Ecostars in efficient hospital system
21st October 2016
UK: Bitzer Ecostar condensing units are at the heart of what is described as a new high efficiency refrigeration system installed at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust.
The project, carried out by Adcock Refrigeration & Air Conditioning in conjunction with Serco Health, involved the installation and commissioning of four Bitzer Ecostar refrigeration systems linked to 17 evaporators within the Norwich hospital’s catering department.
The system, which runs on refrigerant R407F, replaces existing cooling equipment serving food preparation and storage rooms in the Serco catering facility, which had reached the end of its operational life.
The new installation includes both medium temperature chill rooms and a number of low temperature freezer rooms.
With more than 1000 beds, the hospital is one of the largest in the UK in terms of inpatient capacity. A key requirement of the project was to ensure that patient services remained unaffected by the works, and the catering department was able to continue to function as normal. This required careful planning, with a phased programme of installation and decommissioning to avoid disruption.
The project included new control systems for evaporators, including full network integration to an existing Building Management System (BMS).
