GREENWICH, Conn. — Back in 1997, when Greenwich Hospital broke ground on a new building, the plan was to build it in two phases, a concept that meant re-thinking the installation of two very large steam boilers.

“Space was at a premium since the sterilization facility adjacent to the boiler plant required more space,” noted Steven Slusarz, Greenwich Hospital’s chief plant operator. “That meant the two large Cleaver-Brooks boilers that were part of the original plans no longer worked since they required a great deal of space for pulling tubes and general maintenance.”

After much research the hospital purchased seven Miura EX-200 SGO Gas/Oil Series High Pressure Steam Boilers. Now, more than 20 years later, the hospital has begun to replace their Miura boilers with the latest Miura boiler technology.

“Back in 1997, Miura was relatively new to the U.S. market,” noted Paul O’Donnell, Miura’s vice president of strategic development. “After careful research Greenwich Hospital noted a number of important features and advantages that made Miura the ideal choice for them, becoming the first U.S. hospital to install innovative Miura boilers.”

There were several reasons why Miura won out as the boiler of choice for Greenwich Hospital. Among them were Miura’s compact size, efficient operation, and lower emissions, since the decision-makers at the time wanted the hospital to take the lead in building a “green” facility.

What today is referred to as “on-demand steam” really caught the attention of the Greenwich Hospital staff, since it was a relatively new innovation for the U.S. market.

“What was especially exciting for the facility planners was that within a few minutes you were up to 100 PSI,” noted Slusarz. “Another major advantage was high and low fires, without a lot of modulation, so there wasn't as much fine tuning required, and you still had higher efficiency.”

Running a boiler facility at a Northeast hospital has its own set of challenges,

“Efficient operation is critical,” noted Slusarz. “The hospital’s steam demand fluctuates throughout the day, so sometimes, we're only doing 1,000 pounds an hour, and we can quickly go up to 8,000-9,000 pounds an hour. Plus, with multiple Miura boilers, we are able to have more control on what we are delivering, while minimizing waste.”

Slusarz also noted that the hospital continues to be recognized for its green initiatives, and recently took another step forward, going from regular number two heating oil to the ultra-low sulfur diesel.

“We dialed in the boilers, which brought our emissions even further down. We are running a very clean, efficient plant at Greenwich Hospital,” he said.

Miura’s steam boilers, which are made in the company’s Rockmart, Georgia headquarters, gives Greenwich the capacity they needed for sterilization, heat, hot water, humidification, and other requirements, while using less fuel and producing fewer emissions than traditional boilers.

Today, five of the original seven Miura boilers remain operational as the hospital upgrades to new Miura boilers and takes advantage of the company’s latest innovations.

“We replaced the two EX-200s from our original seven with EX-100s,” noted Slusarz. “The main reason was that on the days when we're really not utilizing a large amount of steam, it gives the operator greater options. Plus, our boiler room is designed with two rows of boilers; three on one side and four on the other. This gives the operator a chance to shut down one whole side for maintenance, and still have redundancy on the line.”

Miura’s modular approach also makes it easy to achieve an N+1 system, a redundancy required for hospitals that enhances overall reliability, since users never sacrifice production due to annual inspections.

Maintenance-ease and an industry-best safety record is another reason why many choose Miura boilers.

“With Miura, everything is external,” notes Slusarz. “You don't have to remove tons of covers and setup rigging. For our annual inspection, when the state requires us to pull the burner assemblies out, it's relatively easy."

While suggesting that a second pair of hands may be needed on occasion, Slusarz noted that it is usually a one-person job. The responsibilities of a Chief Plant Operator are extensive, which is why Slusarz enjoys how Miura boiler’s unique design and operational ease helps to make his job just a little easier.

“One of the features that stand out with Miura boilers is the compact footprint,” notes Slusarz. “Not only does it save us costly space, but you can walk around these boilers, which is a tremendous advantage.”

Miura’s compact size has also been a major advantage as the hospital continues to replace their boilers with the latest generation of Miura.

“Because we're a hospital, you can never have enough elevators, bathrooms or closets, so Miura’s footprint is extremely beneficial to us,” notes Slusarz. “When it comes time to replace them, we can get them in and out using simple rigging, versus having to take a whole side of a building out to replace a boiler. That’s a big deal.”

Operationally, the hospital’s Siemens BAS system is tied into the boiler, allowing Slusarz and his team to “see exactly what’s going on at any given time and make adjustments accordingly.”

Monitoring the Miura boilers is another stand-out feature.

Miura’s EX Gas/Oil Series High Pressure Steam Boiler is designed to minimize carryover and produce over 99 percent dry saturated steam in less than 5 minutes from a cold start. Faster start-up means less fuel used, greater savings, and more responsible use of precious natural resources.

Available in 100HP, and in 50HP increments up to 300HP models, the EX Series utilizes vertical water tubes in a circular array. Both headers of each series are encased in a castable refractory with only the tubes exposed to flame and/or combustion gases. The upper header is attached to the lower header only by the tubes. As the tubes expand and contract, the headers float up and down accordingly.

The ‘floating header’ concept allows for even thermal expansion of the tubes, therefore reducing stress points within the boiler.” The ‘leaky tube’ problems associated with firetube and bent watertube designs have been eliminated.

Working with the folks at Miura has also been something that has impressed Slusarz and his team.

“The customer service that we do get out of Miura’s New Jersey office has been outstanding,” adds Slusarz. “I have absolutely no complaints.”

Having already replaced two boilers, Greenwich Hospital plans to replace at least one of their original five remaining boilers each year.

“We want to bring everything up to date and try to stay a little bit ahead of the curve,” noted Slusarz.

Greenwich Hospital, part of Yale New Haven Health, is a premier healthcare facility that has been recognized for clinical excellence, patient satisfaction, technological innovations, medical advancements, and community involvement, including the 2017 Guardian of Excellence Award for outstanding patient experience in inpatient services, which they won for the second year in a row.

Publication date: 8/06/2018

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