients. However, this does not mean that the equipment is designed to withstand heavier impacts and serious incidents and remain fully operational.
Therefore, it is always best to err on the side of caution. While replacing your medical valves can be expensive, this is a far preferable situation to putting the lives and health of your patients and your staff in danger. If medical equipment is dropped, subject to extreme temperatures, or is otherwise damaged, it needs to be sent to the manufacturer for testing. If in doubt, do not use the equipment and replace the valves with alternatives that are passed as fit for service.
It’s true that your medical gas equipment, and the valve components included, are tough. However, you’re going to be using your gas systems for a long time — many, many years in the future — and so you’re going to replace them multiple times. This means documentation is required, providing an extensive resource that team members can refer to as they assess the operating history of the equipment. With this documentation, you will be able to ensure the ongoing efficacy of your systems and provide all important guarantees regarding health and safety.
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How do you ensure that your gas valves are fit for purpose? How do you handle maintenance and monitoring of gas systems at your facility? While expert help is vital for complex tasks, you can follow some safe best practices to support high levels of performance and safety from your valves.
It’s always better to call upon the experts when you need gas valve replacement or more complex system maintenance. Don’t leave anything to chance, particularly in the case of hazardous or corrosive gases. However, you can carry out simple maintenance and other tasks yourself to keep your gas system in good condition.
Often the best fix is the simplest, which is certainly true when it comes to maintaining chlorine valves or other gas system components. When valves are not performing as they should, this may be due to mineral build-up, dirt, or another contaminant causing a blockage or stopping the valve gate from opening and closing. Cleaning your valves is a good way to eliminate this problem, although the best policy is to be proactive with cleaning, preventing the problem before it arises.
Lubrication is necessary for valves within your gas system. An adequately lubricated or greased valve allows the gate to open and close more easily. In addition, it can also help the valve seal more effectively so that no gas travels through the junction when closed. When lubricating cylinder valves and some other valve types, rotate the valve as the lubricant is applied, ensuring that the valve capsule is fully coated. It’s also important to make sure that you select a lubricant designed for use within gas valves of a specific type — using the wrong lubricant can lead to a build-up of solids that blocks the valve aperture.
Valves have a specific lifespan, after which their performance begins to suffer. Facility managers will need to know when your valves were installed and how long before their replacement date. Regular expert maintenance work can help extend the lifespan of these valves but only up to a point. You will still need to schedule a replacement for your valves at the end of their lifespan — failure to do so can result in reductions in performance at best and regulatory compliance failures or even accidents at worst.
You and your team can carry out much of the monitoring and assessment of gas valves yourself. Take a look at a few simple best practices you can deploy at your facility.
Monitoring and assessment depend on an in-depth knowledge of your gas system infrastructure. This means a full audit of the system is required as you identify each valve’s maintenance and assessment needs. In addition, you’ll need to know:
Draw upon the information you have gained as part of your gas valve audit as you create a schedule for monitoring and assessing each valve. You’ll also need to consider manufacturer information — such as recommended inspection timetables and expected lifespans for each type of valve. Use all of this data as you craft an inspection schedule, ensuring all of the different gas valves across your systems undergo regular inspections.
Many potential problems with valves are visible to the human eye, and personnel will be able to spot these problems with some training and education. For example, gases such as ammonia, chlorine, or bromine tend to be corrosive and cause degradation and damage to the system or nearby surfaces and materials if the valve is not functioning properly. Therefore, check for evidence of this corrosion during the inspection. In addition, there may be other evidence of malfunction, such as deposits in and around the valve as the gas reacts to air.
It won’t be possible to rely entirely on visual inspections. In fact, you may find that your facility fails regulatory compliance tests if you do not have other monitoring and assessment methods in place. Again, gas leak detectors are critical here, as they provide insight into the health and function of your gas valves while also keeping your personnel and members of the public safe from harm.
Gas pressure monitors are also critical as you assess the performance and health of your valves. If there is an abnormal build-up of pressure within your system, this may be the result of a blockage or malfunction. While there are many different points within your gas system that could be causing this, gas valves are a likely candidate. As such, pressure monitors can help you keep on top of how these valves are performing.
Gas valve maintenance can be a challenging procedure, not to mention a high-risk one. If you are in any doubt during valve maintenance and assessment, or if you think the task is too difficult for you and your team to handle alone, call the experts. More complex maintenance and replacement tasks must be handled by trained and qualified professionals, eliminating any danger to public health. Carry out simple cleaning and monitoring on-site, but call in a professional service provider to help you with anything more complicated.