Plate heat exchangers provide easy energy-saving solution for hospital
Leighton Hospital in Crewe has reduced its water-heating cots by an estimated 10 to 15% by upgrading its hot-water system to use two Spirax Sarco EasiHeat steam-to-hot-water systems. The update is also expected to reduce payments under the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.
This acute hospital has 540 beds, and this latest installation brings the number of EasiHeats at the site to 10. Six of the existing units supply LTHW for the space-heating system in the main hospital, and a further two units provide a combination of LTHW and DHW for some of the hospital’s outbuildings.
The latest systems will supply almost 90% of the DHW in the main hospital building, nearly completing the transformation from calorifiers to EasiHeat steam-to-hot-water systems in the main part of the hospital.
Brian Colley, energy and environment manager at the hospital, explains, ‘Our aims were to achieve a more accurate control of our outgoing water temperature, eliminate wasted energy due to storing large volumes of hot water and reduce/eliminate scheduled maintenance works regarding annual inspections. We have a lot of experience with plate-heat-exchange systems, which meant our decision to upgrade to the EasiHeat systems was an easy one to make.
‘Before we installed the EasiHeat systems we had to pasteurise the water by keeping it at 80°C for an hour before we could open it upon to the circuit. Then, because it is domestic hot water, we had to cool it down before it could be used.
The EasiHeat systems are also expected to reduce maintenance costs. Unlike calorifiers, which are pressure vessels and must be stripped down for annual insurance inspections, EasiHeats do not need to meet this requirement, saving substantial maintenance costs.
