Strukton servers efficient cooling with outside air

Project

At Strukton’s head office, APAC assisted in replacing the cooling system of the server room. Thanks to cooling with outside air, the new system now uses very little energy.

Background

After twelve years, the cooling system of the server room at the head office of construction, railway, management and maintenance company Strukton in Utrecht had come to the end of its technical lifespan. System breakdowns posed a real problem for the corporate network. Also, some parts were difficult to access for maintenance because they were situated on the roof. The maintenance & inspections engineering team for Cold, Heat and Electrical Engineering Systems of Strukton Worksphere, North West/Central region had already had positive experiences with APAC and asked us to come up with an alternative cooling solution.
Our solution makes it possible to discharge the heat from a server room by using a dry cooling system in the ambient air. In that case we can use indirect free cooling most of the time (approximately 6,000 hours per year). An additional unit is included in the design, both indoors and outdoors.

Our solution

Our solution makes it possible to discharge the heat from a server room by using outside air and a dry cooling system – indirect free cooling – most of the time (approximately 6,000 hours per year). At higher ambient temperatures, the dry cooling system’s capacity reduces. In order to be able to cool sufficiently in those instances, the compressors in the outdoor cooling machines switch on automatically. An additional unit is included in the design both indoors and outdoors. This means there is always a backup if one of the units breaks down. The maintenance & inspections engineering team for Cold, Heat and Electrical Engineering Systems of Strukton Worksphere, North West/Central region replaced the cooling system by itself. APAC created the design, supplied the necessary machines and provided support with the installation. After commissioning, APAC handed over the system to Strukton.

The result

APAC has commissioned the new system and successfully tested it in outdoor temperatures of around 40^oC. In outdoor temperatures below 13^oC – which is the case 69% of the time – cooling with outdoor air will suffice for an ideal server climate. In that case, the system will only use 15% of the energy compared to cooling systems that do not use free cooling. As such, Strukton will save approximately 57,000 kW per year compared to the old system. Furthermore, the components are easy to access for checks and maintenance. Client Vincent Verburg: ‘I’m extremely positive about the result and I often show the systems to my customers so they can see what’s possible.’