Seven-month payback on energy savings from GEM steamtraps for the RNOH

Steam is used by the RNOH for a wide range of services including the various plant rooms’ heating & hot water heat exchangers, space heating, AHU batteries and humidification. Prior to the installation of the GEM steam traps, the hospital found that each year an average of 31% of its steam traps were failing open thereby wasting expensive steam, or jamming shut risking water hammer and system failure.

Faced with the task of reducing the hospital’s energy costs, Matt Hardy, Energy Manager at the RNOH, visited the Energy Exhibition where he was introduced to the GEM steam traps and given an overview of how the unique traps could help achieve energy savings for the hospital. The meeting was followed by a full site survey of the existing steam trapping by GEM’s regional engineer.

GEM arranged for the installation of the steam traps during the summer, with installation being carried out without disruption to site steam services. Not only has the hospital achieved savings in gas, it has also reduced costs on replacement steam traps and maintenance.

“Over a ten year period the hospital will save £521,000 on gas alone based on present costs”, said Matt Hardy. “In addition, as the GEM traps do not fail we will save money on downtime and replacement costs. A further added bonus is that the traps only have to be cleaned once a year which is brilliant.”

The RNOH also felt that water treatment was another important part of the overall efficiency of the steam system. They therefore decided to take out an ongoing water treatment maintenance agreement with GEMChem, a subsidiary of GEM Ltd. The water treatment consists of an environmentally friendly and highly efficient filming amine chemical for the site steam system together with regular monitoring carried out by GEMChem’s regional engineer.

Instead of utilising a valve mechanism to close off steam for maximum energy and water conservation, the highly efficient GEM steam traps use the patented venturi orifice design to effectively drain condensate from the steam system. As the GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or fail, it provides the ultimate in reliability necessitating only minimal maintenance and requiring no spares, testing or monitoring equipment.

Available in a wide range of sizes for a full cross section of applications, the hardwearing GEM steam traps are manufactured from corrosion resistant stainless steel and are guaranteed for 10 years, obviating the need for repair or replacement. The GEM steam traps provide a fast payback - on some processes within a matter of days - from reduced energy costs and increased equipment reliability due to a reduction in damaging condensate in steam systems. In addition it improves product processing by enhancing the quality of steam and also reducing equipment repairs, downtime and replacement costs.