Ice air con system aims for cool on the cheap
Why not use cheap off-peak energy at night to freeze a tank of water (or "distributed energy storage system"), then use that great block of ice to cool your data centre in the daytime ?
That's exactly what data centre air-conditioning company Data Aire has done by combining Ice Energy's Ice Bear product with its Data Temp cooling systems. Under this system refrigerant circulates from the tank to the Data Aire equipment,
eliminating the need to run the energy-intensive compressor and
condenser during peak daytime hours. As the warmed refrigerant comes back to the Ice Bear unit it takes up heat and its ice melts, ready for a re-freeze at night.
During off-peak hours, the Data Aire cooling system operates as usual. Together, this hybrid system surpasses the overall efficiency and performance of conventional equipment alone.
Randy Zwetzig, an Ice Energy VP, sings energetically off the green hymn sheet: “Ice Energy and Data Aire have the potential to fundamentally transform data and telecom center efficiency and reliability at a time when it is critically important. We now have a proven system that is not only cost effective and reliable, but also supports environmental initiatives with reduced carbon emissions.”