Laboratory samples at a major German hospital are reliably cooled to -60°C with Grundfos MIXIT and Magna3 pump

With 35 clinics, 1400 beds and a staff comprising of 9000 people, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen is one of the largest university hospitals in Germany. Up until recently, the healthcare facility has relied on a row of 60 freezers to store blood samples and other biological materials – a decision that not only drains a lot of energy, but is also rather loud. This is why the hospital has decided to invest in new climatization equipment, and a central role plays the Grundfos MIXIT device, meant for intelligent control of mixing circuits in heating and cooling systems.

Before completing the project, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen relied on 60 freezers working day and night to cool samples as low as -60 °С. This required additional cooling and generated a lot of noise. Furthermore, it was not possible to track if the necessary temperature was consistent. To optimize the process and reduce the amount of energy used, a decision was made to erect a new system, that is protected from malfunctions, to allow tracking of parameters, and to be controlled easily and efficiently. To achieve this, a design and implementation company was engaged, and the Grundfos MIXIT device was chosen as the technological solution, which takes precedence over the implementation with a traditional mixing loop.

"A traditional mixing group consists of several separate components with an additional electricity meter, while MIXIT integrates between 8 and 12 components, including a controller, check valve, control valve, actuator, throttle valve, differential pressure valve, temperature controller and sensors. In this way, installation time is reduced by up to 50%, and the system design itself is also facilitated. The installation of MIXIT, as well as the circulation pump - in this case Magna3, is extremely easy, and the operation is intuitive and simple," Grundfos explained.

MIXIT and the Magna3 pump can communicate between themselves as well as the Grundfos GO app. The large quantity of data provides insight regarding the installation in real time – this way the operator can intervene immediately after noticing a fault in the system.

Photo source: Grundfos