Power & Cooling

Eaton brings new features and industry’s lowest TCO to second generation of 93PM UPS

Organisations are under increasing pressure to hold more data than ever before, whilst keeping costs low and increasing sustainability commitments. Whilst this is a tall order, innovative technologies are opening up new possibilities.  Power management company Eaton has announced the launch of the second generation of its 93PM three-phase Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) – the Eaton 93PM G2 UPS.  With the highest possible availability and the lowest total cost of ownership in its class, the 93PM G2 UPS is the perfect solution for colocation operators and organisations looking to increase capacity and power protection in line with business demand. Key benefits include:  Supporting renewables: As an Eaton EnergyAware UPS, the Eaton 93PM G2 can help organisations support the environment and wider use of renewable energy whilst earning revenue through demand response and ancillary services. This will positively impact corporate social responsibility while creating savings and additional revenue. Without impacting on critical load protection, typical returns are up to €50,000 per MW of power allocated to grid support per year. Enhanced cybersecurity and protection: For increased cybersecurity, the Eaton 93PM G2 UPS is protected by the Eaton Gigabit Network Card and Industrial Gateway Card –the first in the industry to receive both IEC 62443-4-2 and UL 29001-1 certification. For enhanced security, Eaton offers a remote monitoring service for a fast, proactive response to any power or cybersecurity related threats to the UPS. Lowest total cost of ownership: Eaton 93PM G2 UPS costs less to own because it is more efficient, thanks to a number of leading technologies. It grows in line with business demand and features 97% online efficiency to improve cost control and ROI. Efficiency can be optimised further with Eaton ESS & VMMS. Maximum flexibility and availability: The Eaton 93PM G2 UPS brings maximum uptime for mission critical infrastructure in a flexible, modular and scalable design. Multiples of 50 or 60 kVA can be added whenever needed, without requiring system downtime or affecting the critical load thanks to the Hot Swap modular system. HotSync ensures that the Eaton 93PM G2 eliminates a single point of failure should communications be lost, thereby providing increased reliability. Furthermore, it has designed-in safety components to reduce electrical risk and for added protection.

Data centre cooling provider announces record breaking order

Leeds-based Airedale International, UK air conditioning solutions provider, has announced its largest ever single order in its 46 year history. The order, which was confirmed during lockdown, is for a Frankfurt based colocation data centre and is worth approximately £10m. It is further evidence of the continuing success of this UK business during what is widely regarded as one of the most difficult trading periods the world has endured for a very long time. Airedale International, which established its dedicated European data centre solutions team just over a year ago with Jonas Caino at the helm, is already reaping the fruits of this investment, with last year’s announcement of its contract with US based data centre provider Cyrus One. Having seen turnover soar by more than 20% in the last financial year, and with a strong forecast for the year ahead despite the pandemic, Airedale is now taking the next step and looking to replicate this success in the US market, home of Airedale’s parent company Modine. The next six months will see the establishment of Airedale’s US data centre solutions team, trading under the 'Airedale by Modine' brand. Utilising Modine’s extensive US manufacturing footprint and thermal management experience, coupled with Airedale’s deep knowledge of the data centre sector, the team will be headed up by Business Development Director, Stuart Kay. To support them, an engineering development team was appointed at Airedale’s headquarters in Leeds earlier in the year who have been developing bespoke data centre cooling products for the American marketplace.  The demand for Airedale cooling systems continues to grow in line with the increasing number of data centres being built across the world, all of which require state-of-the-art cooling technology. Indeed, much of Airedale International’s continued success is attributed to their expertise in data centre cooling market.                                            

Cool wars: Two data centre cooling experts go head to head

Two leading players in the data centre cooling market are to go head-to-head in a live online showdown on Wednesday 14th October at 3pm BST/4pm CEST, to debate whether air or liquid represents the future of data centre cooling. In this free to attend, US-style debate, industry leaders Airedale International and Asperitas will square up to one another in front of a live online audience to fight their respective corners and convince them that their respective technology represents the future of data centre cooling. You can be part of that audience! Matt Evans, Technical Account Manager of UK-based air conditioning solutions provider Airedale International, will take on Rolf Brink, founder and CEO of Asperitas, in what has been dubbed 'Cool Wars' - a bid to decide whether air or immersion cooling will be king in the next generation of data centres.  In true US style, there will be a motion presented and debated, which is,  “Immersion cooling is more energy efficient and will therefore overtake air-based systems as the preferred cooling method in most large data centres by 2030.” Ensuring both representatives are given time to state their case and debate the other’s points, whilst making sure things don’t get out of hand, will be moderator and industry expert Mark Acton. The audience will be made up of consultants, contractors, industry experts and novices, all keen to witness this one-off event in which two competitors take on one another in a live setting, and you are invited to join in.  Airedale International has been providing air cooling solutions to data centres across the world for over 45 years and will be making the case that air cooling innovations are progressing at such a pace that there is no need for other, newer technologies.  Darren Farrar, marketing manager at Airedale International, explains: “Connectivity underpins everything we do and the data centre industry is constantly evolving to keep up with not only demand, but also its environmental responsibilities. Cooling providers have to match the demands of performance with energy efficiency and as such foster an environment of innovation.” Farrar continued, “Liquid cooling as a technology is not just knocking on the door of the data centre world, it’s threatening to knock it down. As a traditional air cooled system provider, we might be looking over our shoulder, but we are confident that with continued innovation, we will not be displaced as the technology of choice within most facilities.” On the opposing side, Rolf Brink of Dutch immersion cooling specialist, Asperitas, argues: “Immersion of IT equipment within a dielectric fluid has been revolutionary in data centre cooling and is the most efficient solution for today’s high chip density units which generate a lot of heat. Plus, immersion cooling compliments wider goals to achieve an energy neutral data centre industry globally as it can allow 99% of the energy to be used as valuable thermal energy. Immersion cooling enables simplified data centre design and reduces energy costs, so we believe immersion cooling will be the clear winner in this debate.” The event is free to attend and delegates are required to register in advance via www.airedale.com/coolwars

Humidity a growing issue for data centres

Contractors working on data centre projects must have appropriate dehumidifiers in place, according to Aggreko, after Europe was hit with more heatwaves and subsequent storms. As Europe experiences more volatile weather patterns, data centre operators and contractors are being advised to ensure effective dehumidifiers are in use to remove moisture from the air. It follows news from Aggreko’s recent report, which found that some 40% data centre operators across Europe don’t believe existing infrastructure is able to cope with temperature demands. According to Aggreko, many contractors use heaters to remove damp areas which causes many future inefficiencies. While heaters may appear to work, they simply move the moisture around the room, rather than removing it from the atmosphere. Ryan Stanley, Moisture Control Sales and Product Manager Northern Europe, comments: “You don’t have to look for long until you find a news story about another data centre being built. However, it is important to note that any damage caused by substandard temperature and moisture control are managed with a matter of urgency, especially after seeing such extreme weather patterns across the continent.” Over the last 12 months, the supplier of temporary power, temperature and moisture control solutions has been expanding its presence for specialist industry services. The team partners with contractors involved in the construction of data centres to maintain clean environments and exact humidity levels for safe installation of critical equipment and protection of equipment warranties. To support data centres and contractors with technical requirements, Aggreko has expanded its moisture control division with the appointment of Mark Sketheway. The experienced moisture control specialist joins as Moisture Control Development Manager, working alongside the team led by Ryan Stanley. Sketheway brings over 10 years’ experience working across food and beverage, power generation and oil processing. He will be responsible for driving the business forward within Northern Europe as well as upskilling colleagues in these unique applications.  The larger team will mean Aggreko can now take a more targeted approach with specific sector challenges. Sketheway adds: “I’m really excited about this role. Aggreko’s moisture control division is moving from strength to strength and getting on board at this stage in the journey is going to be really exciting. Aggreko has traditionally been associated with generators and temperature control, so I’m looking forward to raising the profile of its moisture control division.”

Fairbanks Alaska: Powered By One Of The World’s Largest UPSs

There’s a world’s largest of everything. With a quick Google search, you can find out the World’s largest mountain; the world’s deepest ocean and the world’s tallest tree, and with a bit more delving you’ll no doubt find the world’s biggest television, longest bread and widest cat. If you were to do a similar search for the world’s largest uninterruptible power supply (UPS), you’d find likely find one located in Fairbanks, Alaska, which is a whopping 46-megawatts. This Battery Electric Storage System (BESS), in the event of a power cut, can power the entire district for up to seven minutes, which, according to the experts, is enough time for the back-up diesel generators to be activated and for power to be restored. The point of all UPS’s is to provide a constant supply of power when an outside force or internal glitch has rendered the normal power supply insufficient or completely absent. They kick in and take over until the problem is resolved and normal power can be resumed. Servers and medical machinery across the world rely on uninterruptible power supplies to keep them going in the event of a power cut; as do important military installations and even nuclear power stations. This is imperative as otherwise important work would be lost; important kidneys would stop working or even deadly nuclear fallout could occur. So, why not use a UPS for an entire town’s power? On the face of it, this seems like a slightly ludicrous idea. In practice, it works rather well. When in most other towns and cities, a power cut means just that – suddenly the power that we rely on so completely just comes to an end and everything else comes to a standstill with it – Fairbanks’, will just keep on going thanks to its monster UPS. This system is very similar to those in the offices, hospitals and nuclear power stations mentioned earlier; only in Fairbanks the batteries are stacked on the shelves of a large warehouse, and everybody benefits from the power of this resident UPS. As an application of taking something relatively small, enlarging it to do the job of hundreds or even thousands of its normal sized counterparts, Fairbanks’ Uninterruptible Power Supply works as well as could ever have been imagined. It might also be something other towns and cities across the world consider in the future, as natural disasters, terrorist attacks and system failures all contribute to the potential for mass power failure.