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Nitrous Oxide Pipeline Test Protocol

Posted on April 23, 2023

Several hospitals in Australia have demonstrated large leaks of nitrous oxide that were not detected by the routine inspections required by Section 6 of Australian Standard 2896:2021. As N2O is a schedule 4 drug and significant greenhouse gas, any such leakage is unacceptable.

Most modern anaesthetic machines provide a digital measurement of N2O pipeline pressure.

We have developed a protocol for hospitals to test the entire pipeline system over a four hour period of zero demand. That means that during the test, alternative methods of administering N2O will be required (eg: entonox cylinders or N2O cylinders). The same principles and process can be applied to testing a ‘zone’ of a hospital. The protocol is based on the same principles used to commission a newly installed pipeline and go above the maintenance inspections required by AS 2896.

If you have any suggestions on how to improve this test protocol, please let us know. Similarly if you’ve had some success in using the protocol, let us know as well!

Download the Nitrous Oxide Pipeline Leak Test Protocol here

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