LO-09-014 -- Introducing Using the Heat Wheel to Cool the Computer Room PDF

There is a growing trend to utilize economical ways to cool data centers, which includes maximizing the use of "free cooling" techniques such as airside and waterside economizing. A new economizer cooling system is being developed and tested at this time and will be implemented in a number of data centers within the next year. This technique uses a heat wheel to transfer the heat from the computer room to the ambient environment with a minimal transfer of air and moisture. It has been shown to have the capability of cooling a computer room with a heat density of 600 W/ft^² and a cabinet heat load of 70 kW. It can provide cooling throughout the computer room within the existing ASHRAE guidelines up to an ambient condition of 22°C (72°F). It has been demonstrated to handle a temperature rise through cabinets of over 28°C (50°F).

It can accomplish all this with a mechanical efficiency as low as 0.03, which for 550 kW load in the computer room only 17 kW of mechanical energy was being utilized.

Units: Dual