Where should medical air piping systems at different operating pressures separate?

The optimal location for separating medical air piping systems that operate at different pressures is at the filters. This is because filters are specifically designed to remove contaminants and particulates from the gas stream, ensuring that the air provided to patients or medical equipment is clean and safe. When medical air systems operate at distinct pressures, having filters at the separation points helps maintain the integrity and quality of the air, preventing any cross-contamination between the systems.

Separating at filters also ensures that different pressure levels do not affect the filter's performance, maintaining the necessary standards for medical gas applications. This practice is vital for compliance with regulations and safety standards in healthcare environments, where the purity and pressure of medical gases are critical for patient safety and the proper functioning of medical devices.

While final line regulators, relief valves, and source valves have essential roles in controlling pressure and flow, they are not the ideal points for separation when addressing different operating pressures in medical air piping systems. Regulators control the output pressure to specific devices, relief valves are safety mechanisms that prevent overpressure, and source valves are used for isolating sections of the gas supply. Thus, filters serve the specialized purpose of ensuring cleanliness and safety in the medical air supply, making them the correct choice for separation based on