Energy
HOSPITALS SAVE LIVES , BUT
ARE THEY ABLE TO SAVE ENERGY ?
By Alistair Bell , technical support engineer Danfoss Climate Solutions
It ’ s a well-known fact that hospitals have always played a critical role in society and the wellbeing of people on a global level , becoming all the more vital over the past two-year pandemic period .
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Supplied | Danfoss
The business of saving lives however can be an expensive one , with the healthcare environment using a huge amount of energy to maintain 24x7x365 operations , ensuring that patients receive the care that they need , and critical equipment has a constant power supply . Rising energy costs have also become a significant challenge for these organisations .
THE ROLE OF HEATING , VENTILATION , AND AIR CONDITIONING IN HEALTHCARE A hospital ’ s heating , ventilation , and air conditioning ( HVAC ) systems can contribute to between 40 and 65 % of its total electricity consumption . In addition , 45 % of healthcare emissions are caused by electricity , gas , heating and cooling .
In order for a hospital to improve energy efficiency , cut down on energy costs by between 10 and 25 % and also reduce its carbon footprint , it ' s crucial that these systems be optimised , and done in the most cost-effective way .
Energy savings can be mainly achieved through electronic motor control . Traditional air handling solutions have AC motors connected to the main power supply – with speed
RACA Journal I March 2022 fixed to the frequency and voltage of the AC supply . These are designed for maximum capacity with valves and dampers to regulate flow .
Danfoss was the first company in the world to mass produce electronic variable frequency motor controls in 1968 , making it possible to disconnect the motor speed from the mains frequency and vary the speed of the motor .
Today , AC drives are an increasingly important component for optimising motor operation , and the system attached to the motor . They are being used in an expanding range of applications , with one of the main objectives being energy efficiency optimisation . Converting from fixed to variable speed in applications with varying load delivers significant energy savings .
• The benefits of AC drives for hospitals include the following : Fail safe with no trips : In hospitals , failure for any reason can jeopardise lives . Drives powering pumps and chillers must be highly reliable and virtually immune to mains supply disruptions . To achieve this reliability , drives need to be designed to ignore voltage sags and even short outages , maintaining full performance at all times .
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