Subscribe
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team engineers in Logar province completed work, Feb. 14, on a unique mortuary that uses a cooling system requiring no electricity.
Nayeb Aminullah, the district hospital in Pul-e Alam, is the largest health facility in the province, said Ahmatullah Nalam, the hospital’s director. Until recently, this vital medical facility was unable to properly care for the bodies of deceased patients, the director said.
Czech civil engineers designed the mortuary to use natural cooling without any electricity requirements. This design increases the sanitation and hygiene of the hospital’s cadaver storage, said Kristyna Greplova, media officer for the Czech PRT in Logar.
The initial design involved the use of a power generator plus an air-conditioning system; however, planners determined it to be cost-prohibitive due to the price of diesel fuel, said Greplova. With that in mind, the Czech PRT created a mortuary design featuring a solar chimney and underground collectors.
"(The) solar chimney is a glassed shaft painted ... (with) black color on its walls," said Klára Janotová, a civil engineer from the Czech PRT. "Within the area of the chimney, the air gets heated and, under the rule of the physical law stating that hot air tends to (rise), the air from inside the mortuary is (suctioned) away and fresh cool air from underground collectors is (suctioned) in. As a result, an ascending stream of cold air emerges, cooling down the mortuary interior."
The advantage of this system is its capability to maintain a low temperature even during hot summer days when the temperature outside rises above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
"The higher the outside temperatures, the higher the temperatures inside the chimney," said Janotová. As the hot air escapes upward, it pulls cooler air from the underground collectors at a faster rate and increases the cooling effect.
“We are thankful (the) Czech Republic is present here in Logar Province and that the Czech PRT is helping us implement new projects,” said Alhay Mohammad Zarif, provincial director of Afghan Public Health Department. “This construction has radically improved the quality of Pul-e Alam hospital, and we hope to cooperate even more with Czechs in the future.”
In the next few months, the mortuary will undergo a series of tests confirming the system of natural passive cooling using the solar chimney and underground air collectors is fully working, said Greplova. Once approved, the Czech PRT plans to implement this technology in similar projects in the Baraki Barak and Mohammad Agha Districts of Logar province, she said.
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.17.2011 15:50 |
| Story ID: | 65612 |
| Location: | LOGAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 169 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Czech PRT designs unique mortuary for Afghan hospital, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
