"Heat Wheel" Could Lower Data Center Power Bills

miller60 writes "An air conditioning technology called the 'heat wheel' is getting a test drive in data centers, and early adopters cite impressive reductions in their power bills. The heat wheel — also known as a rotary heat exchanger or Kyoto Cooling — is a refinement of cooling systems using outside air. Rather than introducing exterior air directly into the server room (the air economization we discussed recently), the heat wheel briefly mixes the outside air and exhaust air to create an air-to-air heat exchanger. A data center in the Netherlands using this approach only has to use chillers 11 days a year." The article points out that the heat wheel is not new, but it hasn't been applied to data centers until recently.

Comments

how about dropping the ac - dc - ac - dc to one AC

[Joe The Dragon]

how about dropping the ac - dc - ac - dc to one AC - DC part?

Re:I don't get it

[phozz bare]

Because outside air contains all sorts of things that you don't want in your data center: humidity, contamination (dust, pollen), etc. While you could get rid of dust with filters (that would need frequent replacing), there's no simple answer for humidity.

So it's a heat exchanger?

[rrohbeck]

!news. Many (most?) well designed AC systems employ heat exchangers.
What's the diff between a rotating and a conventional heat exchanger? Efficiency? Cost? Of course TFA doesn't mention any of it.

Re:So it's a heat exchanger?

[evilviper]

That happens a lot when you don't read TFA:

But you still get stupid replies from others who don't understand what they read.

This system has all the benefits of Airside Economizing

A heat exchanger is NOT airside economizing. In fact, the two are polar opposites, though I suppose there could be some manufacturers out there that conflate the two in their ads.

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[jhfry]

Why not just say that data centers are using heat exchangers and outside air to cool their computer rooms.

All the stupid wheel is is a heat exchanger like any other. Many types of heat exchangers allow the inclusion of outside air, though I would think it would be better to keep your computer room air closed from the outside if it is possible.

Here's the "rest of the story"

[mattytee]

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Lol... netherlands

[joocemann]

"A data center in the Netherlands using this approach only has to use chillers 11 days a year."

Umm.. yeah... the netherlands is generally a cold place. Not really saying much if the listener knows a little something about geography and weather.

Re:how about dropping the ac - dc - ac - dc to one

[Anonymous Coward]

"Mistaken" is not the right word. The question itself makes no sense.