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Google's Seawater-Cooled Data Center

mbegin [PersonRank 10]

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
13 years ago5,137 views

<< The seawater system uses complex filtration systems (it’s dirty seawater after all) made out of titanium plates, which don’t corrode as fast as other materials from the salty water. But the system needs to be able to be cleaned (as it does corrode every once in a while) without it going offline, which is something Kava said Google worked hard to implement. It’s a tricky feat to clean a system while also operating it, and it’s something companies in different industries (that aren’t responsible for powering crucial websites) don’t generally have to do (even nuclear plants get shut down for weeks for cleaning).

The heat transfer units are the heart of the cooling system, and the seawater pumps into the heat transfer system, cools the data center, and then the water itself is cooled slightly before being pumped back out to sea. Google wanted the water that was pumped back out to sea to be similar in temperature to the water that entered the system, as to have as little impact as possible on the surrounding ecosystem. “It was the right thing to do,” says Kava. Google also did extensive thermal modelling to study the tides, plant life, and seasons over a 30-year-period of the surrounding coastal area, and this information determined where the water should come in and out of the system, also to have as little environmental impact as possible. >>

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/google-to-switch-on-worlds-first-seawater-cooled-data-center-this-fall/

Juha-Matti Laurio [PersonRank 10]

13 years ago #

Also
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/05/24/video-inside-googles-newest-data-center/

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