التاريخ : 07/05/2010
system
By Tamer Aboalenin (with photos)
ZURICH, May 7 (KUNA) -- The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
(ETHZ) and IBM launched on Friday (Aquasar), the first ever Super Computer
using its own produced heat as a cooling system.
With the goal to have current energy-saving and eco-friendly system to
develop high performance computers and data centers, Aquasar uses a closed
water system for heat transfer and cooling system at the same time.
"Aquasar consumes up to 40 percent less energy than a comparable air-cooled
machine and the CO2 balance of the computer can be significantly improved
through the direct use of waste heat can the system emissions by up to 85
percent reduction," said Professor Dimos Poulikakos, Project Manager and Head
of the Laboratory of Thermodynamics in New Technologies at ETHZ to the Kuwait
News Agency (KUNA).
"With Aquasar, we make an important contribution to the development of
sustainable high performance computers and computer systems. In the future, it
will be as crucial as a powerful computer per watt and per gram of CO2," he
added.
Liquid cooling, however, is far more effective, Poulikakos said, explaining
"the water has about 4,000 times higher heat capacity than air and can
therefore transport heat very efficiently."
This allows new cooling concepts - such as the cooling of hot water - both
from an economic and environmental point of view sustainable.
In total, the system achieves an output of about six teraflops and consumes
about 20 kilowatts.
Intelligent cooling circuit with up to 60 degrees Celsius are the
processors and other components cooled in the new high-performance computers.
The entire cooling system of the computer is a closed, hermetically sealed
cycle, using a pump with a rate of 30 liters. The wast heat through a heat
exchanger is re-directed to an external secondary circuit disclosed in the
case of (Aquasar) to the heating system building at ETHZ.
To cool with hot water, thus combines two advantages; no energy-intensive
refrigeration needed and energy consumption significantly reduced. (end)
ta.hb
KUNA 071819 May 10NNNN