[Beowulf] A Cooler Cloud: A Clever Conduit Cuts Data Centers? Cooling Needs by 90 Percent

Fri Jan 25 11:51:48 PST 2019

On 1/25/19 12:15 PM, John Hearns via Beowulf wrote:

> 3. Using this technology means a complete redesign of your server 
> hardware and possibly your racks.
> It does say it fits in standard OpenCompute racks. But I gues the 
> racks are the only thing you get to keep.
Exactly. It might work with the OC racks, but the servers still have to 
be completely redesigned so that all the heat-producing components can 
be mated directly to that thing.
> I think I understand what they are getting at - that shape will cause 
> expansion of the air volume, and hence cooling.
> I guess like SR71 engine spikes or something.

My understanding was that the inlet spikes on the SR71 weren't about 
expanding the air volume, but for repositioning the edge air's shock 
wave for the correct air intake into the engine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird#Air_inlets

> But how the heck do they move the air fast enough to do the cooling 
> without fans?
There is a fan on the outlet, what is known as an induced-draft fan (as 
opposed to a "forced-draft" fan, which is on the inlet.)
>
> They keep referring to external air. Which is fine. But if you ever 
> want to do this make sure the external air is WELL filtered.

Agreed. If the fins are that small, then this air would need to be HEPA 
filtered or something. I would imagine moving that much air would carry 
enough dust particles to clog those fins and drastically reduce the 
efficiency of the system in a reasonably short period of time (6 months? 
1 year?) But then the finer your filter, the greater the pressure drop 
across it, and the harder your fans have to work, which reduces energy 
efficiency....

Which law of thermodynamics says there's no such thing as a free lunch?

Prentice

>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 at 16:33, Prentice Bisbal via Beowulf 
> <beowulf at beowulf.org <mailto:beowulf at beowulf.org>> wrote:
>
>     You all know how much I like talking about heat transfer and
>     server cooling, so I decided to do some research on this product:
>
>     Here's their website:
>
>     https://forcedphysics.com
>
>     and here's their YouTube channel with 5 videos:
>
>     https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClwWeahYGuNl0THWVz1Hyow/videos
>
>     This is really nothing more than an air-cooled heatsink. I'm
>     afraid I'm going to have to call BS on this technology for the
>     following reasons:
>
>     1. It still uses air as the primary cooling medium. I just don't
>     think air has adequate thermal conductivity or thermal capacity to
>     serve modern processor, no matter what you do to it.
>
>     2. In the videos, they present highly idealized tests with no
>     control to use for comparison. How do I know I wouldn't get the
>     same results doing the same experiment but using a similar duct
>     fashioned out of sheet metal.
>
>     3. Using this technology means a complete redesign of your server
>     hardware and possibly your racks.
>
>     4. None of the information in the videos or on their website
>     really explains how this technology works, and what really
>     differentiates it from any other air-cooled heat sink. Most people
>     with a good invention are usually excited to tell you how it
>     works. Since they brag about 30 international patents for this,
>     there's no need to try to protect a trade secret.
>
>     5. This statement:
>
>>     The fins work like teeth in a comb, neatly orienting air
>>     molecules to point in the same direction and arranging them into
>>     columns. 
>
>     Based on my education, this statement seems to be completely
>     devoid of science.
>
>     This statement seems to defy the laws of physics. Last time I
>     checked, unless an atom or molecule is at absolute zero, it has
>     movement, whether it's spinning or vibrating, or both, so how can
>     they get air molecules to line up all in neat little rows, where
>     the molecules are all pointing the same way?
>
>     This also implies very laminar flow.  As fluid velocity increases
>     that the diameter of the channel decreases, the Reynolds Number
>     increases. As the Reynold's number goes up, turbulence increases,
>     so mathematically, I would expect this flow to be tubulent, and
>     not laminar. From my classes on heat transfer, turbulent flow
>     around the heat transfer surface increases heat transfer, so
>     laminar flow in this case wouldn't be a good thing.
>
>     Until they can provide better comparisons with real servers in
>     real data center environments, I'm going to classify this as
>     "snake oil"
>
>     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil
>
>     Prentice
>
>     On 1/24/19 3:54 PM, Chuck_Petras at selinc.com
>     <mailto:Chuck_Petras at selinc.com> wrote:
>>     Well, this is interesting.
>>
>>     "According to Forced Physics’ <https://forcedphysics.com/
>>     [forcedphysics.com]
>>     <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__forcedphysics.com_&d=DwMFAw&c=-_uRSsrpJskZgEkGwdW-sXvhn_FXVaEGsm0EI46qilk&r=fawF3TRTwCqlaBkoLcxYCr4F4NRwCc64hmEgi9rHPpE&m=zr6lAlVphGxOQTXSElww9hGpqb9IZPik0_MN2v8Fqjs&s=lb4Hi9X8NKIYWe_e1RU3Cw4gr9Uz_B7n5pnCNY0ss3U&e=>>
>>     chief technology officer, David Binger, the company’s conductor
>>     can help a typical data center eliminate its need for water or
>>     refrigerants and shrink its 22-MW load by 7.72 MW, which
>>     translates to an annual reduction of 67.6 million kWh. That data
>>     center could also save a total of US $45 million a year on
>>     infrastructure, operating, and energy costs with the new system,
>>     according to Binger. “We are solving the problem that electrons
>>     create,” he said."
>>
>>     A Cooler Cloud: A Clever Conduit Cuts Data Centers’ Cooling Needs
>>     by 90 Percent
>>     https://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/a-cooler-cloud-a-clever-conduit-cuts-data-centers-cooling-needs-by-90-percent
>>     [spectrum.ieee.org]
>>     <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__spectrum.ieee.org_energy_environment_a-2Dcooler-2Dcloud-2Da-2Dclever-2Dconduit-2Dcuts-2Ddata-2Dcenters-2Dcooling-2Dneeds-2Dby-2D90-2Dpercent&d=DwMFAw&c=-_uRSsrpJskZgEkGwdW-sXvhn_FXVaEGsm0EI46qilk&r=fawF3TRTwCqlaBkoLcxYCr4F4NRwCc64hmEgi9rHPpE&m=zr6lAlVphGxOQTXSElww9hGpqb9IZPik0_MN2v8Fqjs&s=VuDTSuinKPMpF6NCztFZkSGOVo3LD7MLjroIj_sn0ao&e=>
>>
>>
>>
>>     Chuck Petras, PE**
>>     Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc
>>     Pullman, WA  99163  USA
>>     http://www.selinc.com <http://www.selinc.com/>
>>
>>     SEL Synchrophasors - A New View of the Power System
>>     <http://synchrophasor.selinc.com <http://synchrophasor.selinc.com/>>
>>
>>     Making Electric Power Safer, More Reliable, and More Economical (R)
>>
>>     ** Registered in Oregon.
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
>>     Beowulf mailing list,Beowulf at beowulf.org  <mailto:Beowulf at beowulf.org>  sponsored by Penguin Computing
>>     To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visithttp://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
>     _______________________________________________
>     Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org
>     <mailto:Beowulf at beowulf.org> sponsored by Penguin Computing
>     To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit
>     http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing
> To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.beowulf.org/pipermail/beowulf/attachments/20190125/89c18397/attachment-0001.html>