Energy Consumption Influencing Factors And Its Energy-saving Management Of Steam Sterilizers

Objective:The aim of this study was to describe the energy consumption and the influencing factors of the steam sterilizers.To evaluate the effectiveness of energy-saving management measures for steam sterilizers.Methods:This research method includes investigation and energy-saving management.A questionnaire survey was conducted on 158 hospitals in Jilin Province and Liaoning Province and Heilongjiang Province,and the steam sterilization report was collected to describe the idle time and its influencing factors of steam sterilizers.Distribute the load properly and switch-off strategies were examined to identify electricity,water and steam savings of steam sterilizers in the first hospital of Jilin University from January to June 2017.Results:1.The idle time of steam sterilizer were 7.17(3.21,9.32)hours and it were 4.25(1.81,7.79)hours for second-class hospitals and 7.84(5.51,9.92)hours for tertiary hospitals.Hospitals with different amounts of steam sterilizers have different idle time.51.3%of steam sterilizers were idle more than 8 hours per day.28.9%of steam sterilizers were idle more than 10 hours per day.In tertiary hospitals,60.4%of steam sterilizers were idle more than 8 hours per day.The idle time were 3.34(1.84,6.51)hours for hospitals which own one steam sterilizer.The idle time were 14.56(11.57,15.86)hours for hospitals which own six steam sterilizers.2.Single-factor analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference(P<0.05)in idle time between different hospital grades,the number of steam sterilizer,whether the sterilizer was switch-on and switch-off at the same time and whether the steam sterilizer is working at night.The consumption of electricity and steam in the sterilization between different types of goods was no difference(P>0.05).Weight is an important factor affecting the energy consumption during sterilization.The regression relationship between the electricity consumed per kilogram of sterilized items and weight was:E=0.001+2.060/m(R~2=0.988,P<0.001);The regression relationship between the steam consumed per kilogram of sterilized items and weight was:S=0.010+53.997/m(R~2=0.988,P<0.001).This relationship indicates that heavier loads were more efficient.3.After perform the energy-saving strategies,the idle time of the steam sterilizers during the low-peak hour was reduced significantly(P<0.001).After reasonable distribution of loading weight,the load of steam sterilizer was increased significantly(P<0.001)during the low-peak hour except 6:00-7:00 and 7:00-8:00 on weekdays and 7:00-8:00,8:00-9:00 and 13:00-14:00 on weekends.After perform the energy-saving strategies,we reduced the idle time by 5818 hours,steam by 120406 kg,electricity by 6553 kWh,and water volume by 1799 tons,saving the cost more than50000 RMB.Conclusions:1.The idle time of hospital steam sterilizers is generally long.2.Hospital grades,the number of steam sterilizer,whether or not the sterilizer was switch-on and switch-off at the same time and whether the steam sterilizer is working at night influence the idle time of steam sterilizer.3.The load of steam sterilizer can influence he utilization of energy and resources.4.Energy-saving management measures can effectively reduce the energy and resources consumption of sterilizers and reduce costs.