EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- When most people describe the necessary components for a comfortable and healthy experience at a hospital, the list includes knowledgeable staff, caring nurses, and generous visiting hours or more time to rest and recover. Sterile surgical equipment, room temperature control and hot showers are usually just an assumed part of any hospital stay.
The 96th Medical Group plans to keep it that way with its newly-installed water heating system that makes sterilization, heat, and hot water more modern and environmentally friendly.
The hospital’s previous water heating system ran at 300 horsepower and became increasingly difficult to repair after the system’s manufacturer closed. The new natural-gas burning system runs at 150 horsepower, making it more energy efficient and a greener technology.
The new system is comprised of three independent circuits: steam, domestic water, and climate control. Each circuit has its own backup in case of a failure or malfunction and only performs one of the three tasks necessary to the hospital’s operation. All three functions were previously reliant on a single system, so any malfunction had broad impact on mission readiness.
“When we took the boilers out, we separated the three systems,” said Ben Davis, 96th Medical Group Project Health facility officer. “So rather than ‘boiler goes down, everything goes down,’ this gives us a great deal of redundancy and continuity.”
Davis explained that to ensure uninterrupted operation, the entire system was built for “Need + 1.” As an example, the hospital has three boilers, but only needs two. Should something happen to boiler 1 or 2, boiler 3 turns on to ensure uninterrupted patient care.
“The primary purpose of ‘Need + 1’ is continuity of care,” said Davis. “The added benefit is when the boilers are up for their annual maintenance, one can be shut down entirely while the other two carry the load.”
The climate control circuit was engineered around a “Design Day,” or the expected heaviest and lightest use day that can be calculated from the hospital’s needs during extreme temperatures. This allows the hospital to handle the coldest day, while efficiently conserving energy on the hottest.
The domestic hot water circuit, for showers, sinks, dish washers and laundry, works by flash heating water to 140 degrees to kill any organic cells. Then, it is allowed to cool to 107 before being pushed into the pipes. Since the water is constantly being pushed, hot water is available almost immediately to any faucet in the hospital.
“Hand hygiene is an important part of infection control and patient care,” said Davis. “Without hot water, we would have to greatly curtail patient care.”
The new steam circuit provides sterilization to the hospital’s seven operating rooms, labor and delivery department, as well as kitchens, dining facility and cafe.
While knowledgeable, caring staff easily tops the list for a great facility, reliable hot water is one of the many behind the scenes and overlooked functions vital to the health and well-being of all the hospital’s patients.