IBM recently announced a
new project aimed at using absorption cooling to keep data centres cool. The project,
known as 'THRIVE', aims to combine silica gel with some of the heat produced by
data centre servers to cool those same servers through a process that could
reduce the amount of power used for cooling purposes. Although using heat to cool data centres
seems counter-intuitive, the principal has proven effective on a small scale.
Absorption cooling uses
heat to remove heat. How does that
work? To understand the principle, it
helps to first understand how vapour compression refrigeration works.
A traditional
air-conditioning unit utilises a compressor, heat exchanger and gas or liquid
refrigerant to remove heat from a given space.
The refrigerant is sent to a compressor as it enters the space that
needs to be kept cool, causing that refrigerant to absorb heat from ambient
air. The refrigerant continues through
tubing until it exits the refrigerated space, enters a heat exchanger and is
forced to rapidly expand, thereby
releasing all of the absorbed heat. It
then cycles through to the compressor and starts the process over again.
Vapour
compression refrigeration requires electricity to power
compressors and pumps. You can imagine
the power and cooling needs of the average data centre make this form of cooling an expensive proposition. This is
the very reason data centre designers are constantly looking for new ways to
keep spaces cool. Enter IBM and its
absorption cooling process.
Absorption cooling
involves no mechanical parts and, thereby, no electricity. The process begins with a solid material,
like silica gel, that absorbs the desired refrigerant in its natural
state. Heating the solid material
releases the refrigerant, which is then free to absorb heat from ambient air. Removing the heat source from the solid
material causes it to reabsorb the refrigerant, thereby completing the cycle.
Some of the heat
generated by the data centre server can be used to drive the system so that no
external electricity is necessary. The
best part is that once you get the process started, the physics keep it going
without much additional energy needed.
Long-Range Potential
IBM is most likely a long
way from perfecting an absorption cooling method that would be viable for
large-scale commercial purposes.
Unfortunately, they have to overcome some fundamental laws of physics in order
to create a system that is self-sustaining over time. However, they believe they are on the right
track with the goals set for the THRIVE project.
IBM researchers claim
that if their theories prove correct, these could lead to a reduction in data
centre power consumption by as much as 65% by 2040. At the same time, they believe they can
reduce fossil fuel consumption for data centre cooling purposes by as much as
18%. These are ambitious goals, to say
the least. Accomplishing them would put
IBM at the forefront of new power and cooling systems that could make the data
centres of tomorrow more eco-friendly.
Source: IBM Research News – http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.ch/2015/07/crazy-science-easing-strain-on-energy.html
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