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Ruby Overpowers Power Struggles

Pune's Ruby Hall Clinic (RHC) has proved that implementing a right strategy on energy conservation can help it become more successful, finds out Sonal Shukla.

In the wake of today's power shortage, one can certainly say that Pune's Ruby Hall Clinic's (RHC) far-sightedness in controlling energy consumption is indeed remarkable. For a hospital operational 24 hours a day, throughout the year, this decision early on has certainly helped.

The decision, taken in 1999, involved altering the internal systems of boilers, air-conditioning and lighting, thus reducing energy consumption to 3.5 per cent from the five per cent of expenditure earlier. And all this, without compromising on the quality of patient care.

Little wonder why in acknowledgement, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) has been giving the hospital a seven per cent incentive on tariff as part of achieving and maintaining power factor ONE for the last six to seven years. Power factor value measures the efficiency of industry's operations in energy consumption and MSEB rewards institutes that achieve power factor ONE.

Bit by Bit

"In energy conservation and management, reducing cost of energy involves trimming down fuel consumption or squeezing more out of the fuel and the electricity used," says Bomi Bhote, Chief Executive Officer of RHC.

To begin with, the hospital calculated the actual consumption of furnace oil of the two boilers that guzzled a substantial amount of furnace oil (nearly 8 to 10 tankers per month), as against the normal times. When compared, there was a considerable difference. "We decided to re-tune and re-fuel the boilers. Outsourcing this task to a consultant would be eating into the hospital's precious time. We looked for help within. One person with a navy background and an experience of tending to the boilers on the ship was allocated the task," explains Col RL Sharma, Hospital Administrator, RHC. Re-tuning the boilers brought down consumption of furnace oil to five to six tankers (each tanker =12,000 litres of furnace oil). In addition, the use of additives to the oil helped extract maximum efficiency of the furnace oil. When the molecular particles of the oil are burnt, complete combustion does not take place. The additives help burn the oil fully and generates more heat. A special software programme was implemented which studies and controls the carbon dioxide and oxygen ratio for efficient fuel burning in the boiler. This initiative helped make colossal savings of three to four tankers per month, at a time when prices of oil ranged between Rs 18 and 20 per litre.

Standing Out

The second area where power consumption had to be curtailed was in air-conditioning. RHC, with its huge strength of 565 beds, is spread out across eight buildings. All the sections of the buildings are air-conditioned, with some areas with standalone conditioners. This made identifying and locating the problems, if any, difficult. "Moreover, most of the times we discovered that air-conditioners were not switched off even when not in use. We installed energy savers (AC drives) on the machine. They sense the temperature and accordingly control the speed, thus saving on electricity," says Col Sharma. Other changes in the air-conditioning pattern were inculcating a habit among the staff to reduce the air-conditioning mode between two and four in the morning.

Energy efficient Screw Chillers

Variable Frequency Drive for secondary pumps- Electrical energy saving during HVAC

Smart Lighting

Electricity consumption was another concern where lighting alone added up to 30 per cent of the cost, with the remaining consumption being the usage of medical equipment, AC and lifts. RHC has 130 intensive care beds which require 85 to 90 per cent of lights to be on throughout the day and night.

The old lighting system had space for eight tube lights in each room. The hospital replaced about 9,000 tubes with energy saving tube lights of 24 Watts from the earlier 52 Watts. Today, each room has four energy saving tube lights as compared to the earlier eight. Although, energy saving tube lights are priced higher (Rs 850-900, five years ago) as compared with the old tube lights (Rs 50-100), it provides increased luminosity with lesser wattage. The hospital spent around Rs 35 lakh on the entire project and managed an initial savings of Rs 2 lakh per month.

Geysers & Solar Heaters

Next on the agenda was tackling the huge electricity consumption of 96 geysers. RHC was faced with two options: to heat the water through electricity or furnace oil. It had already developed a spare capacity of water heating through boilers using furnace oil. So, the hospital used the spare capacity of boilers rather than heating water through electricity.

Another cost-effective option was using solar energy in the nursing hostel. Today, solar heaters fulfill the hot water requirements of the hostel that has 400 nurses. On a cloudy day, when the solar heater does not work, it uses electric emulsion rods for heating. The water going into the boilers is pre-heated with solar energy. This has helped save the initial pre-heating time, and fuel.

A Comparative Analysis
THEN Geysers. Each room had 8 tubes. AC used 24X7. Boilers consumed 8 to 10 tankers of furnace oil.		NOW Boilers. This was replaced by 4 energy saving tubes. Energy savers installed on the AC machines and reduction in air conditioning mode between two o'clock to four in the morning. After re-tuning of boilers, it came down to 5-6 tankers.

A New Standpoint

Implementing each project calls for a thorough groundwork before taking strategic decisions. Like in the case of changing the tube lights, a study of the luminosity for each area was conducted. "Certain corridors that are hardly used, do not need high power lighting. We changed our lighting accordingly," explains Bhote. A lot of electricity was going waste in OT areas, laboratories, cath labs due to a careless approach towards usage. Electricity cut offs and wiring changes provided the required results. Switching off the boilers at night when usage is minimal, putting off equipment and ventilators when not required are simple steps that has helped reduce electricity consumption further. A reviewing of the projects every three months is followed by a rewarding mechanism. The hospital has set a quarterly target and the executing members of the team are rewarded financially as per their individual performance. The core maintenance team gather every month and review the work.

Challenges and Benefits

Convincing people about the changes was an essential element for the success of the projects. "After changing a few old tube lights, several staff members began complaining of the lack of clarity in vision.

We conducted a small trial wherein we put on the luxmetres and compared the luminance of old tubes with the new ones, which showed the ability of the new tube lights to provide more luminosity. It turned out to be a mere psychological barrier of the staff," explains Bhote.

Today, the electricity bill of the hospital has reduced to Rs 25 lakh per month, despite clocking a 30 per cent growth rate each year and skyrocketing rates of power and fuel. "Management of resources like manpower, time, electricity, fuel and instruments is the secret of success of any hospital. The profitability, viability and survival of a hospital depends on it," concludes Bhote.

sonal.shukla@expressindia.com