APC announces EcoBreeze, the first economiser cooling solution keeping outside air away from the data centre.
APC by Schneider Electric has introduced the EcoBreeze, a modular air-to-air and indirect evaporative heat exchanger cooling solution with the ability to switch automatically between modes to provide consistent cooling to data centres in the most efficient way. The system is designed to reduce energy consumption by leveraging temperature differences between the outside ambient and IT return air to provide intelligent cooling for the data centre. The EcoBreeze meets ASHRAE 90.1/TC 9.9 requirements for efficiency and economisation with multiple frame sizes and varying supply voltage and phase options to address any data centre’s cooling needs.
As data centres are constantly expanding and local energy companies place heavy restrictions on a data centre’s ability to pull more power from the grid, there is an urgent need to reduce power consumption through energy efficiency and economisation. The EcoBreeze addresses the needs of today’s data centres by implementing multiple forms of economisation into each module. The unit, located outside the perimeter of the data centre, takes advantage of localised climates and can automatically switch between two forms of cooling:
* Air-to-air heat exchange – brings hot IT air in from the data centre through the modules electronically commutated fans, which is then passed through internal channels of the IEC (indirect evaporative cooler). After the IT air is cooled it leaves the IEC and is returned to the data centre.
* Indirect evaporative heat exchange – when ambient temperatures cannot support an air-to-air heat exchange, cooling is done through indirect evaporative cooling, which removes heat from the IT air by evaporating water on the outside of the heat exchanger channels. The system prevents outside air from coming in contact with the data centre air, regardless of which cooling mode is used and it is equipped with a proportional R410a refrigerant system as well as onboard water treatment to eliminate the need for additional chemical dosing. Both of the cooling strategies employed by the EcoBreeze maximise localised climate conditions to ensure the most efficient and effective form of cooling throughout the year.
“The EcoBreeze not only provides multiple types of air economisation, but its modular design allows the unit to adapt to the future cooling needs of the data centre. These features, coupled with the fact that the unit uses outside air and is able to automatically switch to the most efficient of cooling modes, really set the EcoBreeze apart from other cooling solutions,” says Pat Johnson, VP rack and cooling solutions, APC. “When building new data centres, IT managers look to APC products and solutions to create the most efficient and adaptable facilities. We are always excited when we can offer a product like this that can address both the immediate and future needs of the customer.”
The EcoBreeze is available in individual 50 kW modules that can be grouped up to eight modules for 400 kW of intelligent cooling. This modular, scalable approach enables customers to purchase only what they need to meet their current cooling requirements while giving them the ability to increase their cooling capacity at any time as their data centre grows. This modularity also provides redundancy at the frame level and ensures availability of the system even through maintenance and service intervals. Power, water, air flow distribution and communication connections are centralised to the frame simplifying installation requirements. Additionally, as the unit is located outside the perimeter of the data centre, the EcoBreeze takes up zero white space, enabling IT managers to utilise space in the data centre to increase its capacity without having to allot space to include additional cooling units.
For more information contact Pierre Lintzer, APC, +27 (0)11 465 5414, [email protected], www.apc.com
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