A provider of liquid-based cooling systems for data centers, Rittal recently announced the latest versions of its Liquid Cooling Package (LCP) units, which have added fans “to move air more efficiently and with less effort,” the company says. It then noted, “Using six fans has proven to consume less energy than the traditional use of three or four. More fans, each running at slower speeds, draw less energy while moving an equal or greater volume of cool air.”
The company’s standard 30kW LCP comes with three EC fans, while the latest adaptation “makes the cooling solution more scalable, improves redundancy and reduces overall noise levels,” the company says, adding “All the fans have been moved to the front of the units away from the maximum heat generated by computer components. This design feature not only improves heat dissipation, it will extend the life of the fans.”
The LCP units can be configured to cool from 10 to 60 kW in 10-kW increments. The newest generation of units are described the company as “truly scalable—going from 10- to 20 and 20 to 30 kW just by adding fans to the system; or from 40 to 50 or 60 kW by adding fans and a larger heat exchanger.”
The company further breaks down the more-fans-use-less-energy claim as follows: “Under normal conditions, three EC fans require approximately 1,168 watts of power and operate at 67 dbA [decibels]. Adding a fourth fan reduces the power consumption to 893 watts and reduces the accompanying noise to 64 dbA. Using five fans reduces power consumption to 717 watts while further reducing overall noise levels to 62 dbA. Adding a sixth fan reduces energy consumption to 669 watts and further reduces noise levels to just 60 dbA. The addition of these high-efficiency fans means that each fan can run less and run at a slower speed, reducing the energy it requires and the level of sound it produces.”
Rittal also emphasized that this increased capacity of its LCP units is available within the same footprint as existing models. “60kW cooling can be achieved from a unit that’s still just 12 inches wide,” the company said.