Free cooling is
an approach to lowering the air temperature in a building or data center by
using naturally cool air or water instead of mechanical refrigeration. In
actual practice, free cooling is not entirely free, because pumps, fans and
other air/water-handling equipment are needed, and that equipment also requires
periodic repairs and maintenance.
The prevailing air at
many latitudes and elevations can be considerably cooler during certain seasons
and times of day than the air that is warmed by data center equipment. By
filtering, humidifying and introducing cooler prevailing air directly into the
data center, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the use of industrial-grade
CRAC systems. Cooling systems that use this approach are sometimes called air-side
economizers.
Alternatively, a
source of cold water from local rivers, lakes or ocean sources can be
circulated into a data center and used instead of undergoing the traditional
method of refrigerating a closed water loop with a chiller. Systems using this
approach are often called water-side economizers, which can either be used
to cool room air or directly cool cabinets and other systems.
In both cases, the
industrial cooling systems would only be needed when the outside air
temperatures become too high for free cooling systems like air- or water-side
economizers to be effective. Consequently, the working life of installed
cooling systems can be significantly extended.
Comments
Post a Comment