A mobile fan container to optimize ventilation projects at hospitals


Hospital environments have extremely energy-intensive ventilation as air turnover is often 20-40 times higher compared to, for example, homes. The desire to reduce the risk of airborne transmission between different departments through the ventilation systems has also led to rebuilds and delimitations of ventilation systems. The fact that many hospitals have older and very large unit fans means that there is a great potential for energy savings by switching to more energy-efficient fans.

A collaboration between the company Luftfördelarna i Skåne AB and ebm-papst has resulted in a completely new type of mobile fan container with twelve of ebm-papst fan cubes.

“Hospitals are a sensitive and demanding environment where shut-off ventilation can quickly cause major problems. No matter how well large renovations are planned and carried out, with traditional routines there can be long interruptions in the air supply. We discussed the idea of ​​a mobile container with Jan Sörensen at ebm-papst who quickly set up and helped us with a solution.
After the container is lifted up on the roof, the connections go quickly and for a Covid-19 department that will have a new fan wall installed, this means that it is only an hour without the ventilation. It is a huge difference from what is usual and a big advantage is of course also that we can work in peace and quiet with the installation of the permanent fan wall ", explains Sonny Elgström at Luftfördelarna.




The next project step for Luftfördelarna is to move the portable fan container to another building to rebuild an existing fan there and replace it with ebm-papst fans mounted as a fan wall.

“We have been cooperating for many years now and ebm-papst is a safe and good partner for us. The choice of ebm-papst fans is based on the fact that they are so reliable, very quiet and enormously energy efficient. One of our hospital customers became fire and flames when it became clear how energy-efficient the fans are, and the possibility of energy savings is also a high priority for the hospitals. We also place great value on ebm-papst in Järfälla having all the capacity internally to quickly customize a solution such as the fan wall container, ”says Sonny Elgström.



Sales engineer Jan Sörensen at the local office in Hässleholm helped Luftfördelarna with the solution for the fan container, and the permanent fan wall that was installed. Jan notices a growing interest in the fan wall concept and he is not surprised given the great benefits.
“The stackable fan cubes significantly simplify installation when you want to replace older and often larger fans. The cubes can be installed separately and are easy to carry into buildings without having to tear down and make larger passages, stack on top of each other and connect with finished wiring and put into operation. This means that we can help our installation customers with tailored fan solutions that are scalable, economical, quiet and extremely energy efficient. Today there is an increasing focus on safety and the redundancy that the fan wall provides is another strength factor, says Jan Sörensen.



Fredrik Persson, who is production manager at ebm-papst in Järfälla, sees the fan wall container as a very interesting solution, and as further confirmation of how important it is that ebm-papst has all the resources for customer adaptations in-house.
“The fact that we have all the resources for design, production and final assembly internally means that we can act quickly and be very flexible. Other companies in the industry are usually more spread out over several units. We work close together with our customers to ensure smooth projects ”says Fredrik Persson



The fan container takes care of the ventilation while new fans are being installed

It is the cube fan MXFG35RP-3230 that has been chosen for this particular container solution, but the container concept has no restrictions as to what type of fans can be used.
The current cube fan is characterized by a very high efficiency, EC technology, integrated drive and control electronics and a very robust construction. The fan has an output of 2.68 kW and an air flow capacity of 5,900 m3 / h at 900 Pa. This means that the fan container has a total air flow capacity of 70,800 m3 / h. With the help of the fan container, it is possible to make modernisations of existing ventilation systems and new installations with a break of only 1 hour in the ventilation. The fan container takes care of the ventilation while new fans are being installed. It has recently been used when a hospital in southern Sweden built a Covid-19 ward where a new fan wall from ebm-papst was installed with the same type of cube fan as in the batten container.

"That the solution is so flexible that it is now also used in a mobile fan container is of course fun and I look forward to the next container solution that Luftfördelarna wants to develop", concludes Jan Sörensen