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

[John Hearns]

Sorry, their videos do have a fan at one end.
In the video though they do say "enables ten times the server density" - as
opposed to what?
I am keeping an open mind though.
Forced Physics guys - hint I work somewhere which has lots of servers.


On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 at 17:15, John Hearns <hearnsj at googlemail.com> wrote:

> 3. Using this technology means a complete redesign of your server hardware
> and possibly your racks.
> It does say it fits in standard OpenCompute racks. But I gues the racks
> are the only thing you get to keep.
>
> I think I understand what they are getting at - that shape will cause
> expansion of the air volume, and hence cooling.
> I guess like SR71 engine spikes or something.
> But how the heck do they move the air fast enough to do the cooling
> without fans?
>
> They keep referring to external air. Which is fine. But if you ever want
> to do this make sure the external air is WELL filtered.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 at 16:33, 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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