Data Centres: Embracing Sustainability through Innovative Surface Engineering

Data centres are the backbone of our digital world, powering everything from cloud computing to streaming services. However, as demand for data grows exponentially, so too does the environmental footprint of these facilities – especially in terms of water and energy consumption. In this blog post, we’ll explore how advances in materials science and surface engineering can help make data centres more sustainable.

The Challenge of Cooling

Cooling is one of the biggest challenges facing data centres today. In fact, cooling can account for up to 40% of a data centre’s total energy consumption. Traditional air cooling methods are struggling to keep up with the increasing heat loads generated by high-density computing equipment. Many data centres are turning to liquid cooling solutions, which can provide superior heat transfer compared to air. Direct liquid cooling, where components are submerged in dielectric fluid, has enabled some facilities to achieve extremely low PUE values of 1.02-1.07. However, liquid cooling systems can also consume vast amounts of water if not designed properly.

The Dangers of Zinc Whiskers

Another challenge facing data centres is the phenomenon of zinc whiskers. These microscopic crystalline filaments can grow on the surfaces of zinc-electroplated components like floor tiles, racks, and cable trays. When zinc whiskers break off and become airborne, they can cause short circuits and catastrophic failures in IT equipment.

Zinc whiskers are notoriously difficult to detect and mitigate. They can grow in any environment regardless of temperature or humidity, and even the smallest whiskers can wreak havoc due to their conductivity. Preventing zinc whiskers requires eliminating zinc-electroplated surfaces from the data centre environment altogether.

Surface Engineering Solutions

Fortunately, advances in surface engineering are providing new solutions for cooling and whisker mitigation in data centres. Some key innovations include:

• Zinc-nickel plating: An alternative to pure zinc electroplating that is much less prone to whisker growth. Zinc-nickel coatings can provide comparable corrosion protection with a lower risk of whisker-related failures.
• Powder coatings: Polymer-based coatings that can be applied to racks, cabinets, and other data centre components. Powder coatings provide excellent corrosion resistance without the risk of zinc whiskers, and can also improve equipment lifespan.
• Hydrophobic coatings: Special coatings that repel water and prevent moisture buildup on surfaces. Hydrophobic coatings can improve the efficiency of evaporative cooling systems and reduce the risk of corrosion and contamination.
• Radiative cooling coatings: Innovative coatings that can passively radiate heat away from surfaces, even in direct sunlight. Radiative cooling could enable data centres to reject heat more efficiently and reduce their reliance on water-intensive cooling methods.

By implementing these surface engineering solutions, data centres can not only mitigate the risks of zinc whiskers and corrosion, but also improve their cooling efficiency and reduce water consumption. In fact, studies have shown that optimized coatings and surface treatments can improve cooling system efficiency by up to 10%, resulting in significant OPEX savings.

Materials Trends and Sustainability

Looking beyond coatings, there are also exciting trends in the world of data centre materials. Many operators are exploring sustainable building materials like low-carbon concrete, recycled steel, and cross-laminated timber to reduce the embodied carbon of their facilities.

Inside the data hall, engineers are finding ways to replace conventional plastics with bio-based alternatives. For example, Facebook has transitioned to using natural fiber-reinforced polypropylene in its server racks, reducing its reliance on petroleum-based materials.

Adopting a circular economy mindset will be key to improving data centre sustainability over the long term. This means designing equipment for repair, reuse and recycling from the start. Innovative materials like self-healing polymers and biodegradable electronics could play a big role in the future.

The Road Ahead

As the world becomes increasingly digitized, it’s clear that data centres will need to embrace sustainability as a core design principle. Advances in surface engineering and materials science will be critical to achieving this goal – enabling us to build facilities that are not only high-performing and resilient, but also environmentally responsible.

By implementing the right combination of coatings, cooling strategies, and sustainable materials, the data centre industry can continue to support the digital transformation while minimizing its impact on the planet. It’s an exciting road ahead, and one that will require close collaboration between operators, engineers, and materials experts.