IT INNOVATION
Playing it
A new immersion cooling process could lead to 90% reductions in data centre energy usage for cooling, says Phil Tuma, an advanced application development specialist at 3M.
T
he explosive growth of the internet and other information technologies has
resulted in ceaseless demands for more speed and processing capacity in the electronic data centres (server farms) that handle this fl ood of information.
As the number and size of data centres have grown, so too has their consumption of electricity – doubling over the past fi ve years to reach an estimated 1.5% of the United States’ total power consumption by 2011, for example.
The need to reduce energy consumption has become a serious issue among industry leaders, utilities and regulatory agencies – both from the standpoints of cost and environmental impact.
A question of effi ciency
Computer boards, chips, UPS systems and other electronic components give off a tremendous amount of heat, which must be removed to ensure their reliable operation.
Air cooling (typically employing chilled water to cool the air entering a rack of servers) is the predominant method for cooling server racks.
However, chillers consume a considerable amount of power. So does the air handling equipment that moves air around the data centre, and the fans that draw cooled air through the servers. In fact, the EPA and industry groups such as ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) have concluded that conventional air cooling technology is a leading cause of ineffi ciency, often consuming more than 50% of a data centre’s electricity.
It is generally recognised that liquid cooling is more effi cient than air cooling. Because liquids can transfer heat much more effi ciently than air, liquid cooling is considered by many to be the ultimate solution for reducing the energy used in data centre cooling. However, pumping liquids onto servers that must be accessible for servicing is challenging. As a result, most liquid cooling systems are more complex and hardware-intensive than air cooled systems.
Keeping it simple
To overcome these problems, 3M is developing a simple, passive, two-phase (evaporative) cooling technique that involves immersing servers in a bath of a non-electrically conductive
fl uid, such as 3M Novec 649 Engineered Fluid. Novec 649 fl uid is a non-fl ammable, low- toxicity material with a global warming potential of one, equivalent to that of naturally occurring carbon dioxide.
Passive two-phase immersion cooling has been used for decades to cool high value electronics such as supercomputers, transformers and traction inverters. This technology is favoured for its simplicity, reliability, power density and performance.
What’s new about the 3M concept for data centre cooling is the use of semi-open baths in place of hermetic enclosures. 3M Novec 649 Engineered Fluid removes heat through direct contact with the heating elements, which raises Novec 649 fl uid to its boiling point (49°C). The vapour that is generated rises and is condensed through outside air or normal facility water. No energy is required to move the vapour, which naturally rises and then falls back to the bin in its liquid state. A chiller is not necessary.
Passive two-phase cooling can decrease power usage by 90% compared to traditional air cooling methods. It simplifi es facility construction by reducing fl oor space requirements, eliminating the need for air cooling infrastructure such as plena, air economisers, or elevated ceilings, among other equipment.
The 3M technique also eliminates the need for connectors, plumbing, pumps and cold plates associated with conventional liquid cooling.
A look forward
Challenged on many fronts to reduce energy usage, a growing number of server equipment manufacturers and data centre managers are taking a closer look at 3M’s liquid electronics cooling portfolio. Their interest is helping to confi rm the viability of adapting these proven technologies to the needs of a new generation of data processing and communications applications.
Phil Tuma
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.3M.com
24 | public sector executive Sep/Oct 12
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