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22 XXX CASE XXX STUDY
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22 XXX CASE XXX STUDY
Cool
Talking
By EcoCooling www . ecocooling . org
EcoCooling provided a direct evaporative cooling solution to take care of three TalkTalk data centres
EcoCooling was initially approached by TalkTalk because Facilities manager Mark Jacobs wanted to reduce the environmental impact of the company ’ s data centres across the board as well as curbing energy costs . He needed a product that could achieve both these objectives while maintaining the critical functionality of the facility .
The TalkTalk data centres have favoured traditional DX ( direct expansion ) refrigeration-based cooling systems using CRAC ( computer room air conditioning ) units . These have a relatively low capital cost but were proving to be inefficient . Additionally , these systems don ’ t incorporate the more advanced principle of free cooling . For these reasons TalkTalk felt that a fresh look at their cooling systems was required . After assessing the most energy efficient systems available , a new system incorporating free cooling was decided upon . This used cold outside air to cool the data centre for as long a period as possible before bringing in the cooling system when the outside air became warm . This approach decreases the cost and the carbon production dramatically as the cooling system is running for much shorter periods .
Assessing the options Two options were looked at : The first , a DX system using free cooling would allow the system to switch off the power-hungry compressor and use a simple , efficient , aircooled circuit to provide a reasonably good coefficient of performance ( CoP ) of 3 . Last year , in London , the ambient air temperature was below 14 ° C for approximately 70 % of the time . In theory , this represents the amount of time when free cooling can be used . However , because condenser units are usually placed in groups on rooftops or in outside plant areas , the only source of air into the inlet is often a mixture of ambient air with hot air from adjacent condensers .
Higher overall inlet temperatures result in a reduced free cooling band , and a relatively small amount of warm air recirculation can make a big difference . A 5 ° C change would halve the time when free cooling could be used , therefore dramatically reducing the specified performances achieved . As a result TalkTalk began looking at other solutions which avoided the possibility of recirculation and increased the
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