Comments on: Mauritius Pitches Sea-Cooled Data Centers

By: Mtondo

Mtondo — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:33:24 +0000

Isabelle’s concern regarding SWAC having an effect ocean ecosystems is noted, however, SWAC is nothing new. It is extensively used at a much larger scale with power stations and industrial plants. Using sea water for cooling data centres must be compared to conventional systems where refrigeration systems are in use – these are less efficient, and the same amount of heat is ultimately rejected into the atmosphere, but the much larger penalty is the amount of power used and the effect that has on global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels.
If designed and managed properly, SWAC will have no effect on ocean eco systems, as, unlike with industrial / power generation plants, the water is returned to the ocean at ± 12 – 15°C, the same temperature as the surrounding surface zone water temperature.
The challenge for data centre engineers is to design data centres as efficiently as possible, making use as far as possible of free cooling systems in order to minimise power demand. To this end, in a tropical climate such as Mauritius, where direct free cooling by ambient air is not practical, aisle containment, warmer cold aisles and free cooling by sea water is an excellent solution and is an example for engineers from developed countries.

By: Isabelle

Isabelle — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:12:13 +0000

Fact : For this “”ecologic” air condition system, SWAC is taking sea water around 400-600 meters deep to get 4°water and reject this water in the ocean at 20-24 degres around the 50 meters … at the opposite of Toronto air cooling which does not reject the water. This is not the same.
What will happen if you take cold water and put back warm water? For me this is logicaly increasing the overall temp of our ocean no ? Problem is not to use it only in one place …look where are they going to implement it and i believe you will be as worried as me concerning the effect it will make to OUR ecosystem. Did they think about methane hydrates which are so reactiv on small temperature increase? Are we again thinking short term and forgetting we do have children and as far as I know this is the only planet we’ll give them for tomorrow ?????? They are decided to empty the oceans from the deep sea cold water to use for everything, from drinking to cosmetic, do we have something to say? where are the ecological impact research ? Anybody can give me a clue of what is happening here? Isabelle

By: watercooling (refroidissement liquide) » PC COCOON

watercooling (refroidissement liquide) » PC COCOON — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:20:17 +0000

[...] Maurice investit 23 millions d’euros pour refroidir ses data center à l’eau de mer Mauritius Pitches Sea-Cooled Data Centers Data Centre Stratégies : Maurice citée comme une destination verte pour les TIC 12 octobre 2009 [...]

By: Using the Weather to Cool Data Centers - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

Using the Weather to Cool Data Centers - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:15:59 +0000

[...] to the outside air. That is changing. There is even an effort on the island nation of Mauritius to cool data centers with seawater piped in from [...]

By: Seawater cooled data centers « João Saramago

Seawater cooled data centers « João Saramago — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:19:41 +0000

[...] nation east of the southern tip of Africa. It seems they are trying to develop an industry in eco-friendly data centers. The plan is to use a pipeline to gather cold water from the ocean, run it two miles to the island, [...]

By: Seawater cooled data centers | Gizmo Nerd

Seawater cooled data centers | Gizmo Nerd — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:32:12 +0000

By: Data Center Power Sails Off to Sea | EasyStreet Blog

Data Center Power Sails Off to Sea | EasyStreet Blog — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:53:04 +0000

[...] seems the island nation of Mauritius (yes, you can find it on Google Maps) plans to develop a system to use seawater air conditioning (SWAC) to support data center tenants. The concept taps deep-water [...]

By: Nick Aster

Nick Aster — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:59:08 +0000

Wouldn’t this make a lot more sense where the water is cooler, and the climate is not tropical? Like… I dunno, lake Michigan? Not to mention being a lot closer to population centers and data users…

By: L’écologie s’invite dans les data-centers | Test de Geek

L’écologie s’invite dans les data-centers | Test de Geek — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:00:50 +0000

[...] Or, qui dit climatisation, dit consommation électrique… d’où l’idée de Eco-Park d’utiliser l’océan pour refroidir ses [...]

By: Seawater cooled data centers

Seawater cooled data centers — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:33:37 +0000