by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | November 24, 2014
From the November 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“If there’s at least a slight redundancy, you can limp by until you get things fixed,” says KR Products’ Smith. “I ask my customers how bad it would be if their MR was down for two days. When I hear, ‘That would be terrible!’ it’s obvious if it’s that important, we should look to split into two separate units.” Two units cost more up front says Smith, but if you need a 10 ton and instead go with two five-tons, even if one goes down, you can still do some scans and certainly keep an MR magnet cool if it’s not being used.
Redundancy can also help keep repair costs lower. If an extra day or two of running on backup won’t be a disaster, it allows for more economical shipping of parts. “With redundancy, we have very few jobs where we have to rush a 500-pound package across the country,” says Dimplex’s Bernard. “We’re able to ship most parts ground.”
Bernard says the majority of Dimplex’s systems are configured with eight fans and four compressors, allowing for substantial redundancy, but some custom-made systems go even further. And the company engineers a little extra space in case more capacity is needed. She also says chillers with multiple modules can be very beneficial because if one module goes down, the others can still soldier on, allowing a facility to perform most, if not all of their usual procedures while the out of commission module is being repaired.
Chiller choices to keep in mind
Chillers have essentially remained the same over the years, but some changes like digital options are new. Among the most exciting updates is the digital scroll system. This advancement allows for more precise cycling of chillers. Rather than just having an on/off, digital scrolls allow for a chiller servicing an idle MR for example, to ramp down to maybe 10 percent power. The savings through cutting energy costs can be quite dramatic.
Although the digital scsroll compressors may ring in with a price of about 15 to 20 percent higher than standard scroll compressors, according to KR Products’ Smith, they can pay for that difference in about a year and a half. And with chillers lasting an average of 12 to 15 years (and some still humming along after two decades) that savings can be huge over time.
Still, it’s more budget sensible to make sure you get the chiller you need, or will need without going overboard. “I’m shocked sometimes, I go out on a job I wasn’t involved in and find a chiller much larger than it needs to be,” says King. “Sometimes, being dramatically oversized can cause problems.” Taylor offers his own advice. “Quality parts and construction are key, but so is accessibility to parts. You can have the best chiller in the world, but if you can’t get the parts when you need them, it’s not going to be of use to you.”
