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Vaporstream® humidifier meets critical need for humidity control in Rikshospital burns unit

View of the atrium in the Rikshospital, Oslo

Bygg Automasjon recommended Vaporstream humidifiers, with the understanding that they would have to guarantee performance and absorption characteristics.

When the new Rikshospital, Norway's largest opened in Oslo in 1999, it quickly became apparent that the originally-installed humidifiers could not maintain stable, reliable humidification. Particular concern was in the skin culture laboratory of the burns unit, where relative humidity must be consistently maintained at 60% -- with no more than a 1% fluctuation -- or skin grafts are rejected. The installed electrode boiler system was unable to meet this specification because frequent draining and filling cycles caused larger than acceptable humidity fluctuations. In addition, electrical interference from the electrode humidifiers was negatively affecting the nearby magnetic resonance imager. Clearly there was a critical need for another solution.

Christian Gamborg, the hospital's Chief Engineer, contracted consulting engineers at Technoconsult who recommended a change to resistance type electric humidifiers of the type used on North Sea oil platforms for reasons of reliability and safety. Technoconsult engineers then called in Bygg Automasjon A/S, the DriSteem distributor in Norway, to create a new and more demanding specification. Bygg Automasjon recommended Vaporstream humidifiers, with the understanding that they would need to not only provide a standard two-year warranty, but they would have to guarantee performance and absorption characteristics as well.

 

A Vaporstream Model VLC-9-1 installed in the Rikshospital, Oslo

DriSteem's Vaporstream Humidifiers were installed by the building service engineers, with technical assistance provided by Bygg. The relative humidity in the skin culture laboratory is now predictable and stable. The burns unit is able to help more patients more effectively, and the hospital is able to keep maintenance costs down.

Brian Lynch contributed to this case study.