Issue 1, December 2008
FOCUS TECHNOLOGY
APC says it initally had to do a lot of research into fuel cells. It teamed up with Toronto based firm Hydrogenics, and looked at where fuel cell UPS could be applied to different data center strategies.
Although the capital cost price gap is narrowing fuel cell back up remains more expensive than battery or diesel. Advocates like to point out that runtime costs are consistent and don’t go up the longer you run it, unlike battery and diesel UPSs. Scale is another issue as fuel cells are more suited to providing back up power to server rooms and small data centers and don’t scale like traditional UPSs. That said, other factors appear to be moving in favour of hydrogen. For example in environmentally aware locations such as California it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain a permit for a diesel generator and batteries are a long way from being green.
HOW MUCH POWER?
“A modular, rack-mounted standby power system, based on a hydrogen fuel cell, can supply between 10kW and 60kW, which is sufficient to power a medium-to-large server room. Ultimately, fuel cells provide the same outcome as a generator – backup power – but when compared to diesel generators they offer several additional benefits making them a more attractive offer,” says Tom Sperrey, UPS Systems managing director. “Fuel cells continue to operate effectively, and provide unlimited runtimes by replacing the hydrogen cylinders. Furthermore, due to modular designs, additional fuel cell stacks that increase the power output, can be easily added.”
Often, organisations in city centres need planning permission to install generators due to their size, the emissions and noise they produce; typically they need to be located outside in the car park or on the roof causing additional fuel storage issues. Fuel cells eliminate all of these problems. Being smaller with no harmful emissions, they are also quieter than diesel generators, and produce fewer vibrations. “Fuel cells are more appropriate as they require no planning permission and can be housed next to or inside the computer room,” says Sperry.
Fuel cells using natural gas or anaerobic digester gas (ADG) are ideal for prime power generation, and can produce up to 400kW of output, which is sufficient to guarantee a reliable and stable power supply for a small data center or an entire business campus. As the fuel cell market continues to evolve, new technologies and suppliers will emerge toa provide even more choice for businesses.
APC FCXR SPECIFICATION
System Components Control module, Single control module for up to 30kW DC/DC converter FC voltage up to UPS battery bus voltage Power Module (3-10kW PM’s per 19” rack) System power plant Cooling and water management Heat and water sent out of the Data Center Up to 3 modules installed in a single rack Onsite upgrade from 10 to 20 to 30kW Supports APC’s 3-Phase Symmetra PX product line
...in environmentally aware
locations such as California it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain a permit for a diesel
generator and batteries are a long way from being green.
One of the first customers for APC’s fuel cell UPS was web services company Interlink Connectivity Inc which positioned one on the fifth floor of its 21 floor Toronto building.
Another hydrogen cell user is UPS Systems’ client, UK based Winton Capital Management which is headquartered in city- centre offices in London. Operating in the financial markets means Winton cannot lose access to its IT systems for both financial and regulatory reasons.
“When we started looking for a standby power solution it was obvious that a traditional diesel-powered generator was not going to work for us,” says Owen McCormack, head of IT at Winton Capital Management. “You have to accommodate the fuel tank as well as the generator and that takes up a lot of room.” While space was the primary concern, with neighbours nearby, Winton was also keen to avoid creating unnecessary noise and fumes.
“Fuel cell technology is available now and is being used as a hassle free solution for backup power. There are several commercial installations already deployed and units
operating across the UK. Fuel cells are a viable option to help IT directors and CIO’s guarantee their power supply and in turn the security of their operations,” says Sperrey.
APC would find it hard to disagree with those sentiments. Jeanette says the FCXR is a second generation fuel cell. “We made modifications. The biggest thing to do was to decrease the installation and maintenance complications by cutting the number of connections and it now has more easy to swap components. It is a high availability system and customers were concerned about uptime so we now have a good mean time to repair. We put in a new thermal management and ventilation system and made small changes in cooling.”
The changes were incorporated following a lot of feedback from users. “We wanted to see how they wanted to see it put together from a safety perspective.”
For the moment fuel cells will be bought by early adoptors and it will be a niche market serving high rise applications and small data centers.
It won’t replace other technologies on a wide scale but expect the UPS market to become an integration of battery, diesel and fuel cell.
www.datacenterdynamics.com 59
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