| IBM New Water Cooled Computer |
| 01 July 2009 |
|
Massive supercomputers are renowned for consuming vast amounts of electricity, with about half of the energy consumed spent for cooling the processors in order to prevent them from overheating. The well-known American company IBM, in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), is working on a project that might change the current situation. The objective is to produce a supercomputer that wouldn’t use water to keep the system cool and might even recycle some of the waste warmth to help heat the university where it will be housed. The new data center, named Aquasar, will start operations in 2010 and it is expected to have a carbon footprint lower by up to 85% if compared to similar systems with the current cooling technologies. Unlike previous versions of water cooled computers, Aquasar will have a fine network of capillaries bringing water close to the chips and thus cooling the circuits. Thanks to its superior cooling properties, the water circulating in the system at 60° C will still be able to maintain the processors under the 85°C threshold. The water would then be conveyed to the residential facilities to exploit its waste warmth to heat the buildings. This innovative system seems therefore to provide an intelligent solution to data centers overheating problems, not only reducing energy consumption for cooling but also changing waste heat into a valuable commodity." |
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