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

[Eric Moore]

Actually, it looks like Joule-Thompson cooling to me (Especially given the
"Joule Force" name). You've got the air intake (ambient), then an expansion
nozzle, into a low-pressure region, which is created by the fan at the end.
So the outlet velocity of the air (and thus it's kinetic energy) is higher
than the inlet velocity, which would lower the internal energy, and thus
the temperature. Instead the fins/nozzle/heatsink transfer heat to the
expanding gas, which exits a little above ambient temperature. I imagine
the drawback is you really need to get rid of that high velocity hot air,
and can't recirculate it, or the kinetic energy would be converted back to
thermal energy, and mess it all up. The descriptions do all involve the
exhaust air being ducted to the outside. This article has the most
technical detail:
https://www.nextplatform.com/2018/12/04/the-leading-edge-of-air-cooled-servers-leads-to-the-edge/

On Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 11:33 AM Prentice Bisbal via Beowulf <
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 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
>
> SEL Synchrophasors - A New View of the Power System <
> http://synchrophasor.selinc.com>
>
> Making Electric Power Safer, More Reliable, and More Economical (R)
>
> ** Registered in Oregon.
>
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