Mercy Hospital Boiler Project

Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, a 150-year old city facility nestled in the heart of Chicago, faced an aging boiler system that was not able to supply the necessary heat output needed on a daily basis to run the hospital efficiently. YMI Mechanical, Inc. was awarded a contract to completely overhaul the mechanical boiler room located in the sub-basement of the patient tower and replace the original 1960 era boilers with four new state-of-the-art, 750 HP, high-pressure steam boilers.

So how do you overhaul the boiler room of a bustling Chicago hospital and medical center that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year? To ensure minimal interruption to the hospital and its patients, YMI Mechanical used a phased approach to install the new system. Due to the high demand on the hospital and the needs of the patients, two boilers had to be running at all times.

Working closely with the Owner, Owners Representative, and the General Contractor, YMI implemented a coordinated team approach allowing for an intricately designed shut down. YMI connected all the steam tie-ins to the existing system, installed blast gates in a new location for the flues and upgraded the existing incoming gas supply from People’s Gas. YMI was able to replace the outdated 1960’s era boilers with four new high-efficiency boilers equipped with Lo-NOx burners that have a 12:1 turn down ratio, all with no noticeable interruption to patient care.

Through innovative design and implementation, Mercy’s Central Boiler Plant improvements made by YMI Mechanical qualified and received a substantial rebate to the hospital from the gas utility company.