HIREF is using Screw Compressors from Bitzer to Cool Computing Centre

Technological advancements and growing volume of data increase the heat loads in computing centres and servers require constant cooling.

The Italian company HiRef S.p.A. has started to use screw compressors from BITZER to cool a computing centre adiabatically with air-to-air heat exchangers. As the application is fitted with the low-GWP refrigerant R513A and is therefore A2L-ready, it can be converted to use the HFO refrigerant R1234ze, which has a GWP of less than 6, at any time – a solution that is both sustainable and extremely cost effective.

HiRef’s air conditioning solutions for the IT sector are considered exceptionally efficient and help lower energy consumption and, in turn, running costs. The task was to design a cooling system that is both as reliable and sustainable as possible for a computing centre in the German city of Offenbach, in cooperation with Cooltec Systems Kälte Klima GmbH. As HiRef had been using BITZER compressors for years, it came to the specialists in Sindelfingen with this project, too. As selecting a sustainable refrigerant was of key importance, HiRef opted for an extraordinary solution: for the first time, 96 screw compressors with external frequency inverters were installed in the 48 cooling systems instead of scroll compressors.

As one of the first HiRef systems with the adiabatic system, this project was of special significance. Wolfgang Fels, Commercial Director at HiRef says, “Capacity control makes the screw compressors extremely energy efficient at full and part load. This way, they make a valuable contribution to reducing CO₂ emissions.” Their low water consumption with additional adiabatic cooling is another important step in the direction of sustainability.

Environmental protection pays off
The requirements stipulated by the EU’s F-Gas Regulation 517/2014 represent a huge challenge for owners of air conditioning systems. That is why HiRef designed the system with the low-GWP refrigerant R513A (A1-certified with a GWP of 573), an effective and environmentally compatible alternative to conventional refrigerants. One special feature is that the screw compressors are already preconfigured so that the user can switch to the refrigerant R1234ze at a later date. R1234ze has even less of an impact on the greenhouse effect, is not toxic, is moderately flammable and has a GWP of less than 6. The low GWP reduces the frequency of the mandatory leak checks required by the F-Gas Regulation, which has a positive effect on operating costs. ‘Environmental protection and efficiency go hand in hand here and set an example,’ sums up Pietro Trevisan, General Manager at BITZER Italia. ‘The excellent environmental properties give operators of the system more peace of mind in terms of refrigerant and device price stability, as well as long-term availability.’