Diagnosi Energetica dell’Azienda Ospedaliera “G.Brotzu”

Health care facilities, particularly hospitals, are known to be among the most energy intensive. The cause lies in the large amount of energy needed to cope with the demands of medical equipment and to provide the best quality of air conditioning. Therefore, energy efficiency measures could allow achieving important economic benefits and improving environmental impact of these types of facilities. The purpose of the research was the energy audit of the AOB (Azienda Ospedaliera Brotzu), the most important hospital in Sardinia (Italy). The work has been developed around the following topics: preliminary audit; thermal analysis via dynamic modeling; technical-economic feasibility analysis of the energy efficiency measures. Through the preliminary energy audit we aimed to achieve a realistic description, by the point of view of the energy, of the current status of the structure. The main objective of this phase was the identification of the characteristics of the building-plant system, its use, hence the definition of the energy balance of the hospital. Much time and efforts were required to gather all the information needed to determine the current status of the structure and its systems, particularly to the collection both of historical data of energy purchase (fuel and electricity) and the survey and validation of the hourly consumption recorded by the monitoring systems already present in the structure. Following this phase, that enabled us to provide an updated and realistic view of the energy behavior of the building-plant system, we drew up the AOB’s energy balance, considering the energy flows entering the plant, the historical analysis of consumption and their economic impact. Finally, through the reconstruction of the energy flows within the hospital and the performance evaluation of the systems, it was possible to determine the energy required by the users, and their hourly loads (Heating, Cooling, Domestic Hot Water, Electricity, etc.). The preliminary energy audit was integrated with the analysis and comparison of the AOB’s benchmark indicators with those of other hospitals in the national context. The second phase of the work involved the thermo physics analysis of the hospital via a virtual dynamic model implemented with the code TRNSYS-TRNBUILD. After the validation and the calibration of the code, we developed a virtual reproduction of the entire building that was used to perform several hourly simulations in dynamic conditions, aiming to study the thermal behavior of the structure depending on boundary conditions, such as weather, HVAC set-up, etc. With the virtual model it has been possible to achieve the following targets: verification of consumptions in compliance with applicable regulations; analysis and comparison between numerical results and data collected, with the aim of identifying the main causes of energy consumption and directing the selection of energy-saving strategies to be implemented; simulation of some energy efficiency measures by means of a numerical model more accurate and realistic of the common stationary codes. Starting from considerations arising from the preliminary audit and the dynamic simulations, in the third and final phase of the work we analyzed some energy-saving proposals that would allow achieving important economic benefits, improving at the same time the environmental sustainability of building-plant system. Aiming to ensure a better agreement with reality, the analysis of interventions were not carried out with numerical methods based on steady monthly calculation, but using more complex methods such as dynamic modeling (TRNSYS) or quasi-stationary codes which work on hourly loads. At first we contemplated the possibility of improving the performance of the building envelope by means of isolation of the facade, later we have examined the possible improvements by regarding the energy monitoring systems already installed in the hospital. Finally we carried out the technical and economic feasibility analysis on the possibility of using alternative systems for energy production, renewable energy technologies (solar thermal and photovoltaic), CHP (combined heat and power) and CCHP (combined cooling, heating and power) systems were examined. A multi scenario analysis was carried out to select the best technology possible in order to fulfill the energy demand of the AOB. The methodology and tools developed during the Ph.D. are not only applicable to the case under examination (AOB). The generality and flexibility of application allows the extension in several fields of application beyond health care facilities, such as civil, commercial and industrial building

RFID technology for blood tracking: An experimental approach for benchmarking different devices

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the paper is to design a testing protocol to measure performances of RFID devices applied to blood supply chain, and to implement an experimental campaign in order to collect performance data. The protocol matches operational conditions in blood supply chain and is particularly tailored to some critical processes, which can benefit from RFID adoption. The paper thus strives at benchmarking performances of inlays, fixed and handheld RFID readers, when deployed in the blood supply chain processes. DESIGN, METHODOLOGY, APPROACH: The adopted testing protocol enables the assessment of performances of RFID devices in processes of the blood supply chain, since it has been developed peculiarly to emulate critical logistics processes. The testing protocol has been designed jointly with hospital personnel involved in every day operations on blood bags and tubes in order to improve processes, in terms of safety and reliability. The testing protocol has been applied to 3 inlays, 2 fixed readers, 1 mobile handheld in 3 logistics processes, all operating according to UHF EPC class 1 gen 2 protocols and ETSI regulations. We measured and compared read rates, accuracies and read times. FINDINGS: The results of the test give a direct insight of performances to be expected from different RFID devices when deployed in a real-world environment. Therefore, it is possible to give answers to how a specific piece of hardware - such as an inlay or a reader - performs, and how it can be effectively used to improve security of patients in healthcare. At the same time, researchers focusing on the business process reengineering of blood supply chain can assess the technical feasibility of the RFID-reengineered logistics processes in order to improve the safety of end users

Renewable energies in a public forest: Viability of possible plant technologies

In this paper, a feasibility study of several technologies for the electrical and thermal energy production, fed with forest residues, is provided. With the aim of identifying the best sustainable energy exploitation of the forest biomass, the work has been developed in the following three main steps: the energy consumption of a buildings complex; a technical and economic evaluation of different configuration plants, along with a sensitivity analysis of some key parameters of the biomass; an environmental assessment via LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)