Cooling systems based completely on water

Neunkirchen, 22nd March 2022. SCHÄFER IT-Systems, the specialist for data centre infrastructure, data centre cooling solutions and network technology, fully complies with “Blue Angel” requirements for the use of natural coolants in their entire edge computing system. On 11th and 12th May 2022 at the Data Centre World in Frankfurt in hall 3.1, stand D15, IT and data centre specialists can find out about this new iQdata cooling concept for the first time.

The Europe-wide refrigerants directive has resulted in a comprehensive package of obligations for data centre operators. There are transitional periods for existing systems, but new systems may no longer be built using traditional refrigerants. So, it makes sense to plan future-proof new systems in keeping with Blue Angel requirements and aim to achieve certification. Mandatory requirements for a positive IT audit are energy-efficient cooling solutions without fluorocarbons (HFCs), an annual performance factor (APF) greater than eight and a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.3. Schäfer IT-Systems took on the challenge of meeting these requirements in a trial set-up at the Betzdorf site in order to fulfil the “Blue Angel” criteria.

“The cooling system, which was built and tested together with our cooperation partner Efficient Energy, is a closed-loop concept made up of typical data centre components. The cooling system essentially consists of a side cooler, a cold water chiller and a free cooler set up as a complete system. For us, it was important to set the entire system up in a practical way and to actually determine the operating and efficiency values, the so-called free cooling," explains Philipp Maibom, project manager and area sales manager West at SCHÄFER ITSystems.

Dr. Dieter Thiel is a member of the Federal Environment Agency's "Blue Angel" expert group, and was involved in issuing the certificate of conformity, which confirms compliance with the "Blue Angel" criteria for air conditioning. He confirms that "the refrigeration system tested in laboratory operation meets all the requirements for the Blue Angel environmental certificate.”

The test setup was based on the temperature profiles at the Frankfurt location. In various test scenarios, different ambient and rack temperatures were tested under a constant IT load. In addition to the known operating parameters of a data centre, very high air and water temperatures were tested within the normative limits and regulations. The results fully meet the criteria for energy efficiency.

"Compared to previously used cooling solutions, the power consumption of our new climate control solution is two thirds lower, based on one year covering all four seasons. This also reduces the annual carbon dioxide footprint by almost 70 per cent. Compared to a traditional system, the investment pays for itself within three years of operation," says Thomas Wermke, Business Unit Director of SCHÄFER Interior Systems, who is also responsible for sales at SCHÄFER IT Systems.

As a specialist for rack-based cooling solutions, Schäfer IT-Systems, together with Efficient Energy GmbH, has proven that new standards in energy efficiency and sustainability are also possible for smaller data centres.