01 August 2024
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Critical Cooling Specialists Airedale by Modine has launched the Cooling System Optimizer. This intelligent controls layer sits between product controls in chillers and CRAHs and below the site building management system (BMS) to manage complex chilled water systems.
The system was first launched in Europe in 2022 and can manage chilled water loops of up to 20MW. It is programmed to unify indoor and outdoor cooling equipment to proactively manage the three most important things in any data centre cooling system: resilience, redundancy, and energy use. Leveraging the benefits of primary ring chilled water cooling systems and remaining compatible with primary/secondary systems, the Optimizer manages dynamic variable flow systems to consistently deliver on critical SLAs at the lowest possible energy input.
Equipment outages due to power issues, network storms, and communication losses are the scourge of many data centres. The Cooling System Optimizer has been developed with this in mind. It has the built-in ability to effectively manage equipment drop-outs much quicker and more efficiently than a standard BMS. Residing in standard and proven PLC-based controllers, it is highly redundant and compatible with external ICT security networks.
In a recent factory acceptance test for a global data centre provider, the Optimizer was simulated on a 10MW loop comprising seven chillers and 24 fan walls with the client's security network. The client was challenged to 'break' the system in the ways experienced on live sites. Despite their determined efforts, they could not disrupt the system's robust functionality.
Delivery of Optimizer systems in the U.S. will be managed by a new, dedicated controls team based out of the North America Data Center headquarters in Rockbridge, VA. Backed by the global controls team in the U.K., the U.S. team will work with product teams to deliver software solutions for data centre providers. These solutions will eventually encompass all aspects of building management, remote monitoring and predictive maintenance.
Reece Thomas, Controls Director at Airedale, said, "The U.S. is an incredibly important market for us, and we are seeing increasing demand for more intelligent software. Airedale controls systems manage over 200MW of data centers across Europe and that is only set to grow, with the Optimizer proving extremely popular in larger data centers with variable flow cooling systems. With a dedicated U.S. controls team, we can support our local and global customers with the high levels of service we are renowned for."
Reece continued,
"The Optimizer has been incredibly well received in the industry, as many operators struggle to manage increasingly complex cooling systems with out-of-the-box BMS solutions. They are relieved to find a proven robust solution that is compatible with end-user ICT security systems, that takes on the responsibility of keeping cooling systems up and running while keeping energy bills down."
Details on Airedale's range of unit controls, system controls (ACIS) BMS, PMS, and Control's Optimizer are available on their website. To find out more or to book a CPD, click www.airedale.com
