A new multi-million pound MRI scanner facility at NHS University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, is being cooled by high-efficiency chillers from Carrier.
Carrier’s heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) business is a part of Carrier, a leading global provider of innovative HVAC, refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies.
Three Carrier AquaSnap® 30 RBP air-cooled liquid chillers have been installed by mechanical and electrical contractor Whitehead Building Services for the project’s main contractor Kier, under the Designed for Life construction procurement and delivery frameworks set by the Welsh National Health Service.
The chillers deliver a combined cooling capacity of 900kW, and provide the stable, reliable cooling required to maintain the high-tech diagnostic equipment in peak condition. Chilled water is supplied to the scanners at 6 degrees Celsius and returned at 12 degrees Celsius, to begin the cooling cycle again.
The Carrier chillers have variable-speed water pumps and condenser fans to precisely match cooling output to current load conditions to maximise energy performance.
Equipped with Carrier’s Greenspeed® intelligence, the chillers have variable-speed water pumps and condenser fans to precisely match cooling output to current load conditions. This enables the system to operate with outstanding part-load efficiency, ensuring low carbon emissions and reduced running costs over the life-time of the plant.
Variable speed fans also deliver low noise, an important consideration given the hospital application, plus extended operational life due to reduced wear and tear on compressors, fan motors and other moving mechanical parts.
To safeguard the units from corrosion in the challenging coastal environment, condensing coils are protected by Carrier’s Enviroshield coil coating. This factory-applied flexible epoxy coating completely encapsulates and isolates the aluminium metal of heat exchangers from the surrounding environment.