Among the options that LBS offers in the Data Center market, we have added Cooling Solutions to our product portfolio, led by Stulz, who have been pioneers in the development of cooling and cooling systems.
One of the proposals in their equipment to offer cooling and low costs is Free Cooling.
But to begin with, what is Free Cooling and what does it consist of?
Free Cooling is a system that uses outside air to cool or cool a space. Its use is very useful in air conditioning since it reduces equipment costs and reduces its use; this makes it an excellent option in terms of energy efficiency. They extract outdoor air, filter it and use it to acclimate. In this way, the return air is prevented from being recirculated, even achieving an improvement in indoor air quality.
The idea is to take advantage of low outdoor temperatures to cool spaces. Its operation is usually activated when the temperature of the outside air is lower than that extracted from the interior when air conditioning.
This could be described as the following: an open window, a blow of cold air from outside passes through the data center, this mass of cold air overcomes the hot air generated by IT equipment and transports it to the outside and in theory the process is simple, but energy is required for this movement.
It is important to know that Free Cooling should only be used when the negative properties of outside air can be controlled. Before allowing outdoor air access to the Data Center, it must be filtered to achieve the ideal conditions it requires. For example, if the outside air is not cool enough, a compressor will be required; even measures will be taken when the air is too humid or dry.
For its part, Indirect Free Cooling is the design where the window to the outside remains closed and cannot enter the Data Center, so the air that will circulate will be fully controlled by a heat exchanger (coil) that will work between the air in the Data Center and the outside air.
Free Cooling systems are gaining increasing strength, demonstrating the significant savings of taking advantage of the low temperatures that are maintained in many countries, especially at night. On average, if a country, for example, records temperatures lower than 14° C at night for most of the year, it will be an ideal candidate to use a mixed system of Mixed Free Cooling (Free Cooling + Compressors), or if it registers temperatures much lower, it can use 100% Free Cooling.
