When
energy generated by computers can be captured and redeployed, it might not be
long until our homes are heated by our PCs and TVs, says Iceotope CTO Pete
Hopton.
A liquid-cooled server that inventors
claim could ‘slash the carbon footprint of the Internet’ - or at the very
least, cut data-centre energy bills - is being tested at the University of
Leeds. The University has purchased the first production system from Iceotope,
creator of the patented, energy-efficient technology that is designed,
engineered and manufactured in the UK.
Prior to this investment, researchers
at the University’s School of Mechanical Engineering had already tested several
prototypes and beta models of Iceotope’s technology. Now, the company is
funding research into possible heat recovery using this unit. It also has
relationships with several other UK universities for research purposes,
according to chief technology officer and founder, Pete Hopton.
Unlike conventional air-cooled
servers, all components in the Iceotope unit are completely immersed in a
non-flammable liquid coolant, called 3M Novec, which can come into direct
contact with electronics, because it does not conduct electricity. It also has
high thermal expansivity, meaning it can expand 20 times more than water when
uptaking heat, explains Dr Jon Summers, senior lecturer and researcher at the
University of Leeds.
“The Novec that is used in the
Iceotope module is a manufactured hydrofluoroether - a high molecular weight,
complex organic solvent that is non-toxic and has a low global warming
potential,” he says. “It is also an extinguishent and is used in a number of
fire suppressant systems already used in many modern data-centre facilities
today.”
This liquid coolant is “remarkable
stuff”, he adds: “You could throw your mobile phone in a tub of it and the
phone would still work perfectly. But the important thing for the future of
computing and the Internet is that it is more than 1,000 times more effective
at carrying heat than air.”
Since the heat generated inside the
server can only be moved, not destroyed, the 3M Novec is used to transfer heat
to an aluminium block, which has a secondary coolant - clean, distilled water -
passing through it. This picks up the heat and transports it away from the
server modules to the bottom of the server rack, where it is again exchanged
with a tertiary coolant - again, water.
At Leeds University, water heated in
this way is subsequently used to warm a set of large, domestic radiators that
heat the large, open-plan laboratory. In future installations of Iceotope’s
technology, it is envisaged that so-called ‘grey’ water - recyclable wastewater
- could be used as the tertiary coolant.
Could this system become cheap
enough, over time, to replace commodity servers in a conventional data-centre
environment? For Summers, it’s more likely a replacement for the kinds of
high-performance computing (HPC) machines seen in advanced research facilities
in education, health and government - and potentially, in utility and cloud
computing environments, too.
Hopton, meanwhile, comments:
“Iceotope has done value analysis for several customers and we have found that
[the technology] currently works out better in terms of both capital
expenditure (capex) and operational expenditure (opex) when considering the
costs of supporting infrastructure and energy. This is because of the removal
of the requirement for fans, chillers, air handling and raised floors - plus a
reduction in power handling equipment.”
And, further down the line, there are
far greater opportunities for liquid-cooling, he says: “The basic principle of
the design has many applications and, while a few years away [yet], there’s no
reason why every home shouldn’t make better use of the surplus heat from
consumer electronics. Imagine having your PC or TV plumbed into the central
heating system.”
Reported by Jessica Twentyman
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