Data Center Solutions

Humidification & Evaporative Cooling: Scalable solutions to improve PUE and operational reliability

Walter Meier Corporate

Walter Meier AG, Switzerland

Worldwide Operations

Head Office: Schwerzenbach Switzerland

Employees: 2200 Net Sales: 750 Million CHF

Manufacturing & Climate Technologies

Listed on Swiss Exchange Majority owned by founding family

Group Division Humidification Manufacturing

8 Humidification Production Sites Manufacturing Plants

Diverse and Scalable Technology Offerings

Electric
- Electrode Steam

Pressure Steam
- Direct Injection

Gas-Fired
- Atmospheric Steam

Adiabatic
- Nozzles

- Resistive Steam

- Steam Exchange

- Evaporative

Data Centers Large or Small

Modular, container, and cloud providers

Customer Credibility

Core Application Area: Data Centers

Humidification Evaporative Cooling

Why Humidify in Data Centers

Human Health- hygiene, comfort, productivity Counter ESD- ensure reliability of ICT Dust suppression- extended mechanical component life Ensure Warranty protection, operate equipment within manufacturers accepted humidity levels, reduce commercial liability Meet applicable standards- ASHRAE Maintain consistent control- humidification is one portion of the overall HVAC systemconsistency allows for predictive maintenance, performance evaluation, improved availability

Why Evaporative Cooling

Utilize basic laws of physics to achieve cooling with an associated reduction in energy and energy costs Provide a greener solution to humidification requirements Reduced energy consumption contributes to reduced PUE

Required Energy
970 BTU/lb for water phase change (liquid at 212F to gas) Isothermal (steam) humidifiers use electricity or gas Adiabatic (evaporative) humidifiers draw energy from air
NEEDED ENERGY
(BTU per lb water)
Heat from 5 to up to 32F

21.5 144 180 970

Melt to 32F Heat from 0 up to 212F Boil to above 212F

Liquid Water

~1150 BTU/lb 0.33 kW

Water Vapor (Humidity)

When using Atomization/Evaporation the same amount of energy is drawn from the ambient air The air is cooled with 100% renewable energy!

Adiabatic and the Psychrometric Chart

Adiabatic Cooling

Evaporation of 1 liter of water = Cooling effect of app 2256 kJ or 0,68 kW

Typical energy use for evaporating 1 liter of water = 6-8 W (incl. RO) And gives a cooling effect of 0,68 kW!
March 2013 Adiabatic Cooling Solutions for Data Center Applications 12

Adiabatic Cooling Example

Example:
System CFM = 20,000 cfm Humidity load = 200 lbs/hr
*Heat is removed at a rate of roughly 1000 BTUs/lb of water evaporated

Formula:

T =
T =

BTU CFM x 1.10 (Constant)

200 x 1000 BTU 20,000 CFM x 1.10

T = 9.1F
Cooling and humidity go hand in hand!

Air-Side Free Cooling

The Green Grid - Updated Air-Side Free Cooling Maps: The Impact of ASHRAE 2011 Allowable Ranges

ASHRAE Data Center Classifications

The Green Grid - Updated Air-Side Free Cooling Maps: The Impact of ASHRAE 2011 Allowable Ranges

Adiabatic Cooling Solutions for Data Center Applications

Case in Point

Retrofit of an existing data centre with Evaporative Cooling - NJ, Finance

Background: Replacement of 3 Resistive Steam Humidifiers in rooftop AHU Replacement due to poor performance and Operational cost: part of an energy audit Primary humidification and Outside air requirements which servers the entire white space (raised floor area) This location has 55 CRAC units- every other unit has 22lb per hour electrode steam humidifiers which have been shut down to conserve energy Current consumption is 5kW for 11lb and 9 kW for 22lb Theoretical humidification load of 26 units with Humidifiers 234kW: Duty cycle is based in the sensible load and outside air percentage Theoretical humidification load of 395kW (what would the typical duty cycle be?) Retrofit MH units retrofitted into existing sections of AHU Reflow with softened water (filtered and softened) History Units installed in 2011 Operation is continuous with 24X7 fan operation at 50% capacity or 12 hour a day All CRAC units are now supplementary (provide redundancy) Energy savings for humidification is NJ energy costs ($.10 cents /kWh) X duty cycle 4380 X unit rating/consumption Good question I do not know the fan HP Secondary impact- cooling benefits of 10 to 15 f temperature drop Need to identify load shed for chillers load off chiller would be based on the CFM X DT X 1.08 I assume the inlet temp to the make-up air unit would be 75 to 85 Degrees Compare electrical costs Impact on new installations Reduced breaker size, reduced wiring and electrical services, reduced cost, space and secondary heating impact Reduced hardware cost- CRAC Potential to increase Evaporative Cooling capacity to further offload chillers (physical plant loads)

System Description Replacement of 9 x Resistive element humidifiers Shut down 26 x 22 lbs/hr humidifiers installed in CRAC units. Installation of 3xMHTC Reflow Units 320 lbs/hr (960 lbs/hr total)

System Type Housing-width Housing Height Air Flow Rate Altitude Duct Static Pressure (enter positive or negative number) Air Temperature Before Humidifiers RH % Before Humidifiers RH % After Humidifiers Supply Water Conductivity (Optional, Reflow Only, default 300 if left blank) Water Conductivity Limit (Optional, Reflow Only, default 800 if left blank) Air Temperature After Humidification Humidifier Output Total Water Consumption Air Volume Air Speed Through Modules Pressure Loss of Humidifier Humidification Efficiency ETA Dry Weight

Reflow / Flow

inches inches fpm ft in H20 [F] % %

S S

Reflow 81.0 69.0 309 0 0 82.0 3.0 69.0 150 1000 55.7 320.3 377 12000 415 0.14 83.3 273.2

[F] [lb/h] [lb/h] cfm fpm in H20 [%] lb

Estimated Energy Savings 234 kW reduction through shutdown of 26 CRAC humidifiers 24/7/365 with a 50 % duty cycle = $102,492 annual savings* 297 kW = 1,013,406 btu = 84 Tons free cooling from evaporative media units 24/7/365 with a 50 % duty cycle = $27,699 annual chiller savings** 2.13kW to power all evaporative media units Additional Savings and Benefits
Reduced equipment cost CRAC units Potential to increase Evaporative Cooling capacity to further offload chillers (physical plant loads)

* Based on $0.10/kWh ** Based on 0.75 kW/Ton , $0.10/kWh Does not take into account cost of water (supply/waste)

Case in Point

Retrofit of an exisiting data center w/evaporative cooling. North Carolina - Telecom

Background: Project to increase Humidification capacity by installing 6 new Air Handlers (York), 2009 Primary humidification and Outside air requirements which serve the entire white space (raised floor area) This location has 50 CRAC units- 30lb per hour electrode steam humidifiers which have been shut down to conserve energy Current consumption is 11.2 kW for 30lb Theoretical humidification load of 50 units with Humidifiers at 34.5% duty cycle is 194W (Duty cycle is based in the sensible load and outside air percentage and reflects average of the past 4 years) Retrofit 6 new AHUs with MH units were added to the existing site with reflow, potable water with no treatment Energy savings for humidification is NC plant energy costs (5.60 cents /kWh) X duty cycle 3022hr X 11.2kW per unit = Secondary impact- cooling benefits of 10 to 15 f temperature drop

Impact on new installations Reduced breaker size, reduced wiring and electrical services, reduced cost, space and secondary heating impact Reduced hardware cost- CRAC Potential to increase Evaporative Cooling capacity to further offload chillers (physical plant loads)
Significant energy savings have been achieved with the deployment of Evaporative cooling. Significant further energy savings are possible should the units be run outside of the season for cooling

Evaporative Media Units

System Description Installation of 6xMHTC Reflow Units 272 lbs/hr (1632 lbs/hr total) Shutdown 50 x 30 lbs/hr humidifiers installed in CRAC units

System Type Housing-width Housing Height Air Flow Rate Altitude Duct Static Pressure (enter positive or negative number) Air Temperature Before Humidifiers RH % Before Humidifiers RH % After Humidifiers Supply Water Conductivity (Optional, Reflow Only, default 300 if left blank) Water Conductivity Limit (Optional, Reflow Only, default 800 if left blank) Air Temperature After Humidification Humidifier Output Total Water Consumption Air Volume Air Speed Through Modules Pressure Loss of Humidifier Humidification Efficiency ETA Dry Weight Operating Weight

Reflow / Flow

inches inches fpm ft in H20 [F] % %

S S

Reflow 83.9 71.9 466 0 0 68.0 35.0 88.0 150 1000 54.8 272.0 320 19522 609 0.41 87.4 364.0 1294.8

[F] [lb/h] [lb/h] cfm fpm in H20 [%] lb lb

Estimated Energy Savings 560 kW reduction through shutdown of 50 CRAC humifiers 24/7/365 with a 35 % duty cycle = $103,017 annual savings* 504 kW = 1,721,630 btu = 144 Tons free cooling from evaporative media units 24/7/365 with a 35 % duty cycle = $19,868 annual chiller savings** 4.26kW to power all evaporative media units Additional Savings and Benefits
Reduced equipment cost CRAC units Potential to increase Evaporative Cooling capacity to further offload chillers (physical plant loads)

* Based on $0.60/kWh ** Based on 0.75 kW/Ton , $0.06/kWh Does not take into account cost of water (supply/waste)

Case in Point

New large scale data center with 100% free cooling

Case in Point

Lulea Phase 1

Case in Point

Principle Diagram

Case in Point

System Description Total construction area 28,000 m2 (300,000 sq.ft. ) Free Cooling system, no "traditional" refrigeration units 26 High-pressure humidification systems with a capacity of: 13675 L/h (~3000g/h)Max Cooling effect 9300 kW Max Power consumption 60kW 546 m2 (~6000sq. Ft.) misteliminator surface 5500 nozzles @ 2450 m (~8,000 ft.) pipes

Case in Point

Lulea- HP Spray Nozzles

Case in Point

Lulea- plenum and fan wall

Case in Point

White Space (Prineville)

Case in Point

White Space (Prineville)

Data Center Case in Point

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