Steam traps sorted

St Richard's Hospital, part of Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, has 430 beds and its laundry complex handles around 70,000 pieces per week. Steam is used as a primary source of energy but the laundry's mechanical steam traps were causing water vapour losses and some were failing to open.

The laundry is now making significant energy savings following the installation of Thermal Energy International's GEM venturi orifice steam traps.

The GEM traps are expected to save the hospital over £14,000 per annum in energy savings, as well as additional reductions in replacement traps and maintenance costs. The GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or fail, and provide 'the ultimate in reliability'.

"Over a ten year period the hospital has the potential to save £155,000 on gas alone based on present costs", says Richard Harris, head of engineering and estates standards. "In addition, as the GEM traps do not fail, we will save money on downtime and replacement costs. "