Dry Coolers in Liquid Cooled Data Centers

Dry Coolers in Liquid Cooled Data Centers

A dry cooler achieves cooling by heat exchange between air and coolant in a heat exchanger. In a liquid-cooled data center, the circulating coolant absorbs the heat generated by the servers and other equipment and then increases in temperature and enters the dry cooler. The fan in the dry cooler drives the air to flow, and the air exchanges heat with the high temperature coolant in the heat exchanger, which lowers the temperature of the coolant and then returns to the equipment in the data center to continue to circulate and absorb heat, and so on and so forth, to achieve the cooling of the data center.

Advantages

Efficient Cooling: Dry coolers can use the natural cooling source of outdoor air, which can significantly reduce the cooling energy consumption of data centers in low-temperature seasons or regions. For example, in northern winter, dry cooler can reduce the temperature of coolant to close to the temperature of outdoor air through heat exchange with cold outdoor air, thus effectively taking away the heat from the data center.

Water conservation: Compared with traditional water cooling systems, dry coolers do not require large amounts of water resources for cooling, reducing reliance on and consumption of water resources, and are particularly suited to areas where water is scarce.

Reduced O&M costs: The relatively simple structure of the dry cooler, without complex water systems and cooling towers and other equipment, reduces maintenance workload and maintenance costs. At the same time, since there is no need to regularly replenish water and add water treatment chemicals, it also reduces operating costs.

Environmentally friendly: Dry coolers are environmentally friendly as they do not use refrigerants that are potentially harmful to the environment. And by utilizing the natural cold source, it reduces energy consumption and carbon emission, which is in line with the requirements of environmental protection.

Application Scenarios

New Data Centers: Dry coolers are an ideal cooling solution for newly built data centers, especially in cold regions or in projects with high energy-saving requirements. The dry cooler and liquid cooling system can be planned and integrated at the design stage to achieve energy efficient cooling effect.

Existing Data Center Retrofit: For some existing data centers, the introduction of dry coolers can be considered during energy-saving retrofits. By integrating the original cooling system with the dry cooler, the advantages of the dry cooler can be used to reduce cooling energy consumption and improve the energy efficiency of the data center.