National Institutes of Health (NIH) – Secondary Chilled Water System Expansion
Impyrian won a competitive bid Design/Build Construction Contract at the NIH Bethesda campus to provide Turnkey design engineering and construction to provide a secondary chilled water loop off of the campus chilled water distribution for The Building 10 Clinical Research Center (CRC) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).
Impyrian won a competitive bid Design/Build Construction Contract at the NIH Bethesda campus to provide Turnkey design engineering and construction to provide a secondary chilled water loop off of the campus chilled water distribution for The Building 10 Clinical Research Center (CRC) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). The world’s largest clinical research hospital is a complex of buildings on the NIH campus, known as Building 10 or the Clinical Center (CC). With the original Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center at the hub, over the years the complex expanded from its original 1955 structure to encompass important additions. The latest is the new Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, which includes 350 flexible patient bed modules that function as inpatient beds and day hospital stations; research laboratories; a vivarium; animal surgery suite; offices; hospital support services; and radiation oncology. This is a critical facility, which called for a high level of engineering and a high level of coordination between the labs and hospital for shutdowns and cutovers for the chilled water system. Impyrian worked closely with the NIH staff to identify affected downstream equipment and was able to find a way to back feed the system so that there was no down time. Impyrian also pre-fabricated piping to reduce the time frame of the installation. NIH utility distribution infrastructures are approximately 3 miles long hidden below ground throughout the campus and are capable of supporting the Central Utility Plant maximum steam load of 800,000 pounds per hour (lb /hr) of saturated steam at 165 pounds per square in gauge (psig), 60,000 tons of chilled water and 6600 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of compressed air for distribution to the campus. These infrastructure systems are original since they were installed approximately 40 years ago and are now experiencing failures and at the end of their useful life. As part of this project, Impyrian provided turnkey design/build engineering and construction services to replace a section of direct buried chilled water piping with a larger chilled water piping system to support the growing load in Building 10 and to support the lab facilities 24/7 need for chilled water. Impyrian worked with NIH’s engineers, Utilities Distribution Branch Chief and within the Design Requirements Manual to determine the best piping specifications and installation procedures to minimize the potential for future leaks and reduce the potential for corrosion. Impyrian’s work on this project supported the Distribution Branch’s efforts to optimize efficiency and reliability to produce chilled water for the NIH Bethesda Campus.