Mitsubishi Electric focuses on heat potential of data centres

At the show, Mitsubishi Electric, a leader in IT cooling solutions, will introduce a new approach to the overheating challenge by looking at data centres as useful energy sources and exploring ways to apply otherwise wasted heat to other applications.

“Data centres have the potential to be a key part of the decarbonisation of heating in the UK,” explains Simon Prichard, Product Strategy Manager for the company’s advanced range of IT Cooling and Central Plant. “We are fast approaching the day when data centre managers can sell off the heat from essential cooling to keep nearby offices and apartments warm.”

As data centres are significant energy users, they face increasing pressure to find energy savings, with the most common measurement by power usage effectiveness (PUE) reaching its practical limits. Finding further savings is an ongoing challenge, and now, the Energy Re-use Factor (ERF) is becoming a vital consideration in the operation of data centres. This measures the amount of re-used energy a data centre can provide, divided by the electrical energy used.

“We’re using Data Centre World to launch a white paper on how data centres can be at the heart of the UK’s low carbon heat,” adds Simon Prichard. “Around 40% of UK carbon emissions are produced from space and water heating, so re-using waste heat from data centres can make a big difference.”

Mitsubishi Electric’s IT Cooling range is designed exclusively for the unique working environments of data centres, where wide variations in humidity levels and the need for constant temperature control are business-critical all year round. The technology used in IT Cooling is advancing rapidly, focusing on selecting cooling technologies to match building requirements while meeting energy-reduction targets.

On the stand, the team will demonstrate the workings of MEWALL, Mitsubishi Electric’s data centre fan wall, using virtual reality to transport visitors to the company’s IT Cooling production facility in Italy for an exclusive first-look tour. MEWALL will be ideal for high-density data centres or hyper-scale applications where maximum cooling duty with minimum power input is required, as it offers high performance, flexibility and reliability.

It also benefits from easy and fast installation, space-saving optimisation, and a low investment cost per kW, making it the perfect solution for hyperscale and colocation data centres. By changing the airflow convention, the unit is designed for horizontal airflow at scale, allowing for taller heat exchangers, with elevated water temperatures, improving performance over conventional designs.

Mitsubishi Electric’s Critical Power Division will also be sharing the stand. The Division supplies medium and low voltage distribution solutions, UPS, energy management, data visualisation and a host of other operational software to data centres.

Visit stand D740 to learn more about Mitsubishi Electric’s energy-efficient, low-carbon solutions to help decarbonise your data centre.