MANCHESTER, CONN. — Challenged by tightening budgets, aging infrastructure, federal regulations and volatile energy prices, Manchester Memorial Hospital, Manchester, Conn., needed a complete overhaul of its systems, while not disrupting normal hospital operations.
The Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) is diligent in its efforts to reduce costs and enhance patient outcomes. One such project undertaken by the network was to update and replace Manchester Memorial’s old and inefficient systems —HVAC, lighting, building controls, water, fire and security. In particular, three 400-horsepower oil-fired boilers, installed in 1966, were outdated, bulky and highly inefficient.
After several years of exploring different options, Manchester Memorial Hospital decided to work with Miura as a part of a larger project to increase overall efficiency.
“Because we are a hospital, we had several uses for the boilers and several requirements,” explained Vinnie DeFrancesco, director of Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at ECHN. Uninterrupted service was paramount. “We needed N+1 redundancy and, looking at overall efficiency, as well as a combination of the physical number of boilers available, Miura fit the best.”
And, in order to maximize ROI, Miura partnered with the Building Technologies Division of Siemens Industry, Inc., to offer the most comprehensive energy conservation approach. Based on extensive energy studies, a primary focus for the project was to replace the hospital’s aging oil-fired boilers — for process heating —with four 150-horsepower, dual-fuel EX-150 SGO boilers from Miura.
The EX-150 SGO dual-fuel series feature an exclusive “low water content, water tube” design that makes it a versatile boiler. The once through, forced-circulation steam boiler produces steam in just five minutes, while maintaining an 85% fuel-to-steam efficiency. These boilers boast a gas-oil dual fuel burner: up to 300 BHP per boiler, and up to 4,500 HP in a multiple installation system.
Key to the boiler installation was the quick steam heat return. “These high-performance, stainless steel boilers can be shut off, turned back on and can produce steam in five minutes from a cold start,” said Jay Frisino, project manager for BG Mechanical Contractors, Chicopee, Mass., the installing mechanical contractor.
Compared to cast-iron boilers, “If you shut down and turn on the boilers too fast, the heat exchangers could crack,” said Frisino.
In addition to the on-demand steam and energy-efficient boilers, Miura provided a complete water treatment and remote monitoring system to concurrently increase the hospital’s conservation efforts. With the proprietary and eco-friendly corrosion inhibitor, Boilermate, alongside the advanced diagnostic and remote monitoring abilities of the BL Micro Controller, Miura’s total system integration not only addressed the current efficiency needs for the hospital, but the future needs as well.
“Having newer boilers certainly helps with a lot of the problems we have,” explained DeFrancesco. “In most of the cases, it wasn’t so much all the repairs involved with the boilers as it was all the other systems. You had the water treatment system, the deionizer tanks, the pumps, etc., but they weren’t automated. If we had to go to change a boiler, we had to turn one off, go turn on another — everything was a manual process.
Energy savings
Fulfilling the promises made alongside Siemens, the four new 150 HP, dual-fueled Miura Boilers are estimated to help Manchester Memorial save nearly half a million dollars per year in fuel and energy costs, and have helped the hospital qualify for a one-time utility rebate totaling approximately $1.2 million. The boiler retrofit alone has saved the hospital approximately $180,000 per year by reducing fuel expenses up to 35%.
The boiler retrofits will not only save the hospital a great deal of money, but will also benefit the hospital’s environmental impact. Miura boilers output significantly reduce greenhouse gases. The program between Siemens and Miura identifies a total yearly carbon footprint reduction for the hospital of 5,308,357 pounds of CO2.
“Significantly low NOx and CO2 emissions were another reason we chose Miura,” said DeFrancesco. “We actually just went through the calculations and emissions for our state GPLPE (General Permit to Limit Potential to Emit) reports, and we are now able to opt out of the high emissions generator [category] for those pollutants.”
The positive effects of the energy efficiency improvements as a whole — including the boiler retrofits — will not only reduce energy and water consumption significantly, but also will reduce operations and maintenance costs by approximately $28,500 annually.
In addition, the installation and transition from the temporary boilers to the new Miura boilers, according to Frisino, was seamless. “This was one of the easier jobs we’ve done over the years; we’ve had no problems at all.”