The Bochum Medical Care Centre (MVZ) is being built on a 17,500 m² site and comprises a modern new building with around 7,000 m² of usable space, supplemented by a five-storey multi-storey car park. In future, various medical practices will be combined on five floors, offering specialised care in the fields of radiology, radiotherapy, neurology, orthopaedics and physiotherapy.

In future, three MRI machines and eleven CT machines will be operated in the building's various practices. This infrastructure requires a reliable and redundant cooling supply all year round. In addition, the entire building is fully air-conditioned to meet the high standards of comfort and functionality. Two water/water heat pumps with a total cooling capacity of 1.2 MW were installed for the building's cooling and heating supply. Two recoolers, each with an output of 600 kW, positioned on the roof of the building are used as heat sinks during the predominant cooling phases. These dry coolers operate as dry coolers with additional adiabatic mat cooling to further increase efficiency.

In heating mode, the waste heat from the medical equipment is utilised efficiently: The cooling generators/heat pumps feed the heat directly into the building's heating system. The aim is to dissipate only the excess and unused waste heat via the power-controllable recoolers. The system temperatures are dynamically adjusted to maximise the efficiency of the overall system.

A gas condensing boiler was provided as a pure peak load generator to compensate for infrequent load peaks with simultaneous heating and cooling requirements as well as interruptions in the operation of the medical devices. In addition, two cooling buffer storage tanks and two buffer storage tanks on the heating side ensure a high degree of flexibility and operational reliability. For reasons of redundancy, the entire cooling capacity was divided between two cooling generators, each with two state-of-the-art turbo compressors. These form a 4-unit cascade in which each compressor can be controlled individually depending on the capacity requirement. The oil-free turbo centrifugal compressors used are characterised by excellent efficiency both in continuous operation and under partial load. With an exceptionally low noise level, they fulfil the requirements for low-noise operation, which is particularly essential in a medical environment. In addition, the compressors are optimised for the use of environmentally friendly refrigerants with a very low global warming potential (GWP), which means they make an active contribution to climate protection.

This innovative energy system combines state-of-the-art technology, high efficiency and sustainability. It not only ensures the reliable supply of sensitive medical equipment, but also contributes to the climate neutrality of the MVZ in Bochum.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)