When warm blood, cleansed of impurities, flows through machines and back into the bodies of people getting dialysis at Glens Falls Hospital, some of that warmth now comes from the sun rather than the burning of natural gas.
On Monday, the hospital unveiled rooftop solar thermal panels at its Renal Dialysis Center, becoming the first hospital in the Capital Region to run kidney dialysis partially on solar energy.
"This innovation at its purest ... will also help us save a few bucks," said David Kruczlnicki, hospital president and CEO. The $32,500 system was partly paid for by a $25,000 federal stimulus grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Kruczlnicki said the system will replace about 45 percent of the natural gas that had been used to heat water for the center. It uses about 5,500 gallons of heated water a day during treatments. He said money saved on lower gas bills will allow the hospital to repay its investment in five years and, after that, keep saving that money, year after year, for its 30-year estimated useful life.
Heat is a critical part of dialysis, keeping blood at the proper temperature of 77 degrees as it moves through cleansing machinery and then further warming it to 98.6 degrees so it can be returned to the patient's body. At the rooftop array, heat from the sun is absorbed by municipal water that flows through sealed vacuum tubes in 15 panels on the roof.
That water, which is between 45 and 55 degrees when it enters the panels, depending on the amount of sunshine and the season of the year, is heated to temperatures of between 70 and 200 degrees, again depending on the amount of sun and the season, said Stan Dobert, managing partner at Apex Solar, a Glens Falls company that installed the array.
The warmed water from the array flows into a 375-gallon holding tank, where a heat exchanger is used to warm specially treated municipal water that is run through the dialysis machines. Other heated water also is used for sinks and showers at the center.
During the summer, the solar system could handle all the needs of the center, while during the winter months, when sunlight strength and duration are diminished, natural gas would have to be used more often, Dobert said.
He said the panels were installed starting in January and have been operational since March.
"Dialysis centers are one of the many types of water-intensive facilities that can reduce fossil fuel use and cut water heating costs by using solar thermal technology," said Francis Murray Jr., president and CEO of NYSERDA.
The authority has spent about $1.2 million on 216 solar thermal projects statewide since beginning its program in December 2010, Murray said. About $20 million remains available under the Solar Thermal Incentive Program through 2015.
Source: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Hospital-unveils-solar-project-3661842.php
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| David Kruczlnicki, president and CEO of Glens Falls Hospital, stands on the roof of the hospital's Renal Dialysis Center on Monday, June 25, 2012 in Glens Falls, NY. A media event was held on Monday to show the installed solar thermal system, seen in the background. The Center uses 200 gallons of heated water per hour for patient treatment, and now has become one of the first in the U.S. to use solar thermal technology for dialysis treatments. |
On Monday, the hospital unveiled rooftop solar thermal panels at its Renal Dialysis Center, becoming the first hospital in the Capital Region to run kidney dialysis partially on solar energy.
"This innovation at its purest ... will also help us save a few bucks," said David Kruczlnicki, hospital president and CEO. The $32,500 system was partly paid for by a $25,000 federal stimulus grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Kruczlnicki said the system will replace about 45 percent of the natural gas that had been used to heat water for the center. It uses about 5,500 gallons of heated water a day during treatments. He said money saved on lower gas bills will allow the hospital to repay its investment in five years and, after that, keep saving that money, year after year, for its 30-year estimated useful life.
Heat is a critical part of dialysis, keeping blood at the proper temperature of 77 degrees as it moves through cleansing machinery and then further warming it to 98.6 degrees so it can be returned to the patient's body. At the rooftop array, heat from the sun is absorbed by municipal water that flows through sealed vacuum tubes in 15 panels on the roof.
That water, which is between 45 and 55 degrees when it enters the panels, depending on the amount of sunshine and the season of the year, is heated to temperatures of between 70 and 200 degrees, again depending on the amount of sun and the season, said Stan Dobert, managing partner at Apex Solar, a Glens Falls company that installed the array.
The warmed water from the array flows into a 375-gallon holding tank, where a heat exchanger is used to warm specially treated municipal water that is run through the dialysis machines. Other heated water also is used for sinks and showers at the center.
During the summer, the solar system could handle all the needs of the center, while during the winter months, when sunlight strength and duration are diminished, natural gas would have to be used more often, Dobert said.
He said the panels were installed starting in January and have been operational since March.
"Dialysis centers are one of the many types of water-intensive facilities that can reduce fossil fuel use and cut water heating costs by using solar thermal technology," said Francis Murray Jr., president and CEO of NYSERDA.
The authority has spent about $1.2 million on 216 solar thermal projects statewide since beginning its program in December 2010, Murray said. About $20 million remains available under the Solar Thermal Incentive Program through 2015.
Source: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Hospital-unveils-solar-project-3661842.php
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