On 1/25/19 12:15 PM, John Hearns via Beowulf 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.
Exactly. It might work with the OC racks, but the servers still have to
be completely redesigned so that all the heat-producing components can
be mated directly to that thing.
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.
My understanding was that the inlet spikes on the SR71 weren't about
expanding the air volume, but for repositioning the edge air's shock
wave for the correct air intake into the engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird#Air_inlets
But how the heck do they move the air fast enough to do the cooling
without fans?
There is a fan on the outlet, what is known as an induced-draft fan (as
opposed to a "forced-draft" fan, which is on the inlet.)
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.
Agreed. If the fins are that small, then this air would need to be HEPA
filtered or something. I would imagine moving that much air would carry
enough dust particles to clog those fins and drastically reduce the
efficiency of the system in a reasonably short period of time (6 months?
1 year?) But then the finer your filter, the greater the pressure drop
across it, and the harder your fans have to work, which reduces energy
efficiency....
Which law of thermodynamics says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Prentice
On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 at 16:33, Prentice Bisbal via Beowulf
<beowulf@beowulf.org <mailto:beowulf@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_pet...@selinc.com
<mailto:chuck_pet...@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 <http://www.selinc.com/>
SEL Synchrophasors - A New View of the Power System
<http://synchrophasor.selinc.com <http://synchrophasor.selinc.com/>>
Making Electric Power Safer, More Reliable, and More Economical (R)
** Registered in Oregon.
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