3 ms·

"Once we have filled a closed loop with water, we will not need add more very often" It does use water.

• alkonaut 2y ago
  "Consume" water I interpret as requiring a constant stream of water. If little to no water is added, I'd agree it doesn't consume any, even though it uses water.
  • bryanlarsen 2y ago
    If you want to get pedantic, even open loop cooling does not consume water. The amount of H20 going in is the same amount that's going out. No water is destroyed.
    • yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
      No, it's per scope. If we're discussing a data center, it's perfectly reasonable to say that the data center is taking water in (that is to say, consuming it) and evaporating water out.
    • alkonaut 2y ago
      "Consume" doesn't mean destroy either. It's contextual and its pretty clear what it means in this context.
• oakwhiz 2y ago
  The water isn't being used for its enthalpy of vaporization, so there's a huge difference between that and using water to transport heat in a closed loop. It's pedantic to worry about the amount of water in the closed loop since it is only lost due to shutdown maintenance activities or leaks. Since the goal is for things to work more than 99% of the time this does not constitute a huge consumption. If you are using glycol there is further incentive not to waste glycol additive which is required to be mixed in at a rate proportional to the refill volume.