Upgrading Strategies For Hospitals
(Golden Jubilee Hospital)
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Future StrategiesRecommendationsFrom the modelling and cost benefit analysis results some suitable strategies have been identified. The two technologies that were investigated will be useful in the case study hospital but the successful application of these in other hospitals will be dependent on various factors. Heat Pump use is recommended in areas of hospitals that provide heating via HVAC systems where they can replace the heating coils. CHP use is recommended in all centralized hospitals, the question in this case is the fuel type to use. Combined Heat & PowerA CHP system could be installed in the hospital plant room. A natural gas CHP system would be effective to a certain degree but if the resource is available other alternatives should be explored. In the case study hospital the nearby distillery or timber-yard would be a suitable source of fuel for a biomass system. The natural gas system would make an effective reduction in carbon emissions at present. However there are two reasons why it is not the recommended system for the future. The first is that while a reduction in carbon emissions can be seen with CHP this is mainly due to the use of natural gas to produce electricity. This creates less carbon emissions than other fossil fuels which are used to power the national grid. The issue with this is that the national grid is moving to use more renewable energy each year. It is likely that in a few years natural gas will actually produce larger carbon emissions per kWhr of electricity than the national grid. The other reason is that when we performed a sensitivity study where the possibility of rising gas prices were considered it could be substantially more expensive to produce electricity by this method. Therefore if there were any problems in the future with natural gas supply to the UK this would financially unfeasible. Heat PumpsThese would be useful for incorporation into any areas where heating is supplied by the HVAC system rather than radiators heated by a boiler system. In this case the suggested technology would be Water or Ground Source Heat Pumps. This is due to the available resource with the nearby river and the unused portion of ground in the area. The choice between Heat Pump type depends on various factors, such as available resource for either Water or Ground Source, or Air Source if these resources are not available. In the case study the installation costs are higher for Ground Source but the maintenance costs are higher for the Water Source due to damage from flotsam on the river. ConclusionThe use of Combined Heat and Power and Heat Pumps in Hospitals will reduce carbon emissions at a relatively low cost. Whilst the two technologies can be approved, each hospital should be assessed for available resources and the ease of retrofitting technologies. This will mean a different design solution should be applied depending on the hospital situation.
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