Data center cooling
CASE STUDY : Bell Canada, one of the largest telecommunication company in Canada
«In 2012, Carnot worked with Bell to create a cooling system that would maintain its business-critical data centers. Rigorous discussions with the customer, excellent results in the laboratory, and innovative machine characteristics allowed us to give birth to our first cooling system. Now, we have taken passion, rigor, and innovation one step further with AQUILONTM.»
Challenge: Remove HCFCs and HFC with a highly cost effective cooling technology
As in many countries in the world, HCFC are going to be removed in Canada (99.5% by 2020) and HFC will be phased down (see table below). With an exponential growth in data traffic comes the need for clean and efficient cooling technologies to expand data rooms. In 2012, telecommunications companies like Bell Canada were facing a big challenge: most of their cooling system (being used in their server rooms) were using either HCFCs or HFC. They needed to find a sustainable and cost-effective alternative system.
| YEAR | 2019 | 2024 | 2030 | 2036 |
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PERCENTAGE OF REDUCTION (%) |
10 |
35 |
70 |
85 |
Table: Canada HFC phasedown
Solution: Innovative cooling system which runs 90% of the year in free-cooling
Rigorous development and meticulous laboratory testing conducted to the demonstration of an innovative, proven and robust cooling system named AquilonTM, which runs now in free cooling for more than 90% of the year. The AQUILON TM cooling technology developed combines :
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01. INDUSTRIAL CALIBRE CONSTRUCTION: Stainless steel piping assembled with orbital welding. Use of semi hermetic piston compressor. |
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02. UNIQUE TFC «FREE-COOLING» PATENTED: The unique TFC «free-cooling» patented by Carnot Refrigeration Inc. allows cooling in the room without the need of a compressor to run, with no pump, and no fresh air added to the room. The unit runs in free cooling for more than 90% of the year. |
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03. BEST PERFORMANCE: The unit comes with a VFD on the compressor, electronic valves and ECM motors to assure the best performance on the market and the best precision there is. |
Results & benefits: 6 major benefits have been proven following the 24 months demonstration program
Six major benefits have been proven following the 24 months demonstration program:
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01. |
Elimination of any future phase-outs by using R-744, a natural refrigerant |
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02. |
Significant decrease of Bell Canada’s energy consumption related to the cooling (150,000 kwh / AQ15unit, with an air return of 24°C) |
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03. |
Improvement in reliability and efficiency |
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04. |
Reduction of maintenance costs (due to its simplicity) |
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05. |
Positive cost-benefits ratio and overall profitability (ROI: 3 years) |
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06. |
GHG reduction of 15 tons / AQ15 unit |
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Bell Canada runs, in 2019, 44 AQUILONTM units across their 20 data centers. AQUILONTM CRAC unit has been a field tested solution in many data center across Quebec and Ontario, and has proved its reliability and efficiency. |
The unit has enable a decrease in energy consumption for cooling that can reach up to 80% (compared to previous similar projects consumption). A suitable alternative to synthetic refrigerants in the data center industry is now available at a competitive price.
Download PDF version here : AQUILON_case study_091117