Chilled Water (CHW) systems used to cool electrical equipment are becoming increasingly common in commercial applications such as large data centres and IT server rooms. It is very important to keep temperatures at a consistent and low level in data centres as any increase can lead to reduced efficiency of the computer systems and a risk of costly downtime or even equipment failure. For servers hosting websites, email and critical business systems interruptions in service can be extremely costly for organisations.
Buffer tanks form a key component in chilled water systems, often being used to provide additional volume in closed water systems. Adding this extra water capacity can reduce cycling of compressor units, which in turn improves temperature control giving a more consistent cooling system operation. Just like with heating systems, a buffer tank can also smooth out the peaks and troughs in demand over the day from the business operations, which makes the cooling system more robust and reliable giving it greater longevity – ultimately reducing maintenance requirements and minimising the risk of computer system downtime.Redundancy in data centre cooling systems is also critical, for example if a power outage occurs the thermal inertia from the stored chilled water in a large buffer tank will keep the building cool for an extended period of time reducing the risk of equipment overheating until all of the normal building systems can come back online.
Energy prices have also risen sharply in recent years meaning that the owners and designers of data centres are increasing looking at where energy efficiencies can be found to reduce running costs, Buffer tanks are an ideal addition to the cooling system design when it comes to saving the company operational costs in the long run.
At Mibec we are able to offer a wide range of tanks suitable for chilled water applications from leading European manufacturers such as Cordivari. Our extensive range includes tanks such as the VT PDC and Volano R/C GB which are ideally suited for chilled water installations.Tank sizes range from 100 litres up to 2,000 litres covering a broad range of requirements and have operational limits down to -10oC. We also have tanks in the range which are designed to be installed in a horizontal orientation, these are perfect for projects where space is very tight or the tanks need to go in service voids between floors – as is typical in multi-story office and data centre projects.Our tanks have a mild steel construction which makes them ideal for the glycol anti-freeze treatment commonly used in this application and come with a high thermal performance hard polyurethane foam outer coverings to minimise any heat gains from the external environment.
If an off-the-shelf solution can’t be found to meet your project needs then we also offer bespoke designed but cost-effective tanks for cooling projects. All of these special Mibec tanks are custom-made to suit the exact customer requirements in terms of sizes and connections on only a 2-3 week lead time.
We offer a full free of charge specification service covering the whole of the UK, designed to support architects, specifiers or contractors. We can give you knowledgeable, yet impartial advice on selecting the right tank to meet your project needs. Please feel free to email or call our support department on 01782 959170 (local call rate) where one of our trained advisers will be more than happy to help you.