Cooling Method for Supercomputers Uses Gray Water

New cooling method for supercomputers to save millions of gallons of water. Sandia engineer David J. Martinez examines the cooling system at Sandia’s supercomputing center. Photo by Randy Montoya.

In different parts of the country, people discuss gray-water recycling and rainwater capture as ways to minimize the millions of gallons of ground water required to cool large data centers. But the simple answer in many climates, says David J. Martinez (9324), is to use liquid refrigerant.

Based on that principle, Dave — engineering project lead for Sandia’s infrastructure computing services — is helping design and monitor a cooling system expected to save 4 million to 5 million gallons annually in New Mexico if installed next spring at Sandia’s computing center, and hundreds of millions of gallons nationally if the method is widely adopted. The method is currently being tested at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, which expects to save a million gallons annually. The system, built by Johnson Controls and called the Thermosyphon Cooler Hybrid System, cools like a refrigerator without the expense and energy requirements of a compressor. My job is to eventually put cooling towers out of business. Currently, many data centers use water to […]

Full article: Supercool