Reliable climate control at Schoen Clinic Vogtareuth

What is the clinic’s specialisation?

Situated in idyllic southern Bavaria, Schoen Clinic Vogtareuth has made an international name for itself in the fields of orthopaedics, neurology and surgery. The clinic has more than 400 beds and treats around 16,000 patients from around the world every year. It also has a leading role in the treatment and rehabilitation of children with neurological and orthopaedic conditions.

New surgery wing requires refrigeration system in the clinic

When the clinic decided to build a large, modern surgery centre, it needed additional refrigeration technology for the clinic. After all, the total floor space of the clinic was set to double. A QUANTUM type X060 chiller with a refrigeration capacity of 480 kW had been handling for climate control at the clinic since 2010. So it only made sense to choose QUANTUM for the new building as well. Josef Wurzer, who is responsible for building technology at the clinic, explains: “Not only was our experience positive in terms of reliability, we are also impressed with the energy efficiency of these chillers.”

Strict requirements for refrigeration technology in the clinic

The entire hospital requires refrigeration. Its grounds contain an existing building as well as the new surgery building with several operating rooms, intensive care units and a central sterile goods supply. There are also IT and EDP rooms. Of course, a refrigeration system in a clinic must meet one criterion above all: complete reliability when it comes to climate control. Patient recovery is aided in part by an optimal indoor climate, and the function of sensitive medical equipment is also temperature-dependent. “It is also important for chillers to be absolutely silent and vibration-free so as not to interfere with the operation of the hospital,” explains Wurzer. Another condition that the QUANTUM meets. In addition, these chillers contain EMC filters, which protect against electromagnetic radiation – an enormous advantage in the operation of a hospital.

Clinic climate control: cost savings from energy efficiency

The two new QUANTUM chillers are a huge success at Schoen Clinic Vogtareuth. “The design principle with oil-free magnetic bearing is excellent; then the two new QUANTUM chillers are equipped with open-flash economizers, which have increased their refrigeration capacity so significantly that we only need two additional chillers, instead of the three we had originally considered necessary. As the open-flash economizers improve energy efficiency, they reduce running costs considerably – an important reason for us to choose QUANTUM,” says Peter Esterer, who is also responsible for the clinic’s building technology. The refrigeration centre at Schoen Clinic Vogtareuth is designed in such a way that only one chiller is in continuous operation. The others are added as necessary. It was also possible to convert two new, formerly adiabatic heat exchangers to dry coolers in the new surgery building. This contains the risk of Legionella.

Installation of new refrigeration technology: clinic staff highly satisfied

The conversion to the two new QUANTUM chillers went smoothly – in spite of enormous time pressure. After all, the clinic had to keep operating without incidents. The first refrigeration system at the clinic was a QUANTUM installed in 2010; it is now used as a backup machine. In the unlikely case that the two new QUANTUM chillers should fail, the X060 can continue running on emergency power and cover 60 percent of the refrigeration capacity. The QUANTUM chillers are vibration-free, so no additional foundations are required, which provides further cost savings. Similarly, there are no restrictions when it comes to the positioning of the chillers. As the refrigeration technology at the clinic was such a success, the people in charge were naturally comfortable in commissioning ENGIE Refrigeration with the maintenance of the chillers.