Sustainable solutions for thermal energy saving in hospital operating theatres

• Published in: E3S web of conferences Vol. 85; p. 1002
• Main Authors: Sánchez-Barroso Moreno, Gonzalo, García-Sanz Calcedo, Justo, González, Alfonso G., Salgado, David R.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Les Ulis EDP Sciences 01-01-2019
• Subjects: Air conditioners; Air conditioning; Air flow; Energy conservation; Energy consumption; Energy costs; Energy demand; Enthalpy; Environmental quality; Flow rates; Flow velocity; Heat recovery; Heat recovery systems; Indoor environmental quality; Indoor environments; Renewable energy; Sensible heat; Sustainability; Thermal energy
• ISSN: 2267-1242; 2555-0403; 2267-1242
• DOI: 10.1051/e3sconf/20198501002

Heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems in hospital operating theatres consume high amounts of energy, operate for long periods of time and provide high performance. For this reason, it is necessary to study their energy consumption and determine sustainable solutions that optimize their operation and improve their performance. In this paper, annual thermal energy consumption of a conventional operating theatre is evaluated. Potential energy savings is evaluated by maintaining an adequate indoor environmental quality for these rooms. In addition, how to minimize energy consumption depending on the air renewal flow rate used and installing a sensible heat recovery system was studied. Results show that energy demand of an operating room is reduced by 24.1% by recirculating 25% of air flow extracted from the room. Energy cost decreases 44.31% by increasing the recirculated air flow rate to 50% of the air flow extracted from the room.