Custodian Data Centres
Cooling System For New 10MW Data Centre Facility
Highly Energy Efficient Closed Loop Air Cooling System, Incorporating Integrated Free Cooling Chillers
Custodian Data Centres, the UK’s leading colocation provider for MSPs, cloud, enterprise and digital entertainment organisations, enlisted Aqua to design, supply and install an innovative temperature control system at their new 10MW site located in Dartford, Kent.
Situation
With Custodian’s award-winning Maidstone facility nearing capacity, Custodian commissioned its new ‘DA2’ facility in Dartford, Kent, to meet the continued growth demands of its customers. Less than 15 miles outside of Central London, Custodian’s goal was to provide an advanced facility for end-users to relocate and host their mission-critical applications. The new site is carrier-neutral, operating at a PUE rating of below 1.3 and powered by resilient, 100% dual diverse renewable energy feeds.
Solution
Aqua delivered a highly energy-efficient, bespoke, closed-loop air cooling system with integrated free cooling. The design for Custodian’s DA2 includes 12 custom-designed cooling coils and a free cooling chilled water system, comprising of 3 x 500kW Aqua EcoPro+ optimised free cooling chiller units, to accommodate for the initial phase of the site opening. The EcoPro+ units operate on R454B green refrigerant. Utilising integrated free cooling chillers, drastically reduces the amount of time mechanical cooling is required, saving significantly on energy usage, carbon impact and wear & tear of components parts, in particular the compressor.
The Aqua EcoPro+ units have an in-built, optimised, free cooling coil, resulting in a fully packaged solution. In addition, with an Aqua unit, free cooling is achievable at higher ambient temperatures than with any other brand on the market, making Aqua a suitable partner for Custodian and its ever-growing client base as it allows for upgrades and additional capacity quickly and easily as needed, depending on customer needs.
The system installed at Custodian achieves all the benefits of a fresh air system but without the need for the costs and resources normally associated with air filtration and maintenance. Fixed humidity control enables precise temperature control, eliminates any guesswork, and achieves total peace of mind. EC fans installed on-site maximise system efficiency even further, as well as achieving stable pressure control.
“With the new DA2 Dartford site boasting a 10MW capacity, we needed a reliable cooling system that could handle the increased demands from the bigger site. Aqua’s bespoke energy-efficient systems and esteemed trusted experts means our customer’s data remains protected and running at optimized efficiency”, says Callum Woodhouse, M&E Manager at Custodian Data Centres. “Their sustainability commitments align with our overall company goals in reducing our carbon footprint, whilst providing a cost-effective and reliable solution for our customers. As our customer base continues to grow and expand over time, this Aqua solution allows us to adapt to the additional demands, in a seamless and efficient way”.
A fully concurrent maintained pipework system is integral to the design, ensuring no single point of failure, something which is essential in the data centre industry. In fact, a part of the pipework can be removed without affecting the normal facility operations. N+1 capability was built-in on the mechanical equipment, including fans, coils, and pumps, this gives the facility full redundancy, in the unlikely event that a fault should ever occur, DA2 can continue to operate whilst maintenance is undertaken.
Mike West, Contracts Director at Aqua, explained “Custodian’s commitment to energy efficiency is evident throughout their data centre facilities and it was critical that the DA2 site needed to mirror the energy efficiencies achieved at Maidstone. Reducing carbon footprint for end-user clients – with lower operating costs – were key drivers in this project. Maidstone uses five times less energy per kW of IT load than an average data centre – a challenge we were more than happy to accept and believe we have exceeded!”
Results
Based on 500kW of cooling, the system is expected to use 106,766kwhrs/year. In comparison, a traditional chiller system would utilise in the region of 1,095,000kwhrs – resulting in a saving of over 90%. The system is also future-proofed, with the option for expansion into higher density cooling further down the line, as Custodian continues to grow and expand.
Find out more about the project here:
Major Cosmetics Brand
Production Hindered by Temperature Fluctuations & Waste Water Concerns
Isolated Heating & Cooling System With Internalised Water System
We were contacted by the production team of a major cosmetics brand, to discuss a heating and cooling solution for jacketed vessels, used to make 891 batches of cream at their manufacturing site in Kent.
Our Sales Engineer, Ben Newman explains how we supported the project with a water saving and precise heating and cooling solution which will reduce their production time and costs.
Situation
To produce the cream, ingredients are heated and cooled in jacketed vessels, these consist of:
To combine the ingredients into a high-quality product, process temperatures need to be met in specific timeframes.
Product in the larger vessels requires heating and cooling simultaneously. Product is heated up from 25/30°C to 78°C (but not over 80°C as the product will spoil) as quickly as possible, and then back down to 56C in 15 to 20 mins and then down again to 40/45°C in 25 to 30 mins.
The smaller vessels require heating from 25/30°C to 75/80°C and this is achieved in 5 to 10 mins.
High volumes of wastewater
Before we were involved with the project, the jacketed vessels were cooled with towns water, which flooded through the vessel’s cooling jacket – running continuously and overflowing out of the jacket for 1hr 30mins to 2 hours at a time. This resulted in 16 million litres of wastewater a year.
Fluctuating process cooling times
As well as the wastewater issue, the cooling time would fluctuate – depending on the water temperature, which was at mercy of the weather conditions. This contributed to longer cooling times in the summer months.
The process cooling rate was averaging 30-34 minutes from 80 to 40°C and we felt that with a more efficient temperature control solution, there was good potential to reduce this, consistently.
Solution
Following the initial enquiry, we visited the production facility and carried out a survey and consultation to understand the specific production process and objectives.
We then designed an isolated heating and cooling system which connects to their existing steam supply and runs off an internalised water system, removing the requirement for added towns water.
The system included a chiller, heat exchanger, pump, tank and all connecting pipework.
Our proposal offered both a high 400kW and low 133kW duty option, so that all 3x vessels could operate either at the same time or individually, one after the other. We also showed the cooling rates of each duty option (133kW v 400kW) from one vessel in operation through to all three.
After considering our proposal, the customer opted for the lower duty chiller – our ENR160 which offers 133kW with its exchanger tank and pump arrangement.
We arranged the delivery of all the equipment to the facility where the team installed the pipework and equipment, filled and pressure tested the system and commissioned the units.
To provide flexibility for the future, the system can be adapted for higher heating and cooling capabilities.
Results
We helped the production team improve the heating and cooling control on their jacketed vessels, contributing to the quality of the product with less wastage.
In addition to this, the team have the potential to significantly reduce the heating and cooling rates of the vessels – enabling them to reduce production time and increase production rates and capacity.
Without the need for towns water to cool the vessels, 16 million litres of water is being saved each year, equating to 25% of total water used on site.
Essentra Components manufacture parts from packaging and fluid handling to moulded plastics and hardware. They operate over 100 injection moulding machines at their large site in Oxfordshire.
Their machines utilise Chillers and V Bank Airblast Coolers to provide cooling to the tools at 14°C and to hydraulic oil at 20°C. Minimising downtime is crucial to their production, so they need a maintenance partner that they can rely on to maintain and optimise their chilled water system and equipment.
The manufacturing site required a reliable and supportive partnership with a reputable provider of high-standard technical support, maintenance, and servicing.
The use of mixed metals in the internal factory pipework had caused corrosion, which led to the poor quality of water running through the system, damaging the pipework and causing leaks.
If closed-loop systems or the water used within them are poorly maintained or left untreated it can lead to problems that will affect energy usage, cost, asset performance, and reliability. Specifically, these problems include corrosion, fouling, biofouling, and scaling to a lesser extent unless there is significant water loss requiring additional make-up water.
These issues were resolved in the recent past by adapting their cooling water system from a closed-circuit pressurised system to an open tank system – making it easy to monitor the quality
of the water and add treatment as needed.
We are providing the site with technical support, maintenance and regular servicing of the equipment. This includes cleaning and ushing the dual filter arrangement to ensure clean and treated water is provided – protecting the system components and minimising the risk of downtime.
To discuss how we can help improve the efficiency and maintenance of your chilled water systems, please call us on 0330 404 3228 or contact us online.
Bristol Aquarium is home to thousands of aquatic creatures, with over 40 displays and 250 different species. The animals come from across the world, and the aquarium is committed to conservation, sustainability, and education. Regional Sales Manager, Will Coles, outlines how Aqua have been supporting the facility with their temperature control.
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