Energy management in healthcare II

The project extends and complements the first stage of the smart energy metering system delivered at the General Miloš Vesel Hospital building. The aim of this follow-on part was to extend central monitoring to further buildings on the campus of the Central Military Hospital SNP in Ružomberok, creating a single, connected system for collecting and managing data across the whole hospital.

The system covers metering of water, heat, gas and electricity, using a combination of Ethernet, LoRaWAN and optical interfaces to transfer readings from the individual metering points. The collected data is processed in a central database and visualised through a web interface, which allows online tracking of consumption, energy analyses and optimisation of operations.

In the project, the individual metering devices for electricity, water, gas and heat were integrated into a single communication system. The metering components were chosen to meet the requirements for accuracy, reliability and long-term stable operation in a hospital environment.

The base communication layer uses the Modbus RTU protocol, the industry standard for collecting data from metering devices. All devices are connected in parallel and addressed with unique Modbus IDs, which allows precise control of communication and diagnostics.

At the data aggregation level, the protocol is converted from Modbus RTU to Modbus TCP, which integrates the whole system efficiently into the hospital’s existing IP network. In this layer each metering device has a unique IP address, which simplifies management, supervision and maintenance of the system.

For metering points in hard-to-reach or separate locations, where a cable connection is not possible, wireless communication over a LoRaWAN network was implemented. This technology 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 layer.

All readings are gathered in a local data aggregator (edge device), which provides a primary database for storing and archiving data locally and encrypted transfer of the processed data to the higher-level system. The aggregated data is then transferred to a cloud environment (Azure Cloud), where it is backed up, managed and archived over the long term. This approach provides high availability, scalability and central access to the data through a visualisation interface that gives the hospital’s technical staff an overview of current and historical energy consumption.

The smart energy metering project at the Central Military Hospital SNP Ružomberok created a single, fully integrated system that reliably and accurately collects data on water, heat, gas and electricity consumption in real time. The system made it possible to monitor and evaluate energy flows effectively, significantly improving control over the operation of technical equipment and distribution networks on the hospital campus.

The project brought significant operational and economic benefits, especially in optimising energy consumption, identifying losses and planning maintenance better. Automated data collection and processing removed the need for manual meter reading, increasing the accuracy, reliability and availability of information for the technical staff. With the data centralised and visualised in the cloud, the hospital has a complete overview of the consumption of each utility, which allows effective management of energy processes and a long-term reduction in operating costs.

Electricity: 40 network analysers

Heat: 12 heat meters (calorimetric / ultrasonic)

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

Water: 8 metering points (ultrasonic flow meters + optical reading heads on mechanical water meters)