Energy Efficient Free Cooling System for Data Centers

Abstract

A data center is a facility used to keep computer related equipments. It is estimated that heat production rate of the data center is doubled in every two years and hence the inevitability of the cooling system gets increased. In due course power consumption of a data center is augmented and more cost is spent on the power usage of the cooling system rather than the equipment purchase. As a result power savings for the cooling system is strongly desired. In this paper we conferred two primary free cooling systems namely air economizer and water economizer. A free cooling economizer system uses the outside air which is forced to the data center when outside climate is suitable to meet the ASHRE's cooling requirements. We have also conducted a survey and simulation based estimation using TRACE[TM] Chiller Plant Analyzer Tool. In this study, the energy consumption in a data center using conventional cooling system is compared with Air Economizer and Water Economizer for three different Zones namely Chicago, Atlanta and Phoenix in view of the fact that the outside air is relatively cool most of the year. From the projected result it is observed that both economizers reduce energy and cost when compared with conventional system and the usage of Economizer permits the chiller to shut down or reduce chiller energy load under suitable weather conditions. The results show that Water economizers are shown to consistently outperform air economizer which provides significant improvement in cooling system efficiency and cost at data center. The performance ratio of the conventional, air economizer and the water economizers are 50%, 76% and 79% respectively that shows economizers provide more savings relative to the conventional system.