Gansu Yuzhong County Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital 47,000m² Heating Project: A Model for Clean Energy Technology Application
For a long time, the winter heating of urban residents in northern cities has generally relied on the form of centralized heating through pipe networks. With the continuous deepening of the national "coal-to-electricity" policy, scattered coal combustion and industrial boilers with substandard exhaust emissions have been included in the prohibited list. At this time, air source heat pumps, relying on the word-of-mouth and user feedback accumulated in the market in recent years, have gradually become the preferred product for the renewal of urban centralized heating equipment.
As one of the leading enterprises in the air source heat pump industry, AIROSD has always been committed to the heating application of air source heat pumps in low-temperature environments. Relying on the breakthroughs in low ambient temperature air source heat pump technology over the years and the research on buildings in the north, at present, the low ambient temperature air source heat pump units of AIROSD can match various new and old radiators, floor heating, and various types of air handling units and other terminals in project engineering, which are widely practical and very suitable for heating projects of new and old buildings in the north.
The 47,000 m² whole-building heating project at Yuzhong County Central Hospital successfully applied the High Temp. Heat Pump Heating System technical solution. Facing severe cold and the high stability requirements of medical facilities, the project team abandoned traditional boiler schemes and innovatively implemented a multi-energy complementary system centered on Commercial heating cooling heat pump technology. The electric heat pump HVAC system integrates the advantages of both ground-source and air-source approaches, electric heat pump hvac system can stably deliver hot water above 65°C in winter, fully meeting the hospital’s space heating and domestic hot-water needs.
During the system design phase, engineers focused on optimizing the configuration of the heat pump HVAC unit. In the main medical building, large-capacity Commercial heating cooling heat pump unit clusters were deployed, with intelligent centralized control enabling dynamic load balancing; in logistics and support areas, modular heat pump HVAC unit installations operate independently by zone. The entire electric heat pump HVAC system is equipped with variable-frequency drives and AI energy-efficiency algorithms, achieving energy savings of more than 52% compared with conventional electric boilers.
A most innovative element of the project was the installing geothermal heat pump implementation. Due to site constraints, a hybrid buried-pipe design was adopted: 186 vertical boreholes, each 120 m deep, were drilled in open green areas, while horizontal helical coils were laid in narrow zones around the buildings. This refined installing geothermal heat pump technique increased ground-heat-exchange efficiency by 35%, providing a stable baseline heat source for the High Temp. Heat Pump Heating System.
Winter operation data validated the superior performance of the High Temp. Heat Pump Heating System: under extreme outdoor conditions of −15°C, the system continuously supplied 65°C hot water and maintained ward temperatures at 22 ± 1°C. The Commercial heating cooling heat pump unit clusters achieved a combined COP of 3.2, saving approximately 850 tonnes of standard coal equivalent per year. Notably, in the emergency department the heat pump HVAC units can perform rapid temperature adjustments within 15 minutes, fully meeting medical emergency demands. The complete electric heat pump HVAC system operated with zero on-site emissions and substantially improved indoor air quality throughout the hospital.
By combining scientific installing geothermal heat pump practices with optimized heat pump HVAC unit configurations, the Yuzhong County Central Hospital project provides a replicable model of clean heating for large public buildings in cold regions. The High Temp. Heat Pump Heating System not only ensures a comfortable and safe medical environment but also reduces operating costs through a high-efficiency electric heat pump HVAC system. This case demonstrates that advanced Commercial heating cooling heat pump technology is a key pathway toward building-level carbon neutrality.
