5 ms·
Cooling data centers with seawater is not new, Google has been doing it since at least 2011. There are many ways to mitigate the corrosive effects on the equip
by doublerebel 11y ago
Cooling data centers with seawater is not new, Google has been doing it since at least 2011. There are many ways to mitigate the corrosive effects on the equipment. "For instance, Interxion uses materials like Cunifer and titanium, which will last approximately 10 years in seawater." [1]
There also are many tried and true ways to manage the heated water so that it is safe for the environment [1, 2].
"We pump that seawater through cooling modules - which are direct water to water heat exchange modules - and then the water is gravity fed from the cooling modules back out to a temporary building, which serves the purpose of mixing incoming seawater with outgoing return water, so when we return the water to the Gulf it is at a temperature more similar to the incoming water." [2].
I'm sure Microsoft was aware of all this before publishing their report. Good on them for thinking creatively.
[1]: http://www.datacenterjournal.com/industry-perspective-seawater-cool-data-center/ http://www.datacenterjournal.com/industry-perspective-seawat...
[2]: http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/power-cooling/googles-finland-data-center-pioneers-new-seawater-cooling/32932.fullarticle http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/power-cooling/googles-finl...
- cm2187 11y agoCan't all the pipes and valves be made of plastic?
- dogma1138 11y agoSea water decomposes plastic faster than it corrodes metal. This is one of the issues with plastic pollution of the oceans they break down release nasty chemicals and end up as micro plastics. Most plastics will decompose under a year in the oceans turning it into soup basically. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plastic-decomposes-oceans-seas.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plast...
- mhandley 11y agoInteresting - I didn't know that. But the article you cite says it only really happens in tropical waters above 30C (86F). Is there evidence plastic decomposes in sea water in cooler climates?
- cm2187 11y agoBy definition if the water is used for cooling, it will be warmed up when flowing through the datacenter. But you could use sea water just a secondary cooling system, with non sea water flowing through the datacentre and a heat exchange between the two.
- redog 11y ago> Cooling data centers with seawater Won't this literally warm the oceans? I don't mean to get all treehugerry...but what would climate science tell us about planning on submerging any significant percent of our planets data centers?