DATA CENTRE COOLING Balancing act
Jacob Wolfe, Global Key Account Manager, Data Centres, at Armstrong Fluid Technology, discusses the delicate balance of aligning data centre cooling with expansion strategies for optimum reliability and environmental performance.
T Jacob Wolfe
"Traditional control practices often fail to optimise this potential."
he energy effi ciency of data centres is subject to intense scrutiny, and operators have multiple incentives for reducing consumption and improving environmental performance. This has to be balanced, however, with the demands for maximum reliability of all critical cooling processes, and zero toleration of downtime. The key to balancing these confl icting demands is alignment of the data centre cooling systems with the specifi c business models of the industry, to avoid energy wastage at various points in the lifecycle of the facility. Data centres require the fl exibility to expand at scale IT processing capabilities incrementally over time. The commercial pressures encountered in this sector, and the short upgrade cycles of IT equipment, mean that it makes no fi nancial sense to front- load capital investment. By expanding incrementally, in line with increasing demand for processing capacity, operators are better able to future-proof their facilities and achieve faster deployment and return on investment.
Technical challenges of incremental system expansion The traditional approach is to create a cooling system capable of supplying 100% of demand from the outset. This approach is unsuitable for data centres for a number of reasons. Firstly, it involves unnecessary front-loading of investment in building services for the site, and does not provide the necessary fl exibility to increase incrementally over time. Secondly, a cooling system designed for 100% demand at the outset (when actual demand is far lower during the early
Energy Performance Implications of Parallel Pump Staging Strategy
1P Eff. 2P Eff. O ♦ ♦ 3P Eff. O ♦ 4P Eff. O
phases) involves signifi cant risks of energy wastage due to the operation of oversized equipment. Given the sensitivities around the environmental impact of data centres, operators are keen to avoid lower than average effi ciency at any of their sites, and many have ambitious carbon reduction strategies that would be hampered by poor performance of newly-established facilities. Furthermore, although the cooling technologies themselves are highly reliable, the risk of technical issues is heightened where equipment is oversized in relation to demand.
PSPC CONTROL CURVE
4 PUMPS 3 PUMPS 1 PUMP 2 PUMPS
Lost efficiency due to staging OFF too early
♦ - Efficiency-based staging points O - Speed-based staging points – Staging OFF at 55%
Figure 1 Armstrong Fluid Technology Summit 2016 20 November 2025 •
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Aligning cooling systems with data centre business models The keys to eff ective incremental expansion of cooling systems, to align with increasing processing capacity of data centres, include modularity, repeatability, scalability, demand- based control and Active Performance Management. Modularity: The best cooling systems for data centres are those that are designed on modular principles, specifi cally for incremental expansion. This ensures that additions to the system can be integrated quickly and seamlessly, without time-consuming and costly installation and commissioning, or additional development in situ. Repeatability: To safeguard reliability and reduce risk, it is important that the modules are carefully designed for the stringent demands of data centre applications, but are readily available as off -the-shelf products. Ad hoc equipment and customised systems are the enemy in these situations, as they introduce variables/unknowns that can adversely impact reliability due to unpredictability. To create a cooling system which delivers in terms of both modularity and repeatability, it is helpful to think in terms of packaged plant or off -site-manufactured plantrooms. An example of a packaged plant option is Armstrong’s iFMS. This is a complete fl uid management system for data centre cooling, which is pre-designed and pre-assembled by Armstrong, and can be confi gured to suit a wide range of operating conditions. As the pump package is fully assembled and tested before it leaves Armstrong’s factory, many potential project risks (such as poor system integration) are eliminated. Solutions such as this, which are capable of ‘bolting-on’ additional cooling in line with expansion of IT processing capacity, can avoid the energy wastage of oversized plant, whilst assisting profi tability by preventing front-loading of capital investment, and providing repeatability of performance.
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EFFICIENCY
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