Data centers and technologies

ASHRAE recommends that data centers be kept clean to ISO Class 8.

The Enemies 

The following are the enemies of electrical components in a data center: 

• Particulate matter: Excellent particles that can remain resuspended in the air. It includes viable particulate matter (e.g. viruses, bacteria, allergens, etc.) and non-viable particulate matter (e.g. dust). Particulate matter can settle on the chips and hamper operations. 
• Gaseous contaminants: There are three types of gases which are the prime culprits in the corrosion of electronicsAcidic gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, and chlorine. 
• Caustic gases, such as ammonia; 
• Oxidizing gases, such as ozone. 
• Acidic gases are typically the most corrosive. For instance, it takes only 10 parts per billion (ppb) of chlorine to inflict the same amount of damage as 25,000 ppb of ammonia. 
• Humidity: Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air. The rate of chemical reaction of gases and gaseous chemicals depends on the humidity levels.

The Problem 

The following pertains to the particulate matter problem in data centers. ASHRAE recommends that data centers be kept clean to ISO Class 8 (3,520,000 particles/ m3 are allowed for 0.5 µm and biggersized particles). ISO Class 8 can be achieved by the following:

• The room air may be continuously filtered with MERV 8 filters, as recommended by ASHRAE Standard 127 (ASHRAE 2007).
• Air entering a data center may be filtered with MERV 11 or MERV 13 filters as recommended by ASHRAE (2009b).

Any air filter works on the capture mechanism. Air filters capture dust particles and microbes as well. 

However, the microbes captured to create a problem. On continuous use, the filters become a breeding ground for the microbes. The clogging of filters happens faster because of microbial growth. The problem doesn’t end here; these germs growing on the filters can resuspend into the air (because of the huge airflow in the HVAC system) and can affect the electrical components in a data center.

The Solution 

In collaboration with IIT Kanpur and IISc Bangalore, “germ-destroying air filters” have been developed. These antimicrobial air filters are coated with plant-based enzymes. They can purify the air and destroy germs by forming ROS (reactive oxygen species) that reacts with the other wall of the microorganisms and destroys them. Germ-destroying filters got a lot of interest from data centers for better air quality and to remove the drawback of existing air filters of microbial growth. Data centers are critical for the development of our nation and should be maintained with utmost air safety.