Page 34 - Energize January 2022

NEWS

Hospitals save lives, but are they able to save energy?

veryone knows that hospitals play a critical role in the Real-life examples
wellbeing of people and particularly so during a pandemic. Danfoss has assisted a number of hospitals worldwide in optimising
EHospitals, however, require a huge amount of energy to energy efficiency and saving costs, while ensuring stable, optimal
maintain continuous operations and to ensure that patients thermal conditions for patients, visitors, professionals and equipment.
receive the care that they need. One example is MERSIN University Hospital in Turkey, a modern
facility of 170 000 m2 with more than 1000 beds, which is saving costs
The role of heating, ventilation and air conditioning in while also reducing its carbon footprint and improving indoor comfort.
healthcare Originally, the MERSIN hospital was designed with a traditional
A hospital’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) district cooling system, applying constant flow and hydraulic
systems can contribute to between 40 and 65% of its total coupling. This type of system requires major investments in a large
electricity consumption. Furthermore, 45% of healthcare number of pumps and manual balancing valves. Added to this, the
emissions are caused by electricity, gas, heating and cooling. solution carries high installation and commissioning costs and the
“Thus, in order for a hospital to improve energy efficiency, cut technical installations take up valuable space.
down on energy costs by between 10 and 25% and also reduce its
carbon footprint, it’s crucial that these systems be optimised, and After the initial dialogue, Danfoss proposed an alternative solution;
done in the most cost-effective way,” says Alistair Bell, technical a variable flow system with Pressure Independent Balancing and
support engineer Danfoss Climate Solutions, Turkey, Middle East Control Valves (PIBCV). After careful evaluation of the automatic
& Africa. balancing solution, the consulting engineers in charge of the system
Energy savings can be mainly achieved through electronic design and the construction company that owns the building were
motor control, he explains. “Traditional air handling solutions have convinced to go for the variable flow system, first and foremost due
AC motors connected to the main power supply – with speed fixed to the following advantages:
to the frequency and voltage of the AC supply. These are designed • Significant reductions in initial investment costs by eliminating
for maximum capacity with valves and dampers to regulate flow.” zone pumps and the number of valves
“Danfoss was the first company in the world to mass produce • A decrease in installation and commissioning costs through less
electronic variable frequency motor controls in 1968, making it complexity, and by using automatic balancing valves that require
possible to disconnect the motor speed from the mains frequency no manual balancing
and vary the speed of the motor,” he continues. • Reliable and precise flow control and perfect cooling at all times
“Today, AC drives are an increasingly important component • Easy integration into the building management system (BMS) with
for optimising motor operation, and the system attached fewer control points, and freed-up space, leaving room for the
to the motor. They are being used in an expanding range of vital functions of the hospital.
applications, with one of the main objectives being energy
efficiency optimisation. Converting from fixed to variable speed in The hospital also noted several advantages in terms of energy and cost
applications with varying load delivers significant energy savings.” savings in the daily operation of the cooling system. Among others, the
organisation has been able to lower the energy consumption of the
The benefits of AC drives for hospitals include the following: pumps, the chiller efficiency has been increased, and the heat loss on
• Fail safe with no trips: In hospitals, failure for any reason can the return lines has been minimised. Furthermore, patients and staff
jeopardise lives. Drives powering pumps and chillers must have expressed their satisfaction with the pleasant indoor climate that
be highly reliable and virtually immune to mains supply facilitates recovery and general well-being.
disruptions. To achieve this reliability, Danfoss AC drives are
designed to ignore voltage sags and even short outages, Contact Lynne McCarthy, Danfoss Turkey, Middle East & Africa,
maintaining full performance at all times. mccarthyl@danfoss.com, www.danfoss.com
• Reliable harmonic mitigation: While AC drives increase
precision, save energy and extend application lifetime, they
also introduce harmonic currents to the hospital grid. If
not kept under control, harmonic currents can affect the
performance and reliability of generators and other equipment.
• Hospital drives are operation critical: Danfoss AC drives
enhance and support the operation and reliability of complex
hospital HVAC systems. Regulating air flow, humidity and
temperature, smart operation ensures patient and staff
comfort and safety – also in the event of fire – while optimising
conditions in operation rooms and wards.

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