APC by Schneider Electric announces EcoBreeze air economizer cooling solution that keeps outside air out of the data centre

APC by Schneider Electric, a global leader in integrated critical power and cooling services, has announced the EcoBreeze, a modular indirect evaporative and air-to-air heat exchanger cooling solution. The EcoBreeze has the ability to switch automatically between air-to-air and indirect evaporative heat exchange to consistently provide cooling to data centres in the most efficient way. The design of the EcoBreeze is able to reduce energy consumption by leveraging temperature differences between outside ambient air compared to IT return air to provide economised cooling to the data centre. The EcoBreeze meets ASHRAE 90.1/TC 9.9 requirements for efficiency and economisation with multiple frame sizes with varying voltages and phases to address any data centre's cooling needs.

 
As data centres are constantly expanding and local energy companies place heavy restrictions on a data center's ability to pull more power from the grid, there is an urgent need to reduce power consumption through energy efficiency and economization. The EcoBreeze addresses the needs of today's data center's by implementing multiple forms of economisation into each module. The unit, located outside the perimeter of the data centre, takes advantage of localized climates and can automatically switch between two forms of economised cooling;
 
Air-to-air heat exchange - Brings in hot IT air in from the data center through the modules EC (Electronically Commutated) fans which is then passed through internal channels of the Indirect Evaporative Cooler (IEC).  After the IT air is cooled it leaves the IEC and passes through a cooling coil and returned to the data centre.

Indirect evaporative heat exchange - When ambient temperatures can't support a air-to-air heat exchange cooling is done through indirect evaporative cooling which removes heat from the IT air by evaporating water on the outside of the heat exchanger channels. The EcoBreeze is the first solution on the market which prevents the outside air from coming in contact with the data center air, regardless of which cooling mode is used (air-to air or indirect evaporative).
 
The EcoBreeze has a proportional R410a refrigerant system as well as an onboard water treatment system which eliminates the need for chemical water treatment.  This feature addresses environmental concerns associated with some refrigerant or water based systems.  Both of the economization cooling strategies employed by the EcoBreeze maximise localized climate conditions to ensure the most efficient and effective form of cooling throughout the year. 
 
"The EcoBreeze not only provides multiple types of air economisation, but its modular design allows the unit to adapt to the future cooling needs of the data centre. These features, coupled with the fact that the unit uses outside air and is able to automatically switch to the most efficient of cooling modes really set the EcoBreeze apart from other cooling solutions," said Pat Johnson, vice president, Rack and Cooling Solutions, APC. "When building new data centers, IT managers look to APC products and solutions to create the most efficient and adaptable facilities. We are always excited when we can offer a product like the EcoBreeze that can address both the immediate and future needs of the customer."
 
The EcoBreeze is available in individual 50kw modules that can be grouped up to four modules (200kw) or eight modules (400kw) of sensible cooling.  This modular, scalable approach enables customers to purchase only what they need to meet their current cooling requirements while giving them the ability to increase their cooling capacity at any time as their data center grows. This modularity also provides redundancy at the frame level and ensures availability of the system even through maintenance and service intervals. Power, water, air flow distribution and communication connections are centralised to the frame simplifying installation requirements. Additionally, as the unit is located outside the perimeter of the data centre, the EcoBreeze takes up zero whitespace, enabling IT managers to utilize space in the data center to increase its capacity without having to allot for space to include additional cooling units.