The extraordinary growth in online financial transactions, gaming and video streaming during the 21st century has created massive demand for high-capacity data centres, with 8.4 million such facilities operating worldwide according to Statistica*.
The annual global power requirement of the mainframes and servers within these vast halls amounts to around 416 terawatts, which is 100 times the energy of similarly sized buildings and roughly three percent of all electricity generated worldwide.**
The tremendous heat generated within high-density data centres means that a dedicated air-conditioning system is essential if the optimum operating temperature for server inlets of between 18°C and 27°C degrees – as recommended by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) – is to be maintained.***
However, in solving one problem this solution consequently creates another – a requirement for a cooling water system in order to reduce the temperature of the water used in the air-conditioning system.
For this reason, there is a growing need within data centres for chemical dosing systems capable of balancing the reduction of fresh water consumption with the prevention of corrosion, scaling and microbiological growth in cooling water systems.
This was the challenge faced by the operator of two huge data centres in China (among more than 400 such facilities in the country), who required in excess of 100 professional water-treatment controllers for managing pH and conductivity within the sites’ cooling water system.
For this, they turned to SEKO, for the company’s vast experience helping operators of open circulating, once-through and closed loop cooling water treatment systems to sustainably protect system health, optimise chemical performance, guard against contamination and minimise water consumption.
Following an analysis of the sites and their unique requirements, the SEKO team recommended its Kontrol 50 single-parameter controllers and accompanying probes as the ideal solution.
Used across multiple water-treatment applications, Kontrol 50 is a trusted system that combines SEKO’s renowned precision, ease of use and reliability – all essential characteristics for this large-scale project.
With more than 100 controllers to install and activate across the two sites, the contractor benefitted from Kontrol 50’s easy-to-use setup and programming menu, while the system’s electrode quality control function simplified management and replacement of electrodes.
Featuring a real-time status bar and crystal-clear digital display to facilitate reading and interpretation of data, Kontrol 50 also includes a wizard calibration system to simplify daily maintenance tasks as well as a multilingual menu to ensure accessibility for every end user.
These controllers are now in place and helping the two sites to protect hardware and data alike while reducing chemical consumption within their vast operation – another example of a SEKO solution helping customers achieve long-term, cost-effective improvements in their daily operations.
References
* https://www.statista.com/statistics/500458/worldwide-datacenter-and-it-sites
*** https://journal.uptimeinstitute.com/a-look-at-data-center-cooling-technologies
