Reference · Healthcare

Energy management in healthcare

Client: ÚVN Ružomberokmilitary healthcare facility
Project goal: Sub-metering of individual pavilions

90
Metering points: 210
Devices installed

Energy management in healthcare, on site

Case study · Healthcare202 metering points and 5 utilities in a fully operating hospital: multi-utility monitoring for ÚVN RužomberokRead the case study

How it is connected

Solution diagram

Simplified diagram based on the project description.

01 · Metering
Electricity, water, gas and heat meters
- Electricity
- Water
- Gas
- Heat
- 90 · metering points
- 210 · devices installed
02 · Transfer
Modbus RTU → Modbus TCP · LoRaWAN for remote points
03 · Data collection
Edge: database and pre-processing
04 · Network
Hospital IP network, encrypted channel
05 · System
Azure Cloud
- Duplicate cloud database
- Consumption visualisation
- Forecast

Project summary

Sub-metering in individual buildings
Integration for two military healthcare facilities
Modbus RTU

The project delivered smart metering of utilities: water, heat, gas and electricity. Its aim was to build, across selected buildings on the campus of the Central Military Hospital in Ružomberok, a single system for collecting and processing data from all key supply points.

Implementation

Revolution Pi
Consumption visualisation
Forecast

The devices were integrated into a single communication system. The lower layer runs Modbus RTU, the industry standard for data collection. All devices are connected in parallel and addressed with unique Modbus IDs.

At the data aggregation level, the protocol is converted from Modbus RTU to Modbus TCP, which allows efficient integration into the hospital’s IP network. In this TCP layer, each device is assigned a unique IP address that identifies it and allows it to be managed within the infrastructure.

For metering points in hard-to-reach locations, or where a cable connection is not possible, wireless communication over a LoRaWAN network was used. This protocol transfers data over long distances with low power consumption and is connected to the higher-level system through LoRaWAN gateways, which convert the data to the IP network.

Data processing and archiving

Data from all metering points is gathered in an edge device, a data aggregator, which provides:

a primary database for local storage and archiving,

data pre-processing (filtering, basic validation, timestamps),

secure transfer to the higher-level system over an encrypted channel.

The aggregated data is then transferred to Azure Cloud, which provides:

duplicate storage in a cloud database (backup and high availability)

Results

90 metering points
210 electrical devices installed
Successful networking and stable communication
Real-time metering of electricity, water, gas and heat

The solution created a centralised energy monitoring system that provides an accurate, continuous overview of the consumption of all energy and utilities; detailed analysis of electrical network quality, heating circuit efficiency and water and gas management; a single platform for further extension and integration with the hospital’s infrastructure; and data for cost optimisation, maintenance planning and environmental reporting.

Electricity: 54 network analysers

Heat: 15 heat meters (calorimetric / ultrasonic)

Gas: 4 metering points (main volume corrector + pulse sensors on the gas meters)

Water: 17 metering points (ultrasonic flow meters + optical reading heads on mechanical water meters)

On site