The challenge of designing and building large and energy efficient data center facilities that can operate year-round, twenty-four hours a day, has led to new approaches and technologies in this sector.
Corporate data centers have servers, telecommunications and storage systems, as well as backup power equipment, network devices, security systems, and environmental building controls, such as air conditioning, fire protection equipment, humidification controls, etc. The equipment is usually placed on special racks (cabinets or closets). Obviously, all these devices emit heat through operation, in particular heat builds up in server racks.
Existing cooling solutions in many data center facilities are not adequate for the task nor energy efficient. To implement more efficient ways to remove heat from data center racks, many companies use designs that directly cool the racks or cool certain components in a rack. Several traditional options include adding air conditioning units, adding self-contained cooling towers, or optimizing existing cooling systems.
The 4th Annual Data Center Efficiency Summit, organized by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, addressed this topic yesterday at IBM-Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California. Case studies of high –performance data centers were featured by Twitter, Facebook, Brocade, Cisco, NREL, EPRI, Duke Energy, Akamai Technologies, and more. Several speakers discussed energy management platforms, server room efficiency, air-flow management in the data center facility, sustainable data centers, DC power, server closet efficiency, and more. Researcher from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Stanford University, and Syracuse University presented a few projects.
Today’s cooling technologies for data centers focus on compressorless methods. Systems that use both air and liquid cooling show positive results. Henry Coles, an architect and Lead Thermal Engineer for Rack or Multiple Rack Level Cooling Systems from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), presented his team’s case study of High Efficiency Liquid Cooling innovation.
Coles said that warm temperature liquid is more efficient than air for cooling. The idea is to get rid of compressors (i.e. chillers) in data centers. Some methods include spray, submersion in water or oil, more.
The technology presented is called In-Row cooler, which has a different design than ordinary rack coolers. The goal was to reduce or eliminate of chillers. Direct liquid cooling is practical and efficient, and uses several components. Coles reported on the initial testing of the concept. With use of filters, fans, air-to-water heat exchangers, and water chilling mechanism , hot air is being chilled in the In-Row model. For cooling, water is economized and being used only when needed and not at default, therefore water utilization is minimal. Furthermore, the case study examined usage of treated (or recycled) water for the In-Row design.
Other approaches to cool data centers focus on cooling the entire room. MeeFog, a Southern California company, has developed a design that doesn't involve high usage of water nor pumping of huge volumes of water through the data center. Instead, the company's technology uses the natural evaporative effect of water to cool the air in the data center.
MeeFog is engineered by Mee Industries Inc., a high-tech corporation with an innovative and cost-effective fog solutions for several applications, such as industrial humidification, outdoor air conditioning, greenhouse climate control, humidification systems, gas turbine inlet air-cooling, and special effects. Founded in 1969 by Thomas Mee Jr., a former Cornell University research scientist, Mee Industries is a privately held company.
For data center cooling, the company offers custom-made system with multiple fogging units and nozzles to provide the exact levels of cooling and humidity around server-farms and the data center equipment. MeeFog technology eliminates the need for chillers. Their model uses evaporative cooling combined with outside air. Fog nozzles in plenum use a mist eliminator made of a synthetic fiber. Bacteria growth is inhibited with antibacterial substance that is applied to the synthetic fiber.
Facebook took the approach of cooling the data center room and not cooling just the racks. Facebook chose to install a MeeFog system to maintain a temperature of 80.5 degrees Fahrenheit (an American standard for data centers). The design included two pumps (one active and another on stand-by mode, with an automatic switch over), which caused water to flow through stainless steel tubing with an array of pin-nozzles. These specially engineered impaction-pin nozzles convert the water into a fine mist. The mist (or fog) quickly evaporates and cools the air to the desired temperature.
Facebook's results were significant: for every 100 watts used for the computers at the data center, 6 watts went to cooling, lighting, and power distribution devices. To compare Facebook’s data center cooling results, Google has achieved approximate results of utilizing 13 watts for every 100 'computing' watts through other methods (information provided by MeeFog).
I spoke to John Mee, the founder's son and the Marketing Manager of MeeFog. Their system uses the adiabatic process, i.e. no energy is added to the air to create evaporation change. This adiabatic cooling process offers stability and energy savings for cooling data centers and works well in desert-like climate as well as in more humid regions. Fresh air is brough into the cooling process. Generally, the MeeFog units operate during the summer months, however, they can be used during the winter to control humidification and bring it to the appropriate level to eliminate electrocstatic discharge. He said that what sets Mee fogging technology apart from other solutions is their uniquely designed impaction-pin nozzle, which ouperforms competition. The custom designed in-duct system is small and offers maximum energy and evaporation efficiency without wetting the environment it operates in. Therefore, it provides cost effect, sustainable and efficient cooling solution that reduces energy usage and carbon footprint.
MeeFog also offers fog system solutions for amusement parks, zoos, and gardens, where their custom systems create moving fog effects. Their systems offer artists and designers robust possibilities to enhance design elements through visual and tactile experiences. MeeFog’s website offers several media slide-shows to illustrate the various options. Check the Special Effects page.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1. The Data Center Efficiency Summit is a partnership between the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), California Energy Commission and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It focuses on best practices and emerging technologies that reduce data center costs and significantly increase efficiencies for both legacy and new construction.
Anne Smart, Director of Energy at SVLG orchestrated the event and coordinated the efforts with the planning team, comprised of leading SVLG memeber organizations in Silicon Valley.
SVLG information: www.greensvlg.org
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is organized to involve principal officers and senior managers of member companies in a cooperative effort with local, regional, state, and federal government officials to address major public policy issues affecting the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley.
SVLG advocates for adequate affordable housing, comprehensive regional transportation, reliable energy, a quality K-12 and higher education system, prepared workforce, a sustainable environment, and business and tax policies that keep California and Silicon Valley competitive.
Founded in 1977 by David Packard from Hewlett-Packard, several local high-tech employers created a proactive voice for Silicon Valley businesses. As of 2011, SVLG represents more than 345 company members of the Silicon Valley's most respected employers. Membership is open to Silicon Valley firms and supporting industries including software, systems, manufacturing, financial services, accounting, transportation, health care, defense, communications, education and utilities.
The Sustainability Symposium, the Energy Summit and the Data Center Efficiency Summit are signature events of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
2. MeeFog website: www.meefog.com
Contact Mee Industries Inc. at E-mail info@meefog.com
Careers at Mee Industries: http://www.meefog.com/about_mee/career.html
3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) website: http://www.lbl.gov/
LBNL is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California (UC) and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. The lab was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a UC Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics.
Thirteen scientists associated with LBNL have won the Nobel Prize. Fifty-seven of their scientists are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
To read about the LBNL’s personnel achievements throughout the years click here.
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