INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Data Centres
Research shows water
temperature affects data
centre performance
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E
nergy efficiency is an issue that
concerns all who are involved with the
design and operation of data centres.
The cooling function in general and the
operation of water chillers in particular,
are large consumers of power and as such,
require focused efforts to improve overall
energy efficiency.
Water chillers account for between
60–85% of overall cooling-system energy
consumption. Consequently, data centres
are designed, where possible, to keep usage
of chillers to a minimum and to maximise
the amount of available ‘free cooling’, in
which less power-hungry systems such as
www.intelligentcio.com
air coolers and cooling towers can keep
the temperature of the IT space at a
satisfactory level.
One approach to reducing water chiller
energy consumption is to design the
cooling system so that a higher outlet water
temperature (CHW) from the chillers can
be tolerated while maintaining a sufficient
cooling effort. In this way, chillers consume
less energy by not having to work as hard
and the number of free cooling hours can
be increased.
As with any complex system, attention needs
to be paid to all parts of the infrastructure,
as changes in one area can have direct
implications for another. A new whitepaper
from Schneider Electric, the global specialist
in energy management and automation,
examines the effect on overall cooling
system efficiency by operating at higher
chilled water temperatures.
The whitepaper outlines the various
strategies and techniques that can be
deployed to permit satisfactory cooling at
higher temperatures, while discussing the
trade-offs that must be considered at each
stage, comparing the overall effect of such
strategies on two data centres operating in
vastly different climates. n
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