by
Keith Loria, Reporter | October 07, 2009
KR Products offers 2
through 20 Ton Water
Chillers for CT, Pet,
and MRI systems
This report originally appeared in the September 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News
The chiller industry as a whole has been floundering for a while now, but that's mainly because the demand for industrial chillers and those used for the computer tech and automobile sectors has dropped along with their industries. However, there is one area where chiller sales are still doing well - the medical chiller sector.
"For us, from September last year we just had a steep drop-off in sales [as a company] and then in January we started seeing sales return. We're not where we were last year, but we have orders on the book," says Chris King, Vice President for KR Products Inc. "With all the baby boomers coming along, we need more and more medical equipment so it has stayed steady for us."
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Although they may not be the first thing that hospitals think about when setting up shop, hospital equipment such as MRIs, CT Scans and X-rays won't function unless they have a chiller. So as long as OEMs continue to turn out equipment, there will be a market for chillers.
"The medical chiller market tends to mirror the major diagnostic equipment market, so right now, business is fairly steady," says Bob Freudenberger, VP of Ellis & Watts.
Basically, a chiller is like an air conditioner. Since most major medical devices generate heat while in operation, the chilled water generated by the chillers is the solution to dissipate the heat that is produced. The difference is you are removing heat from the fluid and not the air.
"Each chiller provides a defined flow rate and temperature drop specification," says Freudenberger. "Some have optional city water bypass valve systems to allow operation of the medical equipment, even during a time of service or failure of the chiller system."
Industry experts estimate a price range for new chillers to be in the $8,000 to $50,000 range, and the pricing depends on the size, modality and the assortment of add-ons a chiller can have.
Challenges Abound
Despite a steady market in medical chillers, there are still difficult circumstances the industry has been dealing with over the past year.
