Thursday, March 10, 2011

Case Study - Women's Hospital of Texas



Established in 1976, The Woman's Hospital of Texas (Woman's) is the state's premier facility
dedicated solely to the care of women and newborn infants. More than 30 years ago a group of physicians envisioned a hospital that met the health needs of women and fostered the understanding of how modern healthcare can improve the lives of women and their families. Woman's continues to build on the original premise reflected by its founders and is committed to its mission of providing compassionate and exceptional care to the women and infants it serves.

In 2008 Women’s Hospital went through a major renovation and expansion to the Hospital. Due to the size of the renovation it was decided that the existing old boiler plant needed to be replaced. The existing thirty year Cleaver Brooks boilers were to be moved to the new boiler plant. Due to increase in load the two boilers were not able to keep up, hence HCA Hospital’s (the owners of Women’s Hospital) descision to purchase a new boiler. The specification for the new boiler was written around Cleaver Brooks. It called for high turn-down (10:1) and low NOx (<30 ppm) operation. The CB boiler was purchased and installed. After one year of operation the new boiler had cycled 2076 times in the span of 488 hours, this equates to four or five cycles per hour. The turndown was calculated at 4:1 which does not meet the 10:1 specification requirement.


The local Weishaupt Representative (GOES Sales of Texas) met with HCA to discuss retrofitting the existing two Cleaver Brooks boilers. By providing a written guarantee of performance (10:1 turn-down @ 3% O2) , HCA decided to purchase new Weishaupt burners for the old Cleaver Brooks boilers. The existing 300 HP Cleaver Brooks boilers were retrofitted with new Weishaupt G60/2,3LN burners. The specification called for a 10:1 turn-down and less than <30 ppm NOx. It also called for the CB Hawk control system. To meet the CB Hawk specification, Weishaupt supplied the Prodocom Integrated Data Interface System. This system works in conjuction with the WF-M linkage-less control system and the building automation system to control both boiler systems. Boiler optimization included boiler rotation, firing rate modulation control, efficiency history, run time and more.



The Bottom Line: The first month of operation yielding 586 hours of operation with a mere 49 cycles. The burners were turned at 10:1 turn-down with O2 levels at 3%. The Weishaupt burners performed as expected, all aspects of the specification were achieved!