Palmerston North Hospital, Chiller Renewal

Palmerston North Hospital is Te Whatu Ora / Health NZ’s key healthcare provider in the Manawatu and beyond.  The Hospital has evolved over the decades to the significant facility that it is today, and it includes a multitude of services required to enable the clinical services to operate.

One of the key infrastructure services is the provision of cooling, via chilled water.  The main Clinical Services Block has a centralised chilled water plant, the majority of which is located within the basement plantroom.  Seven water chillers connect to a common primary circuit which supplies cooling to all critical requirements including operating theatres, procedure rooms and clinical spaces.

The chillers on site vary in age.  In line with decarbonisation and modernisation requirements, the renewal of Chillers 3 and 4 became necessary to ensure resilient chilled water capability for the site.  Aquair was chosen to deliver the design and construction phase observation for this project.

As part of a wider study, it was determined that a like-for-like replacement of the existing chillers would not take advantage of future energy efficiency and decarbonisation opportunities.  The new chillers chosen continue to be water cooled, and incorporate several energy efficient initiatives, including variable speed screw compressor, variable chilled water delivery flow rate and floating condenser water temperature control.  These measures maximise flexibility now and allow for energy savings when future projects are undertaken.