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PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS
Walter van der Linde, project manager and mechanical engineer in Royal
HaskoningDHV’s specialised cleanrooms division explained that there are
very few design specialists in the country capable of meeting the exacting
specifications required for BSL 3 graded laboratories and ISO 3 cleanrooms in
South Africa – Royal HaskoningDHV being one of them. “The contract involved
the design and site supervision of an ISO 3 Cleanroom, a BSL 3 Laboratory and
manufacturing lab for rapid diagnostic devices including all mechanical, electrical,
lab layout and structural services.
“The electrical services included the lighting, electrical reticulation to support
the mechanical equipment, the switched socket outlets and power supply to
the general lab equipment. Various services are supported by UPS and generator
power,” he explained.
The mechanical services included the Environmental Control System, the
UDAFs (Uni-directional Airflow), Autoclave, the effluent system, the fumigation
pass-through hatch, wet and gas services and the bio-safety cabinets.
“The cleanrooms team was also responsible for the lab layout and specifying
the partitioning type and the shell of the clean rooms and bio safety laboratory.
Input from our structural engineers was required to design the platforms which
supported the Air Handling Unit (AHU), Safe Change Filter Housing and the Exhaust
Fans,” he added.
Energy efficiency and sustainability were uppermost in our designer’s mind
and features incorporated in the Mintek design include:
• Chillers with a high coefficient of performance.
• The smallest required amount of fresh air is introduced to the AHUs
in order to pressurise the laboratories while meeting the National
Building Regulations.
• The laboratories are sealed to ensure that there are no unintentional
conditioned air leaks.
• Insulated Chromadek panelling serves as the partitioning and walls
of the laboratories.
“The specialised nature of cleanroom design means that within an existing facility,
there are bound to be challenges to overcome and the Mintek installation was no
different in this regard,” said Van der Linde. “The available plant space was limited
to start with and this was a challenging issue which we resolved with the help of
our structural engineers who designed the two platforms.”
MINTEK LAB WILL HELP
COMBAT DEADLY DISEASES
A new R13-million ISO 3 Cleanroom and BSL3
Laboratory was recently completed by consultants
Royal HaskoningDHV for Mintek in Johannesburg.
The facility will allow for the rapid development and
production of diagnostic devices that are capable of
diagnosing illnesses such as malaria in its early stages.
Early diagnosis and subsequent treatment is a crucial
life saver for those afflicted and is a major step forward
in disease control for the country.
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