It’s no surprise that energy efficiency is the main driver of new technologies in the medical chiller market. Though their work is done behind the scenes, chillers play an important role in the everyday operations of the hospital — especially over the long run.

The right chiller can make all the difference in reducing energy costs, while a mediocre chiller can lead to shortened equipment life span or outright equipment failure. “Chillers generally go unseen by all except the maintenance staff. Yet they’re a critical piece of equipment that dramatically affects the capabilities of the machinery it serves,” says Kim Bernard, market manager of Dimplex Thermal Solutions.

So how should hospitals go about choosing the right size and type of chiller?

Unless you’re on familiar terms with the highly technical ins and outs of cooling systems, it can be difficult to make sense of the information on your own. The only way to know for sure is to check the equipment manual, look up the BTU rating and call an expert.

“Lot of times, it takes us talking to the customers,” says Kenyon Smith, president of KR Products. “The tricky thing is, you have to know the right questions to ask to get the right answers. But most contractors who’ve been in the business know what to ask.”

There’s a heavy price to be paid for ordering the wrong kind of chiller. “It’s all hell to pay,” says Smith. Buying, say, a seven-ton chiller for equipment that actually needs a ten-ton chiller means that the machine will fall short of adequately cooling its equipment. Eventually, the hospital will need to add onto the existing chiller or switch it out.

Depending on where that chiller is installed, this can create a logistical nightmare and a hefty financial hit, with money lost through equipment downtime and replacement. “We had one customer pay $1,200 extra to get a crane to replace the chiller,” Smith recalls. Coupled with the cost of the replacement chiller, this could run up to $31,200 in total costs.

That said, we broke down the latest trends in the market with the help of some experts to keep you informed of your options as you get ready to buy your next chiller.

Scrolling up
Here’s a secret: much of the technology currently being touted for medical chillers has been around for years, if not decades. But as reducing energy consumption becomes a main focus across all industries, these tweaks have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity.

Specifically, energy-efficient digital scroll compressors, already prevalent in the general chiller market, have started making their way into medical chillers. “It’s led to more accurate control of the fluid temperature,” says Solomon Reznik, vice president of CustomChill. But to get an idea of why this technology is better, it’s helpful to have a little background on compressors.

Scroll compressors (also known as scroll pumps) replaced less efficient compressor designs that operate with pistons. The key to their success is a spiral-based design: two high-precision spiral scrolls that mesh together in a circular motion to compress air.

But there’s one main flaw with this system. It operates strictly under two modes, ‘on’ or ‘off,’ which usually results in imprecise cooling that either undershoots or overshoots the amount of power needed to keep the temperature within a certain range.

And because anti-recycle timers are required to prevent overheating the compressor motor, the compressor can only be switched on or off a limited number of times in an hour.

By manually positioning the scrolls, manufacturer Copeland’s digital scroll compressors are able to rapidly switch between periods of inactivity and activity without actually turning the compressor motor on or off.

In practical terms, this means that a digitally controlled slide bar will automatically register when the temperature drops two degrees and increase the power from 10 percent to 20 or 30 percent to ensure that the temperature stays within the set range.

“In the past, it was just on or off, but now it’ll detect whether it needs to increase that load up to 100 percent,” says Smith.

However, not everyone swears by digital scroll compressors. Chillers manufacturer Motivair, for example, uses Danfoss’ inverter scroll compressors instead.

Instead of repositioning the scrolls, inverter scroll compressors use a technique called variable speed drive to vary the speed of the motor depending on the load, thus saving energy when the load is at less than maximum capacity.

From an engineering standpoint, the newer variable speed drive technology wins the energy efficiency battle, though both techniques reduce power consumption and allow for better temperature modulation. “They both do exactly the same thing,” says Graham Whitmore, president of Motivair. “Danfoss just went in a different direction.”

Speaking of speed, hospitals are increasingly focused on finding chillers that are able to come back online quickly after an electrical spike or a power surge. Though traditional chillers may take as long as 15 minutes to bounce back, this downtime is less than ideal for hospitals. Chiller systems that have quick-start technology that enable them to recover in a matter of seconds are now in high demand, experts say.

Take the heat
Another trend in the general chiller market that’s only starting to make its way to the medical side is heat recovery technology.“It’s been a trend for the last 12 months or so,” says Whitmore.

Heat recovery works just the way it sounds: by capturing heat that would otherwise be lost into the atmosphere and in turn, reducing building operating costs.

This feat is usually accomplished using at least two condensers. Taking advantage of the fact that hot refrigerant vapor moves to areas with the lowest temperature, the temperature in the standard condenser is turned up, causing the refrigerant to flow to the second, where the heat is transferred to the water flowing through the tubes.

The hot water can then be used for various purposes: it can heat spaces around the building, warm the reheat coils in air conditioning systems or be used for the bathroom, laundry or kitchen. Essentially, any building that requires both cooling and heating can make use of this technology.

Over the last two years, energy-efficient free cooling chillers have also been a primary area of focus for facilities looking to curb energy costs.

Free-cooling chillers take advantage of colder air temperatures outside to assist in chilling water — ideal for the central and northern areas of the U.S.

Whenever the outside temperature falls below the temperature set point, a valve allows all or part of the chilled water to bypass an existing chiller, directing the water instead through a special “free cooling” coil that makes use of the outside air temperature to cool it.

The end result? Refrigeration compressors automatically turn off as the system relies more and more on ambient air.

This technology brings some key benefits: chiller components are subject to less wear and tear because they‘re able to run less during winter months. And, of course, facilities stand to save a lot by reducing energy costs.

Copper vs. plastic
Certain manufacturers are also now using plastic piping in place of copper— a trend that’s causing some backlash. While this substitution may result in cost savings, some OEMs don’t think it justifies the drop-off in quality.

“We have found that plastic is not reliable out in the field,” says KR Product’s Smith. “Even though plastic companies will say it’s reliable, as far as what we can control in the chillers — it’s all copper and metal.”

According to Smith, chillers with plastic piping might work in a mild climate like Miami, Florida, but in Minnesota, where temperatures can drop to thirty degrees below zero at night, the changes in temperature might crack the plastic.

Motivair’s Whitmore is also cautious about switching over to plastic: “We have not yet approved or tested to approval level the use of plastic pipes — there’s no customer advantage. Really, the only advantage would be in manufacturing costs, but we haven’t proved it’s of any advantage to us,” he says.

The concern over cracked plastic also gets at an additional concern for customers:
as global warming continues to impact the weather, hospitals are now seeking chillers that can withstand even greater extremes in temperature, according to Dimplex’s Bernard.

“There is a demand for systems with high and low ambient operational ranges. Global climate change has caused sustained temperature extremes which has rendered what used to be a standardized -20 to +95 degrees F to be inadequate for some regions,” she says.

But as new chillers help to reduce energy costs and boost operational efficiency, perhaps going greener will help hospitals save some green as well. Here’s hoping.

DOTmed Registered Medical Chillers - November 2013 Companies

Names in boldface are Premium Listings.
Domestic
Kim Bernard, Dimplex Thermal Solutions, MI
Solomon Reznik, CustomChill, Inc., PA
Michaelle Serrano, Oxford Instruments Service, FL
Dave Baldwin, Cool Pair Plus, IL
Brian Kibbe, Haskris, IL
Jeremy Fox, Direct Medical Imaging, MN
Marc Fessler, Independence Cryogenic Engineering, NJ
Marshall Shannon, Image Technology Consulting, TX
DOTmed Certified
DOTmed 100
Randal Walker, Genesis Medical Imaging, IL