HARNESSING AND REUSING THESE OTHERWISE WASTED PROCESS BY- PRODUCTS WILL BE CRUCIAL TO EMISSIONS REDUCTION .
Alfa Laval spearheading drive for more sustainable data centres with T21 heat exchanger
Following reports UK greenhouse gas emissions have risen yearon-year , Alfa Laval has launched its latest , most sustainable T21 gasketed plate heat exchanger ( GPHE ) to help the data centre sector save tonnes of carbon dioxide through highly efficient cooling and minimised energy consumption .
According to a June 2023 report from the Office for National Statistics , UK greenhouse gas emissions rose by 3 % to just over 502 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2020 and 2021 . This announcement was followed by findings from the International Energy Association ( IEA ) that energy use from data centres has grown by 20 – 40 % annually since 2010 . With the IEA expecting further , more moderate sector expansion , more efficient facilities will be needed to keep its carbon footprints from growing .
These figures and findings , alongside tightening sustainability legislation , underline why the data centre industry must maintain its momentum around decarbonisation , and the impact that reviewing process equipment at existing and new facilities could have on these ongoing efforts . According to Gemma Reeves , Business Unit Manager for Heat Transfer , Alfa Laval , sector sustainability strategies should be expanded to focus on minimising energy use and realising heat recovery opportunities . Advanced , efficient plate heat exchanger technologies such as the T21 will be key to this .
“ Energy efficiency can account for more than 40 % of emissions reductions in the next 20 years and will be crucial to achieving net zero ,” Reeves said . “ Considering 50 % of today ’ s potential for energy savings comes from industry and 30 % can be achieved from buildings , this puts pressure on power-intensive sectors to decarbonise . For data centre stakeholders , the selection of more efficient process equipment can provide an immediate way to reduce carbon footprints while optimising performance .
“ For example , our new T21 ’ s upgraded plates provide more opportunity to increase thermal efficiency , minimising the demand on mechanical cooling methods that are becoming increasingly
HARNESSING AND REUSING THESE OTHERWISE WASTED PROCESS BY- PRODUCTS WILL BE CRUCIAL TO EMISSIONS REDUCTION .
pushed to their limits as rack densities increase . Similarly , it allows for more effective recovery of waste heat , which can be redeployed for other site processes or for use in other systems such as district heating schemes . Harnessing and reusing these otherwise wasted process by-products will be crucial to emissions reduction , so I would urge data centre stakeholders to explore solutions that will allow them to do so effectively and efficiently , including the T21 .”
The new T21 includes Alfa Laval ’ s energy-driven patented efficiency features , including CurveFlow distribution area technology to improve media flow and minimise fouling risks , alongside the company ’ s unique OmegaPort , which further enhances flow and thermal efficiency .
The T21 also incorporates the possibility to further optimise the unit efficiency with Alfa Laval ’ s FlexFlow plate design , which uses asymmetric channels to optimise pressure drop utilisation and make additional improvements to thermal efficiency when unequal flows are in play . � intelligent POWER AND COOLING www . intelligentdatacentres . com
61