DATA CENTRES
A sustainable approach to data centre cooling
Steven Booth, managing director for Guardian Water Treatment, a Marlowe Environmental Services Group company, discusses how to save water and energy while keeping data centres cool.
Using
monitoring, maintenance teams can track the inevitable disruption caused by intervention, and see how quickly in-spec conditions return, avoiding fl ushing in some cases where safe levels resume swiftly.
D
ata centres currently consume 2.5% of the UK’s total electricity, a fi gure that is set to rise to just under 6% by 2030. Despite our diminutive size, Britain has more
square metres of data centre than any other major European country. It is not the ‘data’ in data centres using the majority of this power; 90% goes towards facility operations, with 40% used for cooling. Overheating can be disastrous, so it can be hard to balance sustainability drivers with ensuring operational certainty. If equipment is not kept at a constant temperature of 20°C to 24°C, servers will start to perform ineffi ciently and unreliably, eventually shutting down completely. With the right systems in place, however, sustainability and operational certainty can go hand in hand, creating more reliable data centres that use less power, water and labour to keep them cool and effi cient.
Water, water, everywhere The largest data centres usually rely on cooling towers, which
use water as the heat transfer medium. Adiabatic cooling systems are one of the most eff ective and energy-effi cient cooling methods, using around 40% less electricity than other methods. They do require large quantities of water, however. One of the best ways to reduce this water wastage is to recover water from processes and reuse rainwater – around 70% of water used can be recycled. The larger the system, the better the returns, saving approximately £2 per cubic metre of water recovered. With some of the largest data centres using
The best way data centre owners can protect critical HVAC assets from breakdown, prevent unplanned downtime and maximise return on investment (ROI) is by utilising real-time monitoring and implementing preventative maintenance. This approach also allows data centre owners to: Extend the life of HVAC plant – with remote monitoring, interventions can be planned and preventative, reducing the need for expensive replacements and repairs and ensuring that valuable plant is working well for as long as possible. Increase ROI – over a period of 10 years, 24/7 monitoring can save money across the board,
thousands of cubic metres of water per day, this equates to a huge saving. In fact, the initial outlay of a water recycling system can be recouped in less than six months. Data centre water recycling systems use a combination of
media fi ltration, ion exchange and membrane fi ltration to remove all suspended solids and bacteria. A high percentage of dissolved solids are also removed and all bacteria, algae and viruses are discharged, ensuring recycled water is safe to use – in some cases cleaner than when it came out of the mains in the fi rst place.
Air-cooled and energy saving Smaller data centres tend to rely on air cooling and supporting
closed circuit water systems. Ensuring the operational effi ciency of these systems is essential to preventing downtime and keeping energy bills in-check. Air monitoring, a relatively sophisticated process, provides real-time data on temperature, humidity and air quality, keeping track of the ambient conditions and their potential impact on the data centre. In the past, ensuring water in the closed-circuit was also in the optimum condition was less sophisticated, relying on sampling which didn’t provide a continuous picture, only representing a snapshot in time. With good closed-system condition essential for preventing corrosion that can lead to ineffi ciencies and therefore greater energy usage, and in the worst-case scenarios expensive repairs and the dreaded downtime - the cost of which can run into the millions in such
improving energy effi ciency, extending equipment life, reducing water treatment costs and importantly for building owners, preventing catastrophic failure. Improve accountability – real-time data provides
transparency at all stages of an HVAC system’s life, from construction to handover and ongoing facilities management. The ability to pin-point and track disruption and resolution provides peace of mind to owners and ensures that misplaced blame is avoided. Prevent downtime – crucial to every aspect of our lives, data centre downtime can be extremely costly and disruptive. By catching issues before they become big problems, downtime is avoided.
20 November 2024 •
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