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The Power Of Green

Batra Hospital's energy conservation programme has earned it the prestigious National Energy Conservation Award. Sonal Shukla enumerates how they reduced electricity consumption

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. That is the mantra New Delhi-based Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre (BHMRC) has diligently practised for the past two years. And it's already reaping rich dividends in terms of an impressive Rs 12-15 lakh reduction in monthly electricity bills. The Hospital recently received the prestigious National Energy Conservation Award of the Government of India for the year 2007.

An escalating electricity bill (around Rs 50-60 lakh monthly) and the pressing energy crisis compelled the 500-bed hospital, the largest in the capital, to look for efficient alternatives that would not burn a hole in the pocket. Thus came into being the Energy Conservation Project.

Incidentally, the programme, originally aimed at cutting energy consumption, has gradually inspired many other environment-friendly drives like water recycling, horticulture, rainwater harvesting and solar energy plant in the Hospital premises. "As a hospital consumes large amounts of electricity and water, even 1-2 per cent of conservation reduces cost sizably," explains Ashok Pradhan, CEO, BHMRC.

Addressing the Energy Guzzlers

Replacing conventional chokes: The first step was identifying the high-cost areas. The lighting system consumed almost 50 per cent of the total energy. So it was the first area to be addressed, with the old conventional chokes being replaced by newer advanced electronic chokes. "Conventional chokes consume 15 watts per fitting and normal tubes consume about 40 watts. Therefore, 55 watts was the total consumption. We changed them to electronic chokes which minimised transmission loss by 36 per cent and the energy consumption was reduced to 35 watts leading to 20 watts energy conservation per fitting," explains Ujjal Majumdar, Chief Engineer, Energy Conservation Project.

Removing conventional bulbs: The next step was changing over from conventional incandescent lamps to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). "This transition has reduced the energy consumption without compromising on the luminosity. For instance, the 11 watt CFL gives as much light as an ordinary 60 watt bulb," shares Pradhan.

Even though switching over to CFL lighting entailed initial investment of Rs 1 lakh, the Hospital is not complaining, simply because CFL lights are also more durable.

While the Sun Shines

"We have installed a state-of-the-art Reverse Osmosis (RO) water treatment facility and other treatment methods to achieve 'zero' effluent status" - Ujjal Majumdar Chief Engineer Energy Conservation Project

The Hospital's energy conservation drive is not just limited to saving on conventional energy, but has cleverly utilised the bigger and cheaper source of non-conventional energy too. Another investment of close to Rs 1 crore was made to set up a massive solar water heating system to reduce the electricity and oil consumption for heating purposes to practically 'zero'. Three hundred and eighty solar water-heating panels were installed on top of two buildings in the Hospital premises. The capacity of the solar energy plant is about 43,500 litres/day and the estimated savings are about Rs 30 lakh per annum with an investment of Rs 96 lakh.

With this solar heating plant, the Hospital is now able to provide hot water to patients 24x7 economically. A significant part of this solar power is used for assisting the laundry service in the Hospital, one of the highest water and electricity-intensive units. Earlier, boilers were used for hot water. "We were using a lot of expensive diesel oil. At Rs 30 per litre, we used Rs 1.4 crore worth of diesel per year," says Majumdar.

Now, solar energy has drastically reduced that expenditure by 75 per cent. The water is now heated up till 65 degrees through solar energy and is utilised for domestic purposes in the Hospital.

A separate system has also been put up to match the requirements of the Hospital's laundry unit, whereby the water is heated up till 85 degrees through solar energy. "This water is then further heated to 120 degrees with the help of fuel. However, the fuel requirement is much less now than earlier," says Majumdar.

The Hospital has nine water harvesting systems in place Picture Courtesy: Amit Mehra

Electronic chokes reduced transmission loss by 36 per cent

Recycling for the Better

Besides reducing the consumption and wastage of precious energy resources, reusing them by various means was the project's main agenda. A wastewater treatment plant was therefore installed. The wastewater generated in the Hospital is today treated to conform to the norms of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and over 30 per cent of it is used for horticulture and laundry.

The balance is presently being discharged as treated effluent. "We have installed a state-of-the-art Reverse Osmosis (RO) water treatment facility backed up by other required physical and chemical treatment methods to achieve 'zero' effluent status," states Majumdar. The RO system recycles 200 kilolitres of water per day which would normally go down the drain. While the water treated with RO is potable, the Hospital is averse to using it for its patients. "We do not want to take any chances," Pradhan admits.

The Hospital plans to use this recycled water for cleaning toilets by connecting it to separate supply lines.
"To that extent, we will be replacing the use of fresh water. Our Hospital has two large buildings spread over 12 acres, and since they are 20-year-old we will have to lay new lines. Hence, this project will take some time to kick-start. However, we are planning a new 11-storey building in which we will certainly apply these changes," shares Pradhan.

Harvesting Rain

While rainwater harvesting has been quite popular as a concept, not many healthcare institutes have applied this wonderful tool. Hence BHMRC's initiative is laudable, especially considering that the Hospital has not implemented it as a cost-saving strategy, but entirely as an environment-friendly initiative. "Under this project, a sizeable amount of water is collected during the rainy season," shares Pradhan. In the first stage of this project, nine rainwater-harvesting systems have been developed covering the entire Hospital complex.

Other Measures

The reverse osmosis plant for wastewater treatment Picture Courtesy: Amit Mehra

Using solar panel has helped reduce electricity consumption

Other small operational changes led to further efficient energy management. BHMRC has a centralised air conditioning system. The Hospital rationalised Air Handling Units (AHUs) and placed Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs), which further helped make systems energy efficient. "The performance of all the AHUs was measured and it was found that some were operating inefficiently. In some cases, the power consumption of the blowers was on the higher side, even though they were not delivering enough air," states Majumdar. New AHUs were installed in the ground floor OPD, X-Ray, simulation room, doctors' rest room, brachytherapy and oncology OPD. As the air flow varies depending on the area of installation, it was decided to install VFDs - a system for controlling the rotational speed of an Alternating Current (AC) electric motor by controlling the frequency of the electrical power supplied to the motor in the blowers and in the CT (Cooling Tower) fans. This has taken care of the varying loads and has also cut power consumption.

Boiling Water

BHMRC has two boilers (one standby) that generate steam at a pressure of 7.5 - 8.5 kg/cm2. The flue gas temperature was measured to be 280 degrees C. This high temperature decreases the efficiency of the boiler. "We decided to install an economiser in the flue gas path to recover the heat from the flue gases. This would heat up the boiler feed water and hence the total system efficiency would increase," explains Majumdar. The economiser was installed with two boiler feed water tanks.

The Hospital started using steam from the boilers to meet the hot water requirement at the new Hospital building, thereby sidelining the hot water generators which are less energy efficient. The Hospital has a decentralised system of boilers for generation of hot water for both buildings.

"A study revealed that the boilers at the old building had sufficient margin to generate steam to meet the requirement of hot water for the new building. The efficiency of the boiler was about 80 per cent and was expected to go up after installation of the economiser," says Majumdar. With this change, the Hospital is able to save Rs 1.5 lakh per month.

The Cell

Ensuring Success

"Careful selection of the consulting firm for the project is the first step towards its successful implementation," believes Pradhan. The Hospital required thorough research and rich experience of the firm in the area of energy conservation and ultimately selected DCM Shriram Consolidated Limited Energy Services (DSCL). DSCL audited the consumption levels of electricity in different areas like AC and lighting, and prepared baselines. Another essential element for the success of such a huge project was the right focus as well as operational efficiency. "Management must be focused and realistic. Also, there should be operational control, whereby the customer's demands are met exactly as per his requirement —not more, not less, eliminating wastage," says Majumdar. In BHMRC, this operational control is especially monitored by the engineering department. An eco-friendly culture is purposefully being promoted in the Hospital. "For unoccupied rooms, a norm is being developed to switch off the lights and AC. We have put up stickers, and on notice boards everywhere, we have displayed messages such as 'switch off the lights'. Also, every hour the team members take rounds of various places in the Hospital checking on the temperatures," Majumdar reveals.

Taking Credit

Currently, besides continuing the energy conservation project, the Hospital is also keen on applying for carbon credits, which are a key component of national and international emissions trading schemes. Credits provide a way to reduce greenhouse effect emissions on an industrial scale by capping total annual emissions and letting the market assign a monetary value to any shortfall through trading. They can be exchanged between businesses or bought and sold in international markets at the prevailing market price. Credits can also be used to finance carbon reduction schemes between trading partners and around the world. The Hospital would like to trade these credits and intends to utilise that money to further strengthen its energy conservation drive.

All it takes is a few like-minded enthusiasts to make a difference and as Batra's example shows, it's not very difficult especially when it promises huge returns both in terms of efficiency and finance.

healthcare@expressindia.com