Zevacor Molecular, a healthcare firm that manufactures PET and SPECT radiopharmaceutical products, installed the first and largest commercial 70-million electron volt (MeV) cyclotron dedicated to producing medical isotopes for the global market. Based in Noblesville, IN, Zevacor’s primary focus is to manufacture Strontium 82 and Germanium 68, although it is capable of producing a wide variety of other radioisotopes (atoms with excess energy) for both research and clinical applications.
“Each of these drug products have a certain affinity within the body and will preferentially go to the targeted disease,” said Todd Hockemeyer, Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at Zevacor. “It’s kind of like a car and driver. The driver is the radioactive isotope connected to a chemical, the car, which will go to a certain place in the body. Often a PET scan is combined with a CT scan to match it up with your anatomical body to see which organs the radioactivity, and therefore the disease, might be located in.”
The 70 MeV, 140-ton cyclotron was manufactured by Ion Beam Applications (IBA) in Belgium. The cyclotron is housed in an 11,000-cubic-yard concrete vault with 300 tons of reinforcing steel rod. It required more than 1,300 trucks of concrete to complete the project. On one Saturday, over 300 trucks made one continuous pour to create the foundation, as this “raft” cannot shift and have a deflection of more than 1 mm without degrading the energy beam.
Manufacturing Strontium 82 requires a lot of energy. Most of the equipment involved in the process is powered pneumatically with compressed air, but Zevacor estimates its annual power bill at $1 million, with three-fourths of that energy spent cooling water to keep the cyclotron and targets from overheating.
Viega ProPress was used on the HVAC lines
“The heat from highly purified water used to cool the targets and critical cyclotron components is transferred to another isolated chill system filled with purified water,” Hockemeyer said, “which is then cooled by a chill water system using water from the local utility.”
The cyclotron is housed with six other vaulted areas, each supplied with two separate sets of copper pipes—one for feed water to make the purified water supply and the other to extract the heat. Because purified water is extremely corrosive to copper, the copper pipe does not come in contact with that water. It only goes to the filtration system that purifies the water upon which it is transferred to the target through a PVC line.
“The integrity of that chilled water system is critical,” Hockemeyer said. “If the cooling system shuts down, so does our cyclotron.”
That’s why Zevacor chose Viega ProPress for copper over soldering.
“We understood how important it was to have highly purified water and a water containment system that’s reliable and doesn’t leak and doesn’t fail,” Hockemeyer said. “The cost of a failure is far in excess of any money we might shave off the installation process because we used welded fittings.”
Zevacor also chose Viega to reduce the danger of contamination and particles in the piping, which can become radioactive and create different problems with hazardous waste water.
Viega
800.976.9819
insidesales@viega.us
For the complete story, visit the Viega website here.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 1, 2022
New Phoenix VA outpatient clinic is one of the largest veteran care facilities in the U.S.
The new Phoenix 32nd Street VA Clinic, spanning roughly 275,000 sf over 15 acres, is one of the largest veteran care facilities in the U.S.
Building Team | Jul 12, 2022
10 resource reduction measures for more efficient and sustainable biopharma facilities
Resource reduction measures are solutions that can lead to lifecycle energy and cost savings for a favorable return on investment while simultaneously improving resiliency and promoting health and wellness in your facility.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 22, 2022
Arizona State University’s Health Futures Center: A new home for medical tech innovation
In Phoenix, the Arizona State University (ASU) has constructed its Health Futures Center—expanding the school’s impact as a research institution emphasizing medical technology acceleration and innovation, entrepreneurship, and healthcare education.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 20, 2022
Is telehealth finally mainstream?
After more than a century of development, telehealth has become a standard alternative for many types of care.
Codes and Standards | Jun 14, 2022
Hospitals’ fossil fuel use trending downward, but electricity use isn’t declining as much
The 2021 Hospital Energy and Water Benchmarking Survey by Grumman|Butkus Associates found that U.S. hospitals’ use of fossil fuels is declining since the inception of the annual survey 25 years ago, but electricity use is dipping more slowly.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 13, 2022
University of Kansas Health System cancer care floors foster community and empathy
On three floors of Cambridge Tower A at The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, patients being treated for blood cancers have a dedicated space that not only keeps them safe during immune system comprising treatments, but also provide feelings of comfort and compassion.
Sponsored | Healthcare Facilities | May 3, 2022
Planning for hospital campus access that works for people
This course defines the elements of hospital campus access that are essential to promoting the efficient, stress-free movement of patients, staff, family, and visitors. Campus access elements include signage and wayfinding, parking facilities, transportation demand management, shuttle buses, curb access, valet parking management, roadways, and pedestrian walkways.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 19, 2022
6 trends to watch in healthcare design
As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, IMEG’s healthcare leaders from across the country are seeing several emerging trends that are poised to have wide-ranging impacts on facility design and construction. Following are six of the trends and strategies they expect to become more commonplace in 2022 and the years to come.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 14, 2022
Healthcare construction veteran creates next-level IPD process for hospital projects
Can integrated project delivery work without incentives for building team members? Denton Wilson thinks so.
Market Data | Apr 14, 2022
FMI 2022 construction spending forecast: 7% growth despite economic turmoil
Growth will be offset by inflation, supply chain snarls, a shortage of workers, project delays, and economic turmoil caused by international events such as the Russia-Ukraine war.