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Groundbreaking concept for highest energy efficiency

The plant offers an overall re-cooling capacity of 1815 kW in free cooling mode and is operated according to ASHRAE 2008 standards for higher allowable data hall temperatures, thus eliminating the need for refrigeration compressors and, with power usage effectiveness of 1.2, leading to the construction of one of the most capable, secure and energy-efficient data centres in the higher education sector in the UK.

Taking into account the fact that 30 – 40 % of any data centre’s power is needed to store digital data and the amount of digital data generated is soaring, it was decided to invest in a completely new datacentre with the highest possible reduction in energy consumption.

Novel approach, less power consumption

To achieve this goal, the university accepted a forward-thinking approach: The ‘chilled water’ solution, true to the ASHRAE A2 temperature range, supplies air at a higher temperature (up to 35°C) than conventional approaches, and without the use of chillers. This enables the system to work very efficiently in ‘free cooling’ mode for 100 % of the time, effectively leading to 10 % reduction in power consumption compared to 2013.

Backup power and capacity reserve

To safeguard the continuous operation of the centre, all the equipment has dual power feeds; backup power is guaranteed by three generator sets that can maintain operation for three days. Of the four N+1 Hybrid Dry Coolers, only three are necessary to keep up the everyday running of the plant. The whole is controlled by an intelligent system with the highest possible power efficiency and flexibility.

The new facility comprises four data halls with one hall kept deliberately free for future demand – considering the speed with which the amount of data increases, a clear-sighted decision. Therefore, an additional Hybrid Dry Cooler has been incorporated into the system in order to be prepared for the next step.

Type of cooler:

 

3 x HTK1.8/5.45-2S-P6-CU-SLNF

 

1 x HTK1.8/5.2-2S-P6-CU-SLNF

 

Heat output for total layout design:

4 x 605 kW capacity = 2420 kW installed capacity

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