placement of electrical outlets in buildings with medical gases.

Question

placement of electrical outlets in buildings with medical gases.

tknorr (Agricultural)

(OP)

25 Jan 13 14:41

Hey I'm new to the forum. A question was posed to me about medical gas nitrous oxide (anesthesia) being heavier than air and thus requiring electrical outlets to be installed higher than normal due to the flammibility potential. Anyone have any knowledge of this?

IRstuff (Aerospace) · Answer 1 · 2013-01-25 15:13:18

Outlets in medical facilities are often at about waist level, but that may be more for convenience.

TTFN
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IRstuff (Aerospace) · Answer 2 · 2013-01-25 15:16:02

Oh, in any case, I was just in a dentist's office, and the outlets were along the floorboard.

TTFN
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waross (Electrical) · Answer 3 · 2013-01-25 16:58:56

I don't think nitrous is used anymore. There are specific codes governing electrical installations in areas where flammable gases are used medically. For some gases, the resistivity of the floor is specified. For instance the floor must have a high enough resistance value to prevent electric shock by conduction, but must still have enough resistance to prevent the buildup of static charges. I forget the exact values ranges but the code did specify the method of measuring the resistance of the floor. Fortunately much safer gases have been developed.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

DRWeig (Electrical) · Answer 4 · 2013-01-27 10:02:01

Hi tknorr,

Welcome to eng-tips, glad to have you here.

One caution: Posting the same question in more than one forum causes confusion, as discussions expand without coordination. Please have a read through the forum policies at Forum Policies.

I'll repeat my answer from the other post, for the benefit of those here.

Nitrous isn't flammable. It can accelerate the burning of things, though, like an atmosphere of enriched oxygen.

Documents:

http://siri.org/msds/mf/cards/file/0067.html
http://siri.org/msds/f2/bsn/bsnnh.html

Best to you,

Goober Dave

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placement of electrical outlets in buildings with medical gases.