HHC

How APM Steam helped HHC identify approximately $2 million in baseline savings across 15 hospital and clinic facilities, with steam trap repairs paying back in as little as 78 days

The Client

Established in 1969, HHC is a public benefit corporation that owns and operates public hospitals and clinics in New York City. It serves 1.4 million patients per year across different areas and healthcare departments. It is responsible for one third of all emergency department visits in New York City. Through one of its branches, it is also the largest provider of government-sponsored health insurance, a choice for nearly half a million New Yorkers. The organization is headquartered in Manhattan and operates 11 different acute care facilities across the city, including the oldest public hospital in the United States, Bellevue Hospital. HHC also counts seven different diagnostic and treatment centers, and 70 community-based primary care sites, and has been awarded several grants in recognition of the public benefit it provides to all New Yorkers.

Their facilities provide around 225,000 inpatient hospital admissions, requiring them to ensure all facilities, heating systems, and steam use are in the best condition possible. APM Steam is currently serving 15 of the 18 different hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation centers, including Bellevue Hospital.

The Steam System

With over 3,000 steam traps to be tested, and over a dozen heat exchangers to be cleaned, across 15 distinct facilities, servicing the vast HHC steam system requires careful planning and coordination between teams at the corporate level, the individual hospital staff, and APM. In addition, the steamfitting work was done in collaboration with the Local 638 staff, as required. The goal for everyone involved was to improve the efficiency of the steam system with minimal disruption to operations, as the steam system is critical for many applications in the hospital, including humidification, sterilization, and heating.

Well Integrated Projects Deliver Impressive Results

In 2016, HHC decided to survey and repair their steam traps and awarded the project to APM. On the first round of surveys across 15 facilities, APM identified baseline savings of about $2 million on steam trap repairs, not including insulation or the savings from recommendations made regarding improvements to the condensate return system, valves, and other items. On average, the repair projects had a simple payback period of about 4 months, with some as low as 78 days.

As the APM team canvassed the HHC complex, they not only identified significant opportunities for savings by repairing steam traps, but also recognized that HHC could benefit from adding insulation to many of the traps in the system. Insulation improves the energy efficiency of the system as a whole and has the added safety benefit of reducing the number of surfaces that could burn maintenance staff.

APM also performed cleaning in-place for a number of heat exchangers and replaced a tube bundle. Cleaning heat exchangers in-place minimized the downtime of the system to only a few hours per unit instead of days, while still providing noticeable improvements in the efficiency of heat transfer between the steam and water sides of the exchanger. This improvement in heat transfer is achieved by removing the scale accumulated over the years with a biodegradable, safe-to-drain wash. The result for HHC was a reduction in energy consumed — as less steam is needed to heat the water side — and minimal disruption to the system.

The collection of individual projects completed for HHC required the diligent planning and engagement of every department at APM. From the sales team, to logistics, engineering, and accounting, everyone at APM had a hand in ensuring the successful completion and documentation of every project.