Green Healthcare

Railway on the Green Track

Divisional Railway Hospital, Ajmer, won the second prize in National Energy Conservation Award 2007 for its outstanding efforts to make the hospital energy efficient and environment friendly

By Sonal Shukla

Year of Implementation: 2004-05
Energy Audit: Railway Board's energy conservation programme

Measures:

• Installation of power factor capacitor.
• Provision of CFL light. CFL is of 10 watts, whereas a tube light uses 40 watts. All corridors and each bed has CFL lighting.
• Provision timer on street light.
• Provision of T-5 tube light.
• Replacement of conventional chokes with electronic chokes.
• Awareness and MD reduction.
• The number of ACs is drastically reduced. From seven ACs in the X-ray room, now there are only two; similarly in conference hall also number of ACs has been reduced.
• There are three autoclave machines in the surgical section. Previously the staff used to switch on two or three simultaneously. Now, at a time only one can be used; and when the preheat time of autoclave is over, it automatically switches off. (trip system)
• The hospital building is very old and so the wiring was very old (of copper). The whole wiring has been replaced by aluminium and has been centralised at places.
• Solar panels are installed.
• Geysers are removed and the pipes are covered with insulated material to prevent loss of heat.

Results: The reduction in power usage is 12 per cent.

Built way back in 1890, the Divisional Railway Hospital, Ajmer is one of the oldest hospitals of Indian Railways. With a singular aim to reduce the energy consumption, in 2004, this 230-bed hospital started making several big and small changes within and around the hospital premises, only to land up saving considerable amount on energy costs. By the end of 2006-07, the hospital achieved 0.3978096 (lakh kwh) energy savings in its bills.

Provision of CFL light

There are three Autoclave machines in the surgical section

The number of ACs are drastically reduced

The whole wiring has been replaced by aluminium and has been centralised at places

Solar panels have been installed

How Did They Do It?

The hospital started with changing the incandescent lamps with the CFL lamps and CFL fittings. "CFL lamps give us four times higher luminous per watt than the ordinary incandescent lamps," says Manoj Jindal, Senior Divisional Electric Engineer, Ajmer Division. Electronic ballasts (chokes) replaced the copper bound ballasts in the hospital. This further lead to electricity conservation, as earlier, the copper bound ballasts used to consume eight to 13 watt of energy, which when converted to electronic ballasts, only consumes two-to-three watts.

Electronic tube light fittings were done, T-5 28 watt fitting electronic regulators were incorporated within the premises and all the 40 watt FL tube rods were replaced by 36 watt rods.

The other addition made was that of power capacitor to improve the power factor. Power capacitor is basically an electrical device used for improving power factor of the electrical power system when the load is inductive. "The power capacitor has been provided to achieve better power and maximum rebate in billing amount," shares Jindal. The hospital has been able to keep the power factor above point 9.5 with the help of the capacitor.

The hospital is spread across huge acres of land with five buildings, roadways and trees in the premises. The street lights are a requirement which the hospital cannot do away with, therefore to minimise the electricity consumption in this area, street lights were provided with programmable switches. "The programmable switch to the street lights programmes the switching off and on time according to the necessity. With the change in the season there is less or more requirement of light, and we manage it with this switch. This initiative has saved electricity," says Dr IP Keswani, Chief Medical Superintendent, Divisional Railway Hospital.

Proper planning has been done for pumping installations in hospital area so as to stop the wastage of water. Moreover, attention has been given to burning hospital waste material in an incinerator to minimise electric consumption. The hospital started using the solar hot water plant in place of geysers. In addition, all the five buildings of the hospital are well surrounded with garden and greenery, having approximately 150 trees and several bushes to create a pollution free environment.

Operational Culture-The Key

Focused and realistic management is the key to achieve success in the energy conservation drive, believes Dr Keswani. "The operational culture should be such that the customer demands are met exactly as per his requirements, but by eliminating wastage." The hospital has purposefully developed such an eco-friendly culture. The norm is being developed to switch off the lights and air conditioners when not required. "We have put up stickers on notice board and have displayed massages like 'Switch-off the light' everywhere. Every hour, the team members take rounds of the various places in the hospital and check the temperature in the rooms," says Dr Keswani.

Now, the hospital is planning to utilise LED-based lighting, solar light wind pressure generation system and water treatment recycle plant in the near future.

sonal.shukla@expressindia.com