42
PROJECT
1
2
3
1.
2.
3.
4.
Circulation pumps ensure
the hot water reticulation
system can produce
hot water at any outlet
quickly and also eliminate
dead leg sections.
The air heat pump
installation.
Each section of the
hospital has a kitchenette
with a hydroboil unit.
Some of the drainage
pipes needed to be
galvanised due to the
chemical composition
and high temperatures of
some of the discarded
liquids that can reach in
excess of 120°C.
Cobra medical mixers were used as they are the hospital
group’s preferred brand of choice. The Cobra mixer
range offers spare parts that are always available, which
ensures the hospitals never have to experience downtime
due to lack of parts availability.
Alliance air heat pumps were chosen as they met the
requirement to heat the 600ℓ cylinder efficiently, to make
sure the supply of hot water to the hospital is always
sufficient.
Grundfos circulation pumps were used to ensure the hot
water is always circulating throughout the pipe system
with little to no dead-leg standings.
EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY
The wet services system is very efficient as it does
not rely on any mechanical force to pressurise
the system. Unfortunately booster pumps can fail
mechanically, and result in downtime for the hospital,
so with this being eliminated the hospital has one
less maintenance worry. This also makes it a very
sustainable system because all that is required is for
June 2019 Volume 25 I Number 4
4
the rooftop tank to have a water feed and the rest of
the system can work. This requires no electrical and
mechanical input.
Heat pumps were used to eliminate the dependence
on the municipality electrical grid, Heat Pumps are
one of the most efficient hot water heating systems
available, using the solar heat stored in the surrounding
environment. This provides approximately 75% of the
heat pump’s heating energy, with only 25% of external
energy required in the form of electricity to achieve a
heat output of 100%.
Aside from the efficiency of these systems, benefits
include continued substantial savings on electricity usage
– not to mention a lessened impact on the environment
at large. PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za