Biofilm’s Silent Energy Tax: How Microbes Slash Data Center Efficiency
By Beth Rush
Data centers have countless heating problems, and cooling innovations are attempting to combat this thermal runaway. Most people overlook biofilm’s role in infrastructure’s power losses, but you can learn about this hidden influence’s power. Here is how these thin layers of buildup lead to deceptively high energy wastage.
How Does Biofilm Compromise Data Center Productivity?
Biofilm accumulates in systems like cooling tower fills, heat exchangers, etc… These collections create several layers of bacterial clusters, growing into a substance thick enough to cause mechanical and performance issues.
Around 20% of Earth’s biomass is microorganisms, and 80% are in biofilms. The density can only paint a picture of their impact on electronics and industry. Eventually, their presence causes downtime from increased maintenance and energy loss in the places responsible for storing and transmitting your data.
You may never see biofilm unless you are cleaning a data center’s cooling equipment, but its growth leads to these side effects:
> Reduced heat transfer: The layers are insulating, preventing resistance-free heat transfer from water needing to be cooled.
> Increased flow resistance: Bacterial growth changes pipe surface texture and demands more energy to push water through its systems.
> Microbiologically induced corrosion: Biofilm encourages scale formation on metal equipment, reducing its efficiency and life span.
> Pipe and valve clogging: Thick layers can block cooling components and make it difficult or impossible to maintain flow, leading to leaks or bursts.
What Mitigation Strategies Combat Biofilm Energy Losses?
A 0.6-millimeter biofilm layer in a 500-ton chiller would cause its operating costs to skyrocket by $15,000 annually because of reduced heat exchange. This is why prevention is essential, especially in Generation 5 data centers.
These are the most advanced blueprints for this infrastructure. However, biofilm still impacts you and the data center’s workers by increasing its carbon footprint and using more resources to keep information flowing from cloud servers, remote workplaces, and social media networks.
These are the most reliable ways experts fight biofilm, reducing energy consumption and waste in these facilities and making them more financially and environmentally conscious.
Scheduled Cleaning and Disinfection
Biofilm does not have a chance to reproduce quickly if technicians regularly dispose of it. Operators can manually inspect chillers, pipe systems, and other interconnected devices or use remote operating tools to review infrastructure health regularly.
Some equipment automates this process, removing and killing biofilm on a schedule. Research is advancing on how robotics could play a huge role in treating biofilm accumulation. Data centers can use chemical treatments, physical cleaning methods, or both.
Optimized Chemical Treatment
Antibiotics and biocides are the most common solutions for chemically treating biofilm. To prevent overuse, dosages must be monitored. Data centers should maintain logs of how much solution they use and compare it to biofilm activity.
The numbers will inform businesses if they are distributing the right amount of chemicals based on how frequently and strongly the biofilm continually reappears. A team of chemists can help determine microbial activity in response to different types of chemical treatment.
Sidestream Filtration
Sidestream filtration systems can help separate suspended solids and organic materials from water heading to cooling equipment. Removing these from water bodies is vital because it limits the amount of matter bacteria have access to.
If there is less nutrient availability, it is harder for the bacteria to grow in that environment. Therefore, biofilm will accumulate more slowly, making it easier for chemical treatments to be more effective.
Alternatively, sidestream filtration could be another opportunity for data centers to earn more money while contributing to the renewable energy sector. Using it to capture these particles is an effective way to create biogas, diversifying available renewable generators.
Ultraviolet (UV) Sterilization
UV sterilizers are commonplace in water treatment facilities because they are reliable ways to kill microorganisms. This equipment is powerful enough to supplement other biofilm-mitigating strategies because it can catch contaminants that other methods cannot. For some cells, it is the most effective disinfection method. It is also one of the most eco-friendly alternatives, as it does not spread pollutants in the water or air.
Online Monitoring
Sensor-based equipment, such as the Internet of Things, could allow data centers to access real-time information to track the water’s health and activity. It could detect microbial movement, biofilm thickness, and the presence of corrosion. Workers could see trends in these key metrics, discovering when and under what conditions they are more likely to occur.
Nonchemical Treatment Technologies
Several other treatment methods do not rely on chemicals. Data centers may want to use these because they are less environmentally destructive than implementing more advanced infrastructure. These include ozone and electrochemical methods that work by attacking the membrane’s structure and dismantling it.
Overcoming Biofilm’s Strain on Data Centers
Though bacteria can be tiny, they play a huge role in data center inefficiencies, especially with energy management. The demands of tomorrow’s data centers will be far greater than they are today. Combating every adverse influence on cooling systems is crucial to scaling and decarbonizing them so you know your information is secure no matter what.
About the author: Beth Rush is the green wellness editor at Body+Mind, where she covers topics like the power of climate consciousness at all stages of education. You can find Beth on Twitter @bodymindmag. Subscribe to Body+Mind for more posts by Beth!
