The Partners of CRC Engineering have a long and successful relationship with both the Uptown and Downtown facilities of this renowned teaching hospital.

UPTOWN FACILITY – COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

Boiler Plant Expansion

Design documents for the installation of a new 120,000 lbs/hr, 180 psig boiler and associated auxiliaries in the existing boiler plant were provided. For this project, rigging the boiler into the existing boiler room presented the challenge. Due to limited access space, another consultant’s original concept called for a field erected boiler. “Outside-of-the-box” thinking was applied and resulted in a solution that allowed for the use of a packaged boiler, thereby greatly reducing the construction cost. This was made possible by extensive discussions and by working closely with the boiler manufacturer.

Chilled Water Systems Optimization

In addition to the boiler installation project, a hydraulic model of the chilled water systems was provided and an optimization study was provided for the chilled water systems.

The chilled water pumping system was a primary-secondary system. The system was reconfigured to an all primary pumping system. The primary pumps were shut-down and bypassed, and the system currently provides chilled water to the users with operation of the secondary pumps. This resulted in significant energy cost savings.

The hydraulic model of the chilled water system was also used to identify bottlenecks in the distribution system.

DOWNTOWN FACILITY – WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL CENTER

Boiler Plant Expansion

The detailed design of a new 125,000 lbs/hr boiler installation, economizer and auxiliaries were provided. In addition to the new boiler, the existing boilers were retrofitted with economizers. The limited available space in the plant presented a challenge for the design of the new equipment. Proper coordination allowed for the smooth installation of the equipment without any difficulties.

Chiller Replacement

A chiller plant configuration study was performed including plant operation modeling and energy cost analysis in order to determine the optimal size and type of chiller to install. The study provided the basis of design for the chiller replacement project.

An aging 1000 ton electric chiller was replaced with a new 4400 ton dual compressor electric chiller. An additional cooling tower cell was installed as well. Plant shutdowns were minimized by installing stubs and valves in the chilled water and condenser water headers at the connection points for the new chiller. In addition, the design took into account the plans for the future cogeneration system and decommissioning of a low pressure steam absorber and another 1000 ton electric chiller.