Keeping things Hot and Steamy

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Stretching out across 14km² on the outskirts of Doha is Education City, home to a massive project that perhaps symbolises more than any other, Qatar’s commitment to the advancement of knowledge and science.

The Sidra Medical and Research Centre is the brainchild of HH Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, and aims to become the leading centre for the development of medical science in the Middle East.

Owned and funded via a $7.9bn endowment from the Qatar Foundation, the Centre is scheduled to open by late 2012 with an initial 388 beds. Later on, the hospital is expected to increase its capacity to 550 beds overall.

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In order to keep the hospital operating at its best capacity, it is estimated that nearly 4,500 physicians, researches and hospital personnel will be required.

The Centre is intended to be part of a collaborative effort entitled ‘one program in multiple instiutions’. As such it will work in partnership with the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and the Hamad Medical Corporation. It’s three main focus points will be on providing world medical care, primarily for women and children; training medical students and clinicians as the primary medical education facility for Weill Cornell students; contributing to the global body of knowledge in areas such as pregnancy health, infertility, genetic abnormalities, the health needs of children and diseases specific to women.

Keeping in mind the philosophy of the project’s benefactors, the medical centre aims to be amongst the top medical centres in the world once operations reach full swing.

Given that any hospital requires hot water and steam generation for a number of uses, it was essential for the designers of the project to get in the best available quality.

As a result, Ecotherm, one of the leading suppliers of turnkey hot water and steam systems for hotels, hospitals and industry in the Middle East, was chosen to supply the project with a complete system of steam boilers and water heaters, with a total capacity of 49,048kW and 91,380lts of water.

Worth an estimated $6.45m, the project is one of the biggest that Ecotherm has undertaken, with more than 2,000 components and 2,800 employees working on the construction site. In addition, more than 8,000 hours of engineering and project management are expected to be devoted to the Sidra Medical and Research Centre.

With its branches in Kuwait and Dubai, the company was the logical choice to supply the Centre, says Herbert Bremstaller, CEO and company founder, as it was already working on a number of projects through the GCC, including some of the most prestigious and iconic in the region.

These projects include the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Salah Hospital in Kuwait, the King Abdullah Specialised Hospital for Children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Abraj Al Bait Towers and Royal Clock Hotel Tower in Mecca and the Al Salam International Hospital in Kuwait.

“The planning and specification started at the beginning of 2008. The complete engineering and system philosophy of the steam and hot water system have been developed in close co-ordination with the engineering teams of Voltas (mechanical contractor), Hoaralea (mechanical designer), KEO (consultant) and by the engineers of Ecotherm and Green Technology, Ecotherm’s local partner in Doha,” says Florian Mitmannsgruber of Ecotherm and the project manager for the Sidra Centre.

“The complete system consists of three steam boilers made by Hoval, each with a capacity of 15,000kg/hour at 16 bar. Furthermore, 38 high capacity water heaters, with a total capacity of 49,048kW and 91,380 litres will produce hot water for the hospital,” he adds, highlighting the size of the project.

“Additionally three clean steam generators, each with a capacity of 950kg/hour will be installed. The feed water for the boilers will be supplied from two stainless steel tanks with a total capacity of 32,000 litres.”