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Free cooling solution for Frankfurt data centre
When a brand-new data centre in Frankfurt, Germany, was looking for a cooling system capable of hitting its strict requirements, while also reducing both energy consumption and carbon footprint, Carrier had the perfect solution. Designed specifically for the data centre market, with integrated 100% free-cooling, 38 AquaForce® 30XF air-cooled chiller units were specified for the hi-tech project.
The product
All 38 AquaForce® 30XF air-cooled chiller units were up to 1795 KW working at 16.6°C on 24.4 °C chilled water at an outdoor temperature of 39°C.
The units offer high energy efficiency in both partial and full load, thanks to the frequency controlled. Also, the chillers can be run in three different operating modes:
- Pure compressor operation
- Pure free-cooling operation
- Combination of free cooling and compressor operation.
Carrier’s AquaForce® 30XF chillers are the very first to achieve Eurovent Certified Performance in the category of free cooling air-cooled very high temperature process chillers.
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The project
The data centre project was challenging, due to:
- Sound level requirements
- Space constraints
- High level of efficiency expected by the customer.
To meet all expectations:
- The chillers offer service continuity and redundancy with the option able to restore the power after 190 seconds. Due to the sensible arrangement of the components and the use of the V-condensers, it is possible to build approximatively 1800 KW on an area of 16.7 x 2.3 m.
- The integrated free cooling function with an internal glycol circuit offers significant energy savings. On the customer side, there is no glycol in the system and the customer system is operated with pure water to obtain the best possible efficiency. The power factor is 0.98, i.e., almost 1, meaning nearly no energy is lost in the power grid.
- The system achieves a low noise level with the frequency controlled.
- It offers a built-in solution: in the main control cabinet, which contains all the components for regulating and controlling the chiller, electrical harmonic filters are installed in an extra compartment, for limiting the electrical harmonics to less than 5%. By reducing harmonic currents and contamination, the risk of malfunctions and problems is significantly reduced. Moreover, it helps reducing the absorption of reactive power, resulting in a longer service life.
In addition, the project proved to be pivotal for the enhancement of the range. Carrier’s research and development department were heavily involved from the start of the project and developed dedicated options based on the customers’ request. These options are now standard on new AquaForce® 30XF chillers.
Proven performance
Being able to trust product performance, reliability and energy efficiency is vital in data centre projects. This is where proven product performance is essential. For the HVAC and Refrigeration professional the added value of choosing a Eurovent certified product includes:
- Assurance that HVAC and Refrigeration systems will perform as expected.
- Free access to transparent, reliable and universally understood performance data, to search and compare products.
- The assurance that product data is accurate and has been independently tested by an expert, third-party.