Mission Critical Power

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ISSUE 10: April 2017

16

Ian Bitterlin: Are we Europeans piggy-backing US data centre standards?

28

IT infrastructure: Investing in power and cooling assets; why buy the cow?

34

Resilience vs energy: Tackling today’s difficult dilemma for mission critical data centres

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IN THIS ISSUE

12

Energy Management

16

Should data centres have a duty to play their part and ‘plug the gap’ in energy supply ?

Viewpoint Are we Europeans piggy-backing on US data centre standards?

06 News Calls to minimise ‘threat’ posed to UK data centres by Brexit uncertainty

20 Standby power Operators must tackle the risk posed by diesel ‘bugs’ in standby generators: prevention is better than cure.

28

missioncriticalpower.uk

ISSUE 10: April 2017

16

Ian Bitterlin: Are we Europeans piggy-backing US data centre standards?

28

IT infrastructure: Investing in power and cooling assets; why buy the cow?

34

Resilience vs energy: Tackling today’s difficult dilemma for mission critical data centres

Infrastructure Is there an alternative to purchasing critical infrasructure?

Why buy the cow?

24

Data centre design

14

Testing of infrastructure must be considered from the start of the project to avoid pitfalls

Front Cover FG Wilson

Comment

4

Viewpoint

16

Power Distribution

38

News

6

Standby Power

20

Cooling & Air Movement

44

Data Centre Infrastructure

8

Data Centre Design

24

Products

47

Testing & Maintenance

30

Q&A

50

Energy Management

12

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April 2017 MCP

4

COMMENT

Tackling 'never events' Three patients were killed at a hospital in Puducherry, India, when their kidney dialysis machines stopped working during a power outage in March 2017. In the same month, New York-based St Mary's Hospital was forced to close its emergency department and redirect patients to nearby hospitals due to a power outage that lasted nearly five hours. The outage was reported to be caused by a malfunctioning generator.

Last year, backup generators at an Adelaide hospital also failed during South Australia's widespread power outage, forcing 17 patients to be transferred to another hospital. Some needed help breathing with manual respirators as they were transferred.

Closer to home, there was a tiny paragraph dedicated to one such incident that went virtually unnoticed on the BBC website – in February 2017, there was a 10-minute delay in one of the backup generators starting up at the Royal Victoria Hospital during power cuts in Belfast.

Mission critical power failures are happening all around the world and, in some cases, patient safety is being put at risk.

In the UK, such incidents are going unreported and there is a cloak of secrecy around what should be a national scandal.

Without reliable backup power, outages can mean the loss of respiratory devices and critical equipment for patients in intensive care, neonatal, or cardiac units; it may result in the inability to access electronic patient records

Editor Louise Frampton louise@energystmedia.com t: 020 34092043 m: 07824317819 Managing Editor Tim McManan-Smith tim@energystmedia.com Production Paul Lindsell production@energystmedia.com m: 07790 434813

Sales director Steve Swaine steve@energystmedia.com t: 020 3714 4451 m: 07818 574300 Circulation enquiries circulation@energystmedia.com

and other hospital data; patients may be unable to signal for assistance when they need urgent attention; and it may also result in the loss of lighting for high-risk surgical procedures and potential black out of rooms with no emergency lighting.

Anecdotally, we are aware of one incident in the south of England in which a maternity unit was forced to perform C-section without proper lighting, due to a power outage. I know from experience just how frightening it feels as, an expectant mother, to be rushed into theatre for an emergency C-section – without the added terror of facing a consultant wielding a knife by torchlight!

The staff at the hospital coped admirably well under difficult circumstances, but hospital theatres are stressful places without the added distraction and pressure of dealing with power failures – 100% uptime must be a priority.

Adequate investment in power infrastructure and maintenance is critical. Unfortunately, in a cash-strapped NHS, there is a temptation to cut back on non-clinical budgets. It is important for hospitals to be open and transparent about occurrences and to investigate the reasons.

There is now a long list of clinical ‘never events’ – serious incidents that are wholly preventable – which must be reported. Perhaps the same logic should be applied elsewhere – there needs to be an open discussion of the problem and frank dialogue about the 'standards of care' that should be expected for the critical power systems that hospitals rely on to function safely, seven days a week, 24-hours a day.

Louise Frampton, editor

Energyst Media Ltd, PO BOX 420, Reigate, Surrey RH2 2DU Registered in England & Wales – 8667229 Registered at Stationers Hall – ISSN 0964 8321 Printed by Headley Brothers Ltd No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers.

Mission Critical Power is a controlled circulation magazine available to selected professionals interested in energy, who fall within the publishers terms of control. For those outside of these terms, annual subscriptions is £60 including postage in the UK. For all subscriptions outside the UK the annual subscription is £120 including postage.

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MCP April 2017

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6

NEWS & COMMENT

Calls to minimise Brexit 'threat' to investment in UK data centre market The biggest challenge facing the UK data centre market is uncertainty.

Presenting the findings of the TechUK paper, Silver Linings: The Implications of Brexit for the UK Data Centre Sector, at Data Centres North, TechUK associate director Emma Fryer highlighted the threats and opportunities posed by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

In its report, TechUK points out that the commercial London market is the second largest in the world and dominates the European market with 43% of the Tier 1 supply.

However, the organisation says it is aware that technology lawyers have been temporarily advising its clients against a UK location, for operations dependent on cross border data flows into the rest of the EU, until there is greater clarity; some high value contracts have been redirected to Dublin, Frankfurt or Amsterdam.

The TechUK paper points out that there is a potential threat in relation to skills – the UK data centre sector cannot fill its current skills gap with domestic talent and the success of the UK data centre sector is "underpinned by its ability to attract the best skills from

TechUK has identified seven priorities for action across Europe." Many nonBritish EU nationals work in key roles within data centres, both technical and nontechnical. Clarity is therefore required on the status of these individuals, how they will be protected and how the UK can continue to make use of their essential and specialist skills.

The report outlines these and other threats but adds that Brexit should be seen as a catalyst to “review, reconsider, renegotiate, revise and repurpose”; to reset the UK’s global competitive position and rethink priorities and partnerships. For example, Brexit offers the potential for some degree of freedom from existing regulatory or pricing constraints.

In response to Brexit, TechUK is outlining seven priorities for action:

1. Uncertainty: protect data flows, implement GDPR equivalent and prioritise single market access. Making intentions clear before acting is preferable: uncertainty is damaging.

2. Data flows / Data protection: Provide an urgent undertaking that UK data governance laws will be adequate for compliance with EU and global requirements so that UK operators and their global customers can continue to host, manage, process and transact EU and other national data in the UK. 3. Single Market: Provide an undertaking that access to the single market will be a priority in negotiations so that UK operators and their global customers can continue to export digital services to the

EU without trade barriers or non-tariff barriers.

4. Skills: Provide an urgent undertaking that the UK will be open to free flow of skills and that non British EU employees will be protected.

Redesign existing immigration policy and replace it with a skills based migration policy.

5. Energy costs: Mitigate energy prices by reducing non-commodity energy costs; facilitate access to compensation for RO/ FiTs/CfDs. The UK needs a simpler and more consistent way to identify energy intensive businesses. Current arrangements are complicated, targeted at mitigating industrial decline rather than protecting growth, and are inadequate.

6. Inward investment: Make a stronger case to support inward investment in the sector. Be explicit that the sector is valued and welcome.

Upgrade incentives and target them more effectively. Smooth the runway so that investors are not beset by obstacles.

7. Environmental compliance: Retain environmental targets and standards but review energy and carbon taxes.

Download the full report at https://tinyurl.com/lzm4vd2

Battery storage to support creation of smart grid Morrison Utility Connections, a major projects Independent Connection Provider (ICP) and part of Morrison Utility Services, has been commissioned to build and connect one of the world's largest and most sophisticated battery-based energy storage systems in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Scheduled for completion by summer 2018, the 49MW lithium-ion system will respond to fluctuations in electrical demand in less than

MCP April 2017

a second, supporting the creation of a Smart Grid. Morrison Utility Connections will undertake the work on behalf of energy storage pioneer Younicos, which has been chosen to design and deliver the batterybased energy storage system on behalf of international energy and services company Centrica.

Based on the design for Younicos’ turn-key battery solution, the scope of works will include the design and construction of the building, civils works, building services, HV

electrical system, 132kV connection to the grid and the installation of 16 inverter transformers to connect the batteries.

Morrison Utility Connections contract director Andy Clark commented: “The requirement for battery storage facilities by the Grid and others is still in its infancy but is predicted to grow significantly over the next 5 to 10 years."

Once completed, the facility will be one of the largest battery storage plants in the UK.

missioncriticalpower.uk

7 Growth in demand for UPS systems The accelerating shift toward digitisation, Internet of Things (IoT), software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing is giving a huge boost to the adoption of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems across different applications, according to the latest market intelligence from Frost & Sullivan.

With greater virtualisation, data centres have risen in importance and numbers, creating a vast market for UPS systems.

The US alone has more than 12 million servers in three million data centres. As loss of power could disrupt data centres’ globally connected data processors and result in significant losses, high-power UPS systems are enjoying enthusiastic uptake among these end users.

“While data centres propel the

above-200 kVA UPS segment, the popularity of modular UPS systems has made the up-to-300kVA systems the biggest growth segment,” said Frost & Sullivan energy research manager Suba Arunkumar.

“Modular UPS’ scalability makes it ideal for backup power in key industrial applications.”

The Frost & Sullivan report, Global Uninterruptible Power Supplies Market 2016, discusses demand and usage patterns of UPS across wide power ranges, from below 1 kVA to above 500 kVA. According to the research, more than 60% of the UPS demand is from North America and Asia-Pacific, with the US, China and India being prominent markets.

Ofgem plans cuts to small generators’ Triad payments Ofgem is set to implement deep cuts to the revenues earned by small power generators. The regulator plans to reduce the Triad benefit, currently £45/ kW, to £2/kW over three years, starting in 2018.

While Ofgem suggests the Triad component of so-called embedded benefits is spiralling out of control, over-rewarding small generators and distorting the outcome of the capacity market, small generators are

£43

Reduction in the Triad benefit that will be paid per KW over three years, starting in 2018

aghast at the proposal.

“The consequences for industrial manufacturers, hospitals, and local authorities who generate their own power could be devastating,” said Tim Rotheray, head of the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE).

If the regulator proceeds with its plans, generators under 100MW will see their Triad benefit reduced by around a third each year.

Green IT: sector must collaborate A report by Greenpeace has identified a need for greater transparency and collaboration to improve data centre energy sustainability and to tackle rising carbon emissions seen in the industry.

In Greenpeace’s 2017 green IT report, Clicking Clean: Who is winning the race to build a green internet?, many hyperscalers scored highly for adoption and initiatives on renewable energy but other players were urged to improve advocacy and transparency, and to work more collaboratively. missioncriticalpower.uk

Since 2012, the amount of electricity consumed by the IT sector has increased by 6% (totalling 21%) in the past five years, making the need for a green data centre industry stronger than ever.

With an anticipated threefold increase in global internet traffic by 2020, the advocacy of renewable energy for data centres will be important in sustaining its growth.

Roel Castelein, customer services director, The Green Grid, said: “While there are definite movements towards a

more sustainable data centre industry, many organisations have sought individual goals, rather than working together to share best practice and find the best ways to a sustainable future. Google, Facebook and Apple are constantly pushing the barriers of green innovation, while also working closely with energy suppliers to help achieve sustainable company targets. Their ability to advocate such measures is beginning to influence the rest of the sector, but more must be done."

News in brief 'London Two' acquired Zenium has announced that it has completed the purchase of Infinity’s Stockley Park data centre, known as 'London Two'.

This will be the sixth data centre announced by Zenium in less than two years.

This strategic acquisition strengthens Zenium’s UK position and becomes the second west London facility to be added to the Zenium portfolio, further cementing the company's commitment to the UK data centre market.

Campus expands Interxion Holding plans to construct additional data centres in Frankfurt, London, and Stockholm. In London, Interxion will build its third data centre (LON3) on its Brick Lane campus, which is expected to provide approximately 1,800 sq m of equipped space and a total of approximately 3MW of customer available power. It will be constructed in a single phase that is scheduled to become available in mid-2018.

Rail contingency Aggreko has published a free guide on 'Contingency Planning for Power Failure in the Rail Sector', which sets out how to create an effective backup power strategy to cover all eventualities – from sharp temperature drops to power shortages or telecommunications failure.

It provides eight tips rail managers can follow to ensure they have robust plans in place for backup temporary power to ensure business continuity and staff and passenger safety.

The guide includes how to prevent failures and build sufficient operational detail into a contingency plan, as well as how to conduct a site survey for a list of critical power and temperature control equipment.

April 2017 MCP

8

DATA CENTRE INFRASTRUCTURE

Powering the data ‘revolution’ As cloud computing integrates even further into IT operations, the focus will move towards improving underlying critical infrastructure as businesses look to manage new data volumes. Investment in the right infrastructure – not just new infrastructure – will be crucial. Louise Frampton reports on the key trends driving the market, highlighted by experts at a roundtable event in London, hosted by Vertiv

T

he critical infrastructure market is witnessing a ‘revolution’, according to Giordano Albertazzi, president of Vertiv in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). When he first started in the industry sector, data centres were mainly for enterprise, there was very little internet traffic and telecoms businesses were focused on voice services.

“Years later, we thought that server virtualisation was a huge revolution. But the revolution has been the arrival of smart phones and the cloud. Today, everyone has been empowered to use data at a rate that is unprecedented.

The established model for the enterprise data centre has become a hybrid and the cloud also powers the enterprise data centre. It has been a phenomenal transformation.”

MCP April 2017

Everything is ‘going digital’ – from industrial, commercial and telecoms applications, to the six million smart phones that are now estimated to be in circulation. “As a company, we need to empower this revolution,” says Albertazzi.

With data volumes rapidly rising, IT infrastructures will continue to evolve throughout 2017 to offer faster, more secure and more efficient services needed to meet these new demands. “We believe that 2017 will be the year that IT professionals will invest in future-proofing their data centre facilities to ensure that they remain nimble and flexible in the years to come,” adds Albertazzi.

Alan Whelan, managing director of Vertiv in Northern Europe, says UK data centres are investing significantly in

expansion, undeterred by Brexit – the company has been working on projects with co-location providers, to support expansion of their data halls, by upgrading UPS capacity for example.

“Our co-location customers in the UK are future-proofing their investments. They are confident about their investment plans, the ability to grow their business and are adding capacity. On the telecoms side, the landscape for investment in the UK is clearer than it has been for a while. I anticipate that we will grow our business in this area in the year ahead. Telecoms business are well placed to expand the facilities they have in terms of edge computing,” says Whelan.

Vertiv observes that infrastructure will continue to race to keep up with

connectivity at the edge; distributed IT and the industrial Internet of Things are pushing IT resources closer to users and industrial processes. While the data centre remains core to delivering applications and services, such as point of sale and inventory management, network closets and micro data centres are growing in number and importance as internet-connected sensors and devices proliferate and remote users demand faster access to information.

Organisations will turn to pre-configured micro data centre solutions that support fast deployment, greater standardisation and remote management across distributed IT locations. Standardisation and modularity are becoming as important in distributed IT missioncriticalpower.uk

9 and adiabatic cooling systems – along with services such as upfront design, site refurbishment and ongoing support and monitoring to deliver energy savings.

The drive to reduce energy costs has also had a significant influence on the market for data centre cooling solutions. Vertiv says that traditional approaches, focused on delivering ‘maximum cooling’, have been displaced by more sophisticated approaches focused on removing heat as efficiently as possible. Increased use of advanced economiser technologies and the continued evolution of intelligent thermal

leveraging evaporative and adiabatic cooling that use water to cool the surrounding air. These technologies are delivering highly efficient, reliable and economical thermal management.

Where water availability or costs are an issue, waterless cooling systems have gained traction. A traditional open-loop chilled water-based system uses about four million gallons of water to cool one MW of IT capacity in one year. New technologies featuring pumpedrefrigerant economisers that use no water and introduce no outside air into the data

New solutions are also emerging to the “weak link in data centre power systems” as operators seek to reduce the footprint, weight and total costs of traditional valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries.

Vertiv argues that the most promising of these is lithiumion batteries. With prices decreasing and chemistries and construction continuing to advance, lithium-ion batteries are becoming a viable option for the data centre and are being scaled to handle rowand room-level requirements.

While this battery technology has been available previously,

Infrastructure will continue to race to keep up with connectivity at the edge; distributed IT and the industrial Internet of Things are pushing IT resources closer to users and industrial processes locations as they are in large data centres, according to Vertiv.

The company predicts that existing network closets and remote IT locations will also be re-evaluated to ensure the power and cooling provisions are adequate to meet the increased criticality of these locations as they begin to provide localised collection and analysis of real-time data from connected sensors and devices.

Another key trend emerging is the increasing focus on energy usage, which is coming to the fore across all industry sectors, according to Michael O’Keeffe, vice-president of service for Vertiv in EMEA. He comments that Vertiv has seen increasing interest in energy efficient power solutions in the past year, and this has been evident within the telecoms sector, for example: “This sector spends huge amounts on electricity. We have specialist consultant engineers that visit sites that can advise on optimisation, to help reduce their PUE from alarmingly high numbers in some cases, while ensuring they follow, or return, to best industry practice.”

Efforts have focused on equipment placement – such as 96% efficient rectifiers, high efficiency UPS systems missioncriticalpower.uk

controls have enabled highly resilient thermal management strategies that support PUEs below 1.2.

While energy efficiency remains a core concern, water consumption and refrigerant use have also emerged as important considerations in select geographies. Due to the expanded range of thermal management strategies available today, data centre operators are tailoring thermal management based on data centre location and resource availability. Global market trends show an increase in the use of new technologies

centre have the ability to deliver significant savings in water consumption.

Vertiv also says that it is witnessing innovation in terms of power generation and systems, within the commercial and industrial sectors. In view of the UK’s goal to ensure 20% of power generation is from renewables, Vertiv is supporting an increasing number of projects in this area – from windfarms, to emerging business models that look at supporting the grid, during ‘peaks and troughs’ in supply (eg demand side response).

the improving economics have spurred increased commercialisation efforts in the data centre industry.

Data centre operators have long been interested in alternatives to lead-acid batteries, but available technologies have not been able to match the value and storage capacity of traditional batteries. Vertiv claims that real alternatives are emerging that can reduce footprint, expand runtimes and enhance sustainability.

Technology integration has been increasing in the data »

Experts highlighted the key trends driving critical infrastructure at a roundtable event April 2017 MCP

10

DATA CENTRE INFRASTRUCTURE

Critical power protection at Southampton University centre space for the last several years as operators seek modular, integrated solutions that can be deployed quickly, scaled easily and operated efficiently.

Now, this same philosophy is being applied to data centre development. Speed-to-market is one of the key drivers of the companies developing the bulk of data centre capacity today, and they have found the traditional silos between the engineering and construction phases cumbersome and unproductive. As a result, they are embracing a turnkey approach to data centre design and deployment that leverages integrated,

modular designs, off-site construction and disciplined project management. Vertiv claims that vendors that bring together infrastructure expertise, design and engineering capabilities and sophisticated project management to deliver a turnkey capability can build better data centres faster.

Albertazzi comments that optimisation does not end with the supply of the equipment, however, but should be over the life-cycle of the critical infrastructure – from planning and design, to project management and ongoing maintenance. “Even if

Ideally, a health check of the infrastructure is recommended at least on an annual basis

you go into the best designed data centre, unless there has been a continuous focus on optimisation, what was once optimal, will have become suboptimal within five or 10 years.”

He points out that equipment may be changed and the overall holistic vision of the infrastructure may be lost over time. Ideally, a health check of the infrastructure is recommended at least on an annual basis. This should seek to preserve the efficiency level of the initial design or replace technologies with equipment that is more efficient.

Looking to the future, Albertazzi points out that, as Vertiv is no longer part of a large conglomerate, decisions can be made much faster, enabling the company to be more responsive to emerging market trends on the horizon. Previously known as Emerson Network Power, the company was purchased by Platinum Equity from Emerson in a transaction valued in excess of $4bn.

“This agility is crucial to being successful in a sector where transformation is so rapid. Being independent, more nimble and closer to the market, will help us to better partner our customers,” he concludes. l

Modular UPS solution safeguards critical research Michael O’Keeffe highlighted the fact that Vertiv is seeing increasing investment in mission critical infrastructure at research universities in the UK. “Fundamentally, they are building data centres,” he commented. “The nature of medical research, in particular, means that the reliability of the digital environment is critical.” One such example is the University of Southampton – one of the UK’s top 20 research universities. The institution has produced groundbreaking findings across numerous fields from ocean exploration to understanding the internet, and from sustainable energy to finding medical solutions to major diseases.

To meet the ‘day one’ needs of the new data centre project, Vertiv provided the University of Southampton with three Liebert Trinergy UPS systems with a total of 1,600kVA capacity. Provisioning for day one requirements, rather than predicted growth, wasn’t a lack of foresight on the university’s part; instead this enabled careful management of the initial capital expenditure due to the Liebert Trinergy UPS’ modular nature.

The three dimensions of modularity (vertical, horizontal, orthogonal) that the Liebert Trinergy UPS features allow the university to expand its power protection needs at the same pace as changing load requirements by simply adding additional power modules. Put simply, the power requirements of the new facility have been future-proofed. It was also essential that the university’s critical power protection system could be maintained in an optimum state of readiness.

Vertiv’s ‘Life Services’ enables remote diagnostics which deliver proactive equipment maintenance and reduced downtime. This provides early warning of UPS and single module alarm conditions and out of tolerances, which in real terms means that the University of Southampton benefits from effective, proactive maintenance and fast incident response. Critically, the data centre has also achieved environmental and financial credibility: • Annual CO2 production has been reduced by 160 tonnes compared with the previous, less efficient facility • Energy requirements have been reduced by 300MW hours per year, resulting in a reduced annual total cost of ownership for the facility • The Liebert Trinergy UPS is listed on the ECA Scheme for Energy Saving Technologies. The ECA scheme allows organisations to write off the whole cost of the equipment against taxable profits in the year of purchase – reducing the capital cost of the new facility

MCP April 2017

missioncriticalpower.uk

12

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Calls for data centres to ‘plug the gap’ in energy supply Data centres can take control and turn their energy into an opportunity, while helping to ‘plug the gap’ in supply. Russell Park, British Gas solutions manager, is calling on businesses to ‘do their duty’, as large consumers of energy, and highlights the potential for revenue generation. Louise Frampton reports

A

s the UK faces a potential future crisis in energy supply, distributed energy could have a vital role to play. At the Data Centre Summit, London, Russell Park from British Gas (Centrica) called on data centres to help to tackle the problem. Energy bills are forecast to increase by 20-25% by 2020, providing data centres with a significant incentive to reduce their energy usage. However, they will also face the issue of energy security in the longer term.

A report, Engineering the UK Electricity Gap, by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, has predicted that the UK Government’s policy to close all coal-fired power stations by 2025, combined with the retirement of the majority of the UK’s MCP April 2017

ageing nuclear fleet and growing electricity demand will leave the UK facing a 40-55% electricity supply gap.

While the use of renewables, such as solar and wind power, will increase in the future, this is intermittent and dependent on the weather. Replacing the energy supplied by coal will prove problematic, therefore. To tackle fears that the ‘lights will go out’, major consumers of energy – such as data centres – are being called upon to help address the issue and ‘plug the gap in supply’.

“The options are to carry on and pay the Government’s extra tariff, or switch your generation assets off or on,” says Park.

“Most data centres have access to backup generators. Through a relatively simple process, they

can supply the National Grid and generate revenues.”

Park explains that income from energy assets can be generated in a number of ways.

The first of these is known as ‘balancing reserve’. National Grid is constantly trying to balance supply and demand.

To do this, they need to have access to additional assets. A 2-3MW generator that is dormant most of the year can be made available and switched off and on when required. National Grid is incentivising smaller energy generators to make these assets available.

Another strategy is peak avoidance. British Gas explains that Triads are the three halfhour periods during winter when the UK’s electricity system

experiences its highest peak demand. Transmission Network use of System (TNUoS) charges are based on the consumption of sites solely during the three half-hour periods. By reducing or eliminating consumption during these Triads, these charges (7-9% of the bill) can be avoided.

In addition, distribution use of system (DUoS) is a charge from the distribution network operator (DNO) to cover the cost of installing and maintaining the local energy distribution networks. The highest demand periods are known as ‘red bands’ and carry the highest charge.

Strategies to avoid red band periods can also help data centres to reduce costs.

Balancing markets provide a revenue opportunity for data missioncriticalpower.uk

13 Renewables alone will not be enough to tackle the UK’s looming energy supply crisis

centres. Short term operating reserve (STOR) is needed to keep the electricity system in balance and data centres can be paid to provide a reserve of energy for National Grid to call on when UK electricity demand outstrips supply. National Grid requires a minimum of 3MW to participate in the programme.

Frequency response is an increasingly important market to reduce demand within seconds of a sudden loss of electricity supply. On occasions when lots of electricity is lost very quickly, network frequency drops below tolerance levels. Normal service resumes in about half an hour when the lost supply returns or is replaced, but for that period, the system is under extreme stress.

Such events typically occur about 10 times per year and a fast responding reserve is needed for these rare events. National Grid pays a high price to provide this

wasn’t forthcoming – leading the business to review its investment in the UK. “This was a real concern.

British Gas resolved the issue by providing it with the necessary asset, in this case CHP and battery, which enabled it to go completely off grid. The grid is now providing power backup for the company and it is on a power purchase agreement, which is cheaper. This same facility is connected to the grid. It is a winwin scenario – National Grid gets the availability of the asset, the customer gets resilience, reliability and cost efficiency, and we get to ‘play on the market’ with a bigger asset,” comments Park.

There are other incentives for data centres to play their part in the distributed energy programme. “If you move to demand side response, you can trade additional revenues,” explains Park. “There are lots of

way to perform on-load testing and improve a site’s energy resilience.

Generators need to be run about once a month to ensure their reliability. ‘Off-load’ running can be damaging but ‘on-load’ running normally requires very expensive load banks and specialist technicians. However, demand side response can create a profitable route to running generators on load which negates the need for expensive and damaging testing programmes.

“There are some data centres already participating but it is early days,” Park reports. “We have to maintain the integrity of the business, which is very important, but we also have an opportunity to enhance capacity if there is room. For example, we have invested in battery storage for a site in the North, which delivered a pay back in just two years, while also providing

The end of passive energy consumption is under way with an increasing number of large energy consumers taking control of where and when they consume or export energy to give them a competitive edge

7-9%

Percentage of enrergy charges that can be avoided by reducing or eliminating consumption during Triads missioncriticalpower.uk

service. When making generators available for balancing frequency response, speed is also important, so British Gas is now developing assets such as battery storage which is available in seconds rather than minutes. There is an enhanced incentive to have these facilities available.

So how does it work? “Like many other aggregators, we have an energy control centre. This is linked to a trading business which has access to a range of assets such as the diesel generator set ‘in the basement’,” says Park. “Once ‘plugged in’ we can trade that energy on the capacity market…The prices go up and down. Whatever the best solution for our client, we can trade at that particular time.”

Citing the example of an international food processing company, he explains that, in the current climate, it is not straightforward for businesses to secure additional energy capacity.

The company, in this instance, wanted to increase production by 6MW but the extra capacity

variables but typically you can expect a minimum of around £180,000 net benefit per year. We are working hard to increase the capacity of generation. We believe this is the future and are investing £700m by 2020 in distributed energy. As part of this, we are investing in customers’ assets when they need it.”

Park acknowledges that there is a tendency to be ‘naturally protective’ of assets, particularly in data centres, where operation is mission critical. “We have addressed this, not least through increased resilience and reliability of backup generators,” continues Park.

Backup generators are rarely used as an emergency electricity supply and are often left idle outside of maintenance programmes. The flexibility of backup generators makes these assets ideal for demand side response and British Gas can remotely optimise the generator through its energy control centre.

The demand side response programme provides a zero cost

another backup facility for the customer’s site.”

Ultimately, the end of passive energy consumption is under way with an increasing number of large energy consumers taking control of where and when they consume or export energy to give them a competitive edge. British Gas can help data centres take control of their energy use by installing wireless sensors, energy efficiency measures and adding technologies such as solar panels, large-scale batteries and CHP, or by using backup generators to ‘play the market’. The result, Park claims, is reduced bills, a more secure energy supply and a lower carbon footprint.

He is calling for data centres to help secure the UK’s energy supply: “The Hinkley Point nuclear power station will represent 7% of the National Grid when it is finally built but it is a long way off and we will need a lot of Hinkley Points… We must do something; every business has a duty to consider this – we all have a role to play.” l April 2017 MCP

16

VIEWPOINT

A

re we Europeans piggy-backing North American data centre ‘Standards’? Let us consider this question for a moment. It is one I heard just the other day and the best answer is probably ‘yes’, with a small but growing ‘no’ caveat. At the root of the problem is widespread confusion as to what constitutes a ‘Standard’ since there is no authoritative definition.

I personally differentiate between a ‘Standard’ (upper-case S) and a design guide or best practice document by defining it as a national or international document agreed by widespread industry consent and, hopefully, being as non-commercial based as is possible. The last point is subjective, as standards’ bodies around the world depend upon expertise to draft their documents and that expertise nearly always must come from industry, and so the technical input always has a commercial agenda.

I am reliably informed that anything can be considered a standard if it is accepted by manufacturers and customers alike, and it does not even have to be written down formally.

However for the purposes of this article, we shall take the slighter higher moral ground and take standard to mean that issued under the ISO/IEC/ ANSI/EN/BS banners.

So, the first thing to clear up is that all the plant and materials used to construct data centre infrastructure are covered by individual standards and industry certifications – such as IEC for UPS performance or Eurovent certification for cooling plant such as CRACs and chillers etc.

The standards that we are most interested in for data centre design and operation are the design guides and best practices such as EN50600 and the EU Code of Conduct, so let’s look at what is available.

Our designs are based upon three primary considerations, all of which originate in the US: • Power quality requirements for ICT hardware • Thermal requirements for the inlet of same MCP April 2017

If we have our own European data centre design guides and standards, should we be using them more?

Ian Bitterlin provides a valuable insight into the standards, design guides and best practice currently available • Availability of ICT service through redundancy and concurrent maintainability The first, voltage fidelity, is only published in one place, the CEBMA/ITIC Curve in the ANSI Standard IEEE-1100 and 466, published in the Color Series ‘Emerald’ book. It is, by universal agreement, now outdated and being investigated

by The Green Grid and EPRI in the US. The ‘latest’ version is 1997, which shows a 20ms zerovoltage tolerance but, in the pursuit of energy efficient power supplies, is now much shorter and often regarded as dependent upon ICT load and, perhaps, influenced by the choice of single or dual corded hardware.

So, in the absence of anything else we are solely dependent upon The Green Grid/EPRI influencing an update of the ANSI IEEE standard.

It is highly unlikely that any European standards or industry

body would try to supplant this power quality requirement but there is a voltage tolerance curve in the European staticUPS standard, IEC 62040-3, that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the actual hardware that is now designed in the US and manufactured in the Far East, and probably never did. The increase in power supply efficiency (Energy Star, 90+ etc) has been dramatic in recent years although users must pay extra and many don’t.

The second consideration, thermal guidelines for temperature and humidity, is, again, only published in one place, the Thermal Guidelines of ASHRAE. This is issued and regularly revised by TC9.9, which constituted with a key membership of ICT hardware OEMs. Again, no European body would be likely to try to supplant the guidelines, not least because the drive for lower

energy cooling has been rapid.

Not all users are prepared to be early adopters and even the ‘allowable’ range of temperature and humidity in the 2011 version is still regarded by many users as avant-garde.

The third consideration, designing for availability with/without concurrent maintainability and fault tolerance, now has many protagonists but was started by the Uptime Institute, in the US. Still regarded by many, especially in the developing data centre markets, its ‘Tier Classification’ in four levels is often referred to even though UTI certification is rare (compared with the installed base) in Western and Northern Europe.

Worthy beginnings The Uptime Institute had noteworthy beginnings: The founders worked with IBM to ‘innovate’ the dual-cord missioncriticalpower.uk

17 There is a growing acceptance of eco-mode but the future could lie in silicon carbide IGBTs

Are we piggy-backing US data centre standards? load and then went one step further by publishing a series of white papers that described a classification system that suggested how to organise power and cooling to achieve concurrent maintainable (Tier III) and fault tolerant (Tier IV) infrastructure.

Having started the ball rolling, it has gradually refined its requirements and, although logical, it has some very particular features required from the emergency standby generators that other classification systems have not generally followed. TUI classification concentrates on power and cooling. The point is that it is a ‘private’ scheme, without peer review other than Uptime clients, that cannot be accredited or certified by anyone else. It is certainly a design guide, not a ‘Standard’, and it is not ‘European’ in the sense of our original question. missioncriticalpower.uk

It is generally lacking in detail (as opposed to the concepts) so it does travel well across continents and regulatory jurisdictions, perhaps except for the neutral conductor in European electrical systems.

TUI now goes further into certification of ‘operations’ – where most data centre failures are rooted.

Following on from TUI came the ANSI Standard issued by the ‘International’ Telecom Association, TIA-942, very much a US-based design guide. For many years, this more proscriptive and wordy document was based entirely on the four Tiers of TUI but more

recently they fell out (allegedly over third-party certification) and TIA942-A was reissued with a change in wording from ‘Tier I-IV’ to ‘Data Centre Type I-IV’, and removal of ‘with grateful thanks to TUI’ in the preface.

Because it is more proscriptive, less can be applied outside of North America but anyone could purchase a copy and, given the right qualifications, expertise, experience and PI insurance and, if acceptable to the client, they could audit a facility and issue a ‘Conformity to TIA-942’ statement – albeit under their own name, not TIA. BICSI also contains an

infrastructure design guide, 001, and is also issued as an ANSI Standard. With its roots in ICT cabling infrastructure, this is the least used in Europe for power and cooling but it is also based on four Levels, 1-4, once you ignore Level 0, which is a data centre without UPS or generator, so not being much of a facility in the first place.

Finally, for Europe, we have EN50600. This is largely now published in multiple parts and is a design guide covering the whole facility, not just power and cooling.

It is wholly European but is not yet fully distributed nor used. It is expensive to buy but »

There is a voltage tolerance curve in the European static-UPS standard, IEC 62040-3, that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the actual hardware that is now designed in the US and manufactured in the Far East April 2017 MCP

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VIEWPOINT

more importantly it has no established track record nor pedigree. It is nonproscriptive and some say this is a weakness.

Again, anyone can purchase a copy and audit a facility and issue a ‘conformity’ statement under their own name, if the client values that. One point worth noting (and I don’t know yet if this is a strength or weakness) is that it has four levels, 1-4, of ‘Availability Class’ in each of power, cooling and connectivity etc but does not apply the ‘lowest common denominator’ to the overall facility Class as does TUI. It also had in its first issue a problematic Cooling part in that some idiot convinced the editor that Class 4 dual-bus cooling was not possible so the original document had five levels, 1-4 plus ‘enhanced 4’. This is to be corrected in the future editions.

How it came to be published like that is still a mystery but it will all be alright in the end.

There is one silly little problem that can’t be corrected and that

MCP April 2015

is the target thermal guidelines should be included but the EN system won’t reference a source like ASHRAE as it is, at worst, a ‘foreign’ trade association and, at best, a document that is regularly updated.

So, we DO have a European design guide all of our own making and we should use it more. The advantage for us in the UK is that it is first written and published in English, so it reads well.

Common features Have you spotted the common feature between Uptime, TIA and BICSI? The common feature is Four Levels/Types/ Classes and the answer is simple – there are only four possible architectures in a power system that feed a dual cord load: 1. Single path without redundancy so that failure of any component or path or maintenance shut-down requires a load shut-down 2. Single path with redundant components making some

For Europe, we have EN50600... It is wholly European but is not yet fully distributed nor used.

It is expensive to buy but more importantly it has no established track record

maintenance concurrent 3. Dual path, one active path with redundant components plus one wrap-around passive path for fast recovery 4. Dual path, both active (with or without redundant components) with separate paths and firecells etc Lastly, we do have an international ISO/IEC that the UK has an input into, for ‘Resource Effective Data Centres’, namely ISO/IEC 30134 in multi-parts. This will adopt (sometimes with changes/ edits) the data centre metrics written by industry association, particularly from The Green Grid, such as PUE (now ISO 30134-2), and water, carbon, renewable energy, reuse of waste heat etc. Even the EU CoC (not in any way a design guide) and TGG Data Centre Maturity Model are being adopted in the wider ‘Standards’ world as technical reports etc.

As long as all this work remains non-commercial we shall be well served. l

missioncriticalpower.uk

ENERGY STORAGE

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‘Incubator’ to drive innovation in battery technology Nicolas Evanno, who leads the development of future battery technologies at Saft’s new technology incubator in Bordeaux, France, explains how the unit has taken inspiration from the fast-moving world of startups to create the next generation of batteries

Chemistry Based in Bordeaux, the incubator is made of three teams. The Chemistry team aims to unlock greater power, higher safety and faster charging through new and upcoming electrochemistry such as lithium-sulfur, sodium-ion, lithium titanate and solid state technologies.

It is also looking at process improvements and novel technologies to improve production.

Systems The Systems team is working on battery management and integration. One example is communicating batteries, where we already have prototypes that enable missioncriticalpower.uk

customers anywhere in the world to check the condition of their lithium-ion energy storage systems in, say, Costa Rica, or to wirelessly connect to backup batteries on board French trains. The next step is to reduce the need for service visits by developing the ability to wirelessly send firmware updates to batteries in remote sites.

Mechanical The Mechanical team is developing packaging structures, connectors, cooling systems and safety features. It takes inspiration from mature industries such as the food and beverage sector. One example is to use plastic as an alternative to aluminium casing on cells. It has potential for major savings in production costs and weight if the right level of safety and mechanical performance can be achieved.

While battery technology is a relatively narrow field it is used in many sectors, offering numerous opportunities to take technology from one field and apply it to another.

The incubator touches on all the industry segments and applications that Saft serves, whether in civil electronics, transport, telecom and grid, space and defence or industrial standby. Through the ‘Incubator’, the company’s engineers are encouraged to be creative and try new things, often working closely with customers.

Everyone asks about the next game-changer for battery technology. I see it as the ability to commercialise and industrialise technologies to

SAFT

E

xpectations of batteries have never been higher as the world turns towards connected devices, renewable energy and electric transport. Having seen how startups can take blue sky thinking to commercial reality fast through technology incubators, Saft established its own incubator in 2016 to work alongside its mainstream research centre, bridging the gap between fundamental research and close-toproduction prototyping.

The objective is to develop next-generation technology, develop higher performance and more functionality while paving the way for manufacture and integration into applications. To achieve this, the company’s engineers are trying out new technologies and borrowing from other industries.

Clear battery casing and a 3D printed battery prototype, developed in Saft’s incubator in Bordeaux

deliver more power and reach higher levels of safety while driving down production costs.

By learning from other industries and battery applications, we’re finding new ways to improve batteries for customers, whether they are specifying a battery to back up a data centre, power the search for life on Mars or establish remote condition monitoring via the Internet of Things. l April 2017 MCP

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STANDBY POWER

Tackling the risk posed by diesel ‘bugs’ in standby generators Operators may find that the fuel in diesel standby generators that have been standing unused for long periods of time is no longer fit for purpose. Gavin Donoghue, fluid analysis manager at Finning, outlines the risks that this can present to mission critical systems, as well as discussing practical steps that can be taken to help solve this issue

O

ne way to mitigate any potential risk of a shortage in electricity supply is to ensure a reliable, backup power supply is in place, typically through the use of standby diesel generator sets. In this day and age, it is extremely rare for a mission critical application to not have a standby generator installed.

By nature, standby generators will operate occasionally, which means that the fuel required to run those sets could have been stored for many weeks, months or even years.

As a result, because such MCP April 2017

systems are commissioned on a standby basis and will only come online in the event of an emergency, they are not in regular use and may not be subject to the same stringent maintenance regimes as other capital plant. This should be a key concern for operators, as failure to maintain modern standby generators effectively can result in components failing to operate correctly when they finally do need to be used.

Diagnosis: diesel bugs During this time diesel fuel can become contaminated, which

can cause serious damage on startup to the generator’s high pressure fuel system – potentially affecting the engine’s performance and, at worst, its ability to start up in the event of a power failure.

Diesel is an organic fuel, providing an ideal environment for fungi, yeast and bacteria (ie diesel ‘bugs’) to develop.

Dissolved water allows for germination, while the carbon present acts as food. Finally, the oxygen, sulphur and other trace elements in the fuel enable this bacteria to grow.

It is important to note

that diesel bugs and microorganisms found in tanks do not grow in the fuel itself but are found in the water that may exist in the tank through condensation or contamination.

If water is present in the system it does not necessarily mean that diesel bugs are guaranteed but this water should be removed to prevent germination.

Diesel fuel could also potentially have been contaminated by dirt ingress or rust, which can lead to a range of problems including filter blockages and the premature missioncriticalpower.uk

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Laboratory analysis will help verify that fuel is fit for purpose wear of fuel injectors or pumps.

Should a backup generator fail to start because of these reasons, the financial repercussions could be significant.

An increasing problem in recent years has been the rise of low-sulphur diesel fuels due to EU fuel directives. The reduction of sulphur-related emissions is, naturally, to be encouraged. However, sulphur acts as a natural pesticide, and so reducing sulphur content in diesel increases the opportunity for bacterial growth. Indeed, bio-diesel has created a highly attractive environment for diesel bugs and, once water is present – even in the smallest quantities – this problem develops even further.

Curing diesel bugs There are two recommended ways of treating this problem.

The first is fuel polishing, which cleans stored fuel through a specialist filtration system. This is more suited to environments where diesel bugs are clearly evident. Fuel is cycled through the system, neutralising and missioncriticalpower.uk

removing the bacterial content, capturing contaminants and removing any water. The fuel is then returned to the tank, ready to use.

For environments where water has been detected but there is little evidence of bacterial development, a water soaker can be a cost-effective solution, which involves a desiccant to absorb any freestanding water.

To help restrict any water from returning, efforts should be made to identify the cause of water entry and address this as a priority.

Prevention The old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ is very relevant for the issue of diesel bugs and there are a number of steps that can be taken to avoid the need for fuel polishing or other remedial action.

First, ensure fuel is purchased from a reliable source.

Understanding your supply chain is important to ensure you have the confidence that the source fuel has been stored and transported effectively. »

Delta’s data centre nightmare To illustrate why a reliable backup power system is so critical, especially when companies are already confident in their electricity infrastructure, it is worth examining a recent example of system failure.

In August last year, there was a stark example of why backup power and regular system checks can save even the biggest customers headaches, when what started as a minor problem at a data centre grounded one of the world’s biggest commercial airline fleets.

On Monday 8 August, 2016 an uninterrupted power source switch at Delta Airlines’ main data centre suffered a small electrical fire. This caused knock-on problems that cut power to the entire facility.

The company says it managed to stabilise the power quickly but several critical systems didn’t switch over to the backups. In the wake of the incident, Delta also found that about 300 of its 7,000 servers were not actually configured to run on backup power.

While it is easy to point fingers in the wake of an incident like this and say what should have been done, running maintenance checks on backup power is something that is easy for companies – especially those operating their data infrastructure internally like Delta – to delay.

Engineers eventually managed to get the data centre running again, but while it was down every single Delta plane across the world was grounded. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or massively delayed. Between compensation, lost revenue and the damage to its reputation, the incident will likely cost Delta tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

April 2017 MCP

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STANDBY POWER

Finning’s state-ofthe-art laboratory in Leeds tests more than 225,000 fluid samples each year

Tips for preventing diesel bugs To prevent the issue of diesel bugs, Finning has prepared the following top tips: • Purchase fuel from reliable sources • Ensure systems are well-maintained, within OEM guidelines to minimise water ingress • Use OEM grade fuel filters • Introduce a periodic fuel sampling regime as part of your engine service schedule • Keep fuel tanks as full as possible to reduce the possibility of water condensation • Where possible, regularly drain standing water from the bottom of the tank • Store fuel in a cool place

Laboratory analysis will help verify the fuel is fit for purpose.

Secondly, make sure fuel systems and tanks are well maintained and work to OEM guidelines. Particular attention should be given to fuel lines and tank caps to prevent water ingress. Where possible, regularly drain standing water from the bottom of storage tank or source tank.

Next, introduce a periodic fuel-sampling regime as part of your preventative maintenance programme. Laboratory fuel analysis details the suitability of the fuel as well as its condition.

This practice identifies the presence of water, bacteria and contaminates that can block filters and results in fuel system issues.

MCP April 2017

Benefits of fuel analysis It is clear that modern diesel backup generators demand the highest quality fuel. Many organisations try to ensure this by implementing a scheduled maintenance programme.

However, this rigid approach to servicing fails to offer a predictive means of identifying any potential maintenance issues, anticipating any problems that could reveal themselves in the future.

Alternatively, implementing a comprehensive fluid analysis plan – covering not only diesel for standby generators but also monitoring essential fluids for a whole host of critical equipment, including sampling oil and coolant – can realise a significant range of benefits,

while also providing visibility of vital asset performance and component health.

A clear advantage is reduced maintenance costs. Some companies may be tempted to avoid the risk of diesel bugs by regularly polishing the fuel or introducing additives but this can result in unnecessary expense. Servicing equipment when required, rather than adhering to a rigid maintenance schedule, can considerably reduce total cost of ownership.

As well as the obvious benefit of minimising risk and the consequences of a standby generator failing to come online, equipment life is also optimised and any repair and maintenance required can be scheduled for a date and time convenient to the operator, ensuring any unscheduled downtime is avoided.

Only changing fuel or indeed oil when it actually needs replacing ensures the value of the fluid is optimised, plus also minimises the cost of disposal.

Finning tests more than 225,000 fluid samples every year at its state-of-the-art laboratory in Leeds. The team provides expert advice on which fluids can and should be analysed and make practical suggestions based on their findings. l

Laboratory fuel analysis details the suitability of the fuel as well as its condition. This practice identifies the presence of water, bacteria and contaminates that can result in fuel system issues missioncriticalpower.uk

POWER MONITORING

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T

here is increasing pressure within vital facilities to ensure availability of critical systems and protect electrical infrastructure while at the same time reducing costs.

For a facilities manager or site director responsible for providing power, the ideal situation would be to know in advance when problems are going to occur, and to be equipped to deal with them before they happen.

A new tool can help tackle these challenges. Powerscout offers the next generation of web-based permanent monitoring solutions for critical power systems to enable pro-active maintenance, eliminate unplanned shut downs, and avoid the potential for fires due to overloaded or faulty systems.

The software integrates the data from the measuring and residual current monitoring devices on site. Most importantly, it generates clear and detailed visualisations and status reports not only for Bender equipment but also third-party measuring devices.

Information overload Is there such a thing as too much information? The simple answer is that there can be if it prevents site operators from clearly seeing the status of their systems.

Bender measuring devices monitor electrical systems, plant, electrical networks and other facilities to ensure that they are safe and do not shut down. Units from some other manufacturers perform similar sorts of functions but if the amount of measuring data is too extensive it can be extremely difficult to evaluate.

In effect it can create an information overload.

Powerscout turns that mass of information into usable data that can help shape maintenance actions and drive improvement in service and availability.

Moisture, ageing, dirt, mechanical damage or errors created by fluctuations

missioncriticalpower.uk

Predicting problems: knowledge is power Teams responsible for electrical system performance and resilience need to look at how technology can deliver a solution that enables them to predict when and where issues will occur.

Bender UK managing director Gareth Brunton highlights the latest development aimed at tackling this challenge in electricity, voltage and temperature can all harm installations. This software tool provides an intelligent way to ensure maximum availability of installations and avoid system failures by having predictive maintenance in place.

Through permanent monitoring, the system gives facilities managers and operators an accurate real-time picture of the entire data for single or multiple site locations, delivering all the information they need direct to their desktop or mobile device, with all measured values automatically and continuously saved.

It supports the analysis of the device data and documents the condition of each electrical installation, providing a

constantly up-to-date picture and record of the state of a user’s systems, its availability, fault trends and potential issues.

Data can be accessed remotely only by authorised site staff or service partners through secure web interfaces.

Users simply open the browser via a tablet, smartphone, laptop, or computer, log in, and select the required measuring devices and measured quantities.

The software can be individually adjusted to the customer’s system and monitoring requirements to create a precisely tailored solution for each customer.

Most importantly, the automated report on residual currents and power quality forms the basis for verifying the

integrity of the system without switch-off and is designed to fulfil the requirements of IEC 60364-6 (periodic verification of low-voltage electrical installations) At the same time, the software enables facilities managers to track and manage energy use more effectively.

The recorded data from devices allows users to compare the power system performance of different buildings or facilities.

In short, the comprehensive and continuously updated database provided by Powerscout is a quick and simple route to identifying the causes of malfunctions and maximising availability of power infrastructure and critical systems. l April 2017 MCP

24

DATA CENTRE DESIGN

Developing an effective strategy for testing – right from the start The testing of critical infrastructure needs to be considered from the inception of a data centre design project and shouldn’t be viewed as something that is performed ‘at the end’.

But what exactly constitutes a ‘good’ approach to testing? Louise Frampton reports

Z

ac Potts, associate director at Sudlows, warns that testing is a crucial part of the data centre design process and should not be viewed as something that ‘happens at the end of a project’.

Speaking at Data Centre Summit, London, he pointed out that it is not only about proving resilience, reliability and availability but also about providing confidence that the systems installed will “work as intended, when they need to”.

Systems will be engineered MCP April 2017

to match the client’s needs but to people unfamiliar with a project some systems may appear to be over engineered, while others may appear to have been aggressively ‘value engineered’. Early consideration of how a system will be tested can help uncover shortfalls in design.

“You need to understand the limitations before you start testing a facility,” says Potts.

Understanding the basis of the design to be tested will: • Avoid failing tests • Possibly identify to the

design team unintentional consequences of design decisions Initial testing is required for ‘proof of operation’, while ongoing testing ensures ‘continual confidence’.

However, Potts points out that there is a misconception that ‘testing happens after everything else’. A good testing regime should start at inception, he advises.

“Although the bulk of testing is carried out at the end of the project, a good approach starts early on. When specifications

are not as thorough as they could be, you need to look at how the systems can be improved,” comments Potts.

“At Sudlows, there is a dedicated team that is focused on testing and commissioning.

I know that the sooner that I can sit down with that team and go through the project the better it will be. It is much easier and less costly to change something on paper than trying to resolve an issue when the project has started.

Having this opportunity is invaluable.” missioncriticalpower.uk

25 Factory visits and witnessing Outlining the stages of a thorough testing and validation approach, Potts explains that this should start with ‘pretesting’ as part of due diligence, by interacting with the supply chain, visiting factories and witnessing potential or specified systems.

Testing before the system is ordered can result in less inertia against changing manufacturer if the test performs poorly. This also gives an opportunity to see the support structure and to see what the manufacturer does in terms of their end of line testing.

Factory acceptance testing The second stage of factory acceptance testing takes place once an order has been placed. “This is essentially an ‘out of context test’ and is an opportunity to do things you

Early consideration of how systems will be tested will enable the risks associated with testing to be minimised.

Furthermore, if a piece of plant is identified as requiring replacement as part of ongoing maintenance, thought needs to be given as to how the new replacement will be tested. In the case of modular systems, if the facility is seeking to expand the UPS system, will every module need to be approved as it is expanded? How will it be tested? This needs careful consideration as soon as possible, comments Potts.

So which systems need to be considered and will they require consideration in isolation or as part of a larger system? Data centres are complex, containing multiple systems each with multiple interactions and dependencies, and this needs to be understood from a testing perspective, Potts points out. missioncriticalpower.uk

witness your actual systems in operation, on your site and is an ‘in context test’. You will be limited to what you can do on site, but the primary purpose is for the manufacturer to ensure the system is set up correctly so that any issues are found and resolved. It is important to understand what tests are proposed, what proof will be provided, and to decide which, if any, tests should be witnessed.

Systems acceptance testing “This is when we start the testing stages at the end of the project. This offers the best opportunity to witness your actual systems in operation, on your site, in context. Because of this, it is important to identify dependencies / interactions prior to testing. At this stage it is not about ‘commissioning’, so the expectation should be to pass,” says Potts. He explains

• Observation of normal operation and under failure at peak design conditions “This may include simulation of mains failure, for example, so that you can watch the systems that aren’t UPS backed lose power. You can see the systems that are UPS backed continue to run, as well as witness the generator starting and transfer switches in operation.

It enables you to appreciate exactly what will happen in this scenario.

“It is not just about mains failures, however. It may include simulating a fire alarm and seeing how the systems operate. Do any systems shut down? Does any shut-down compromise the system? It is an invaluable opportunity to learn about what is going to be your data centre, from an operational perspective, and what will happen during these events,” comments Potts.

Some of the common

Some of the common challenges encountered relate to the fact that, despite our early planning, the bulk of the testing occurs at the end of a project when there is restricted time and additional pressure to get the project completed may not be able to do on site.

“For example, this may include overloading the system or putting the system in environmental chambers to simulate conditions that would be difficult to re-create on site,” explains Potts.

“The key to factory acceptance testing is to understand what the manufacturer or supplier is offering and to ensure it aligns with what you want to see.

“Prior to the test, you will need to have a clear idea of what parameters will be tested, what will constitute a pass or fail, and what you will do if something doesn’t pass – how will this impact on the project?”

Manufacturers’ commissioning testing This is the first opportunity to

that systems acceptance testing is concerned with: • Development of test scripts in line with the design • Testing normal operation including peak operation • Demonstrating failures which should be tolerated within the design Integrated systems testing This is the point after all the systems are on site, commissioned and individually tested. This testing stage is all about witnessing the entire system in operation, onsite, with all its interactions and dependencies. It will include: • Simulations of various failures which should be tolerated within design.

• Consequential failures and impacts • Monitored, logged, and recorded testing

challenges encountered relate to the fact that, despite our early planning, the bulk of the testing occurs at the end of a project when there is restricted time and additional pressure to get the project completed.

“With testing for data centres, the element of the unknown can catch people out,” warns Potts. “You can allow contingency time for the tests to ‘fail’, but how many tests will fail is unknown; you could be unlucky.

“However, you can allow a sensible order of testing so that by the time it has got so far down the line, the chances of a common failure happening is unlikely. It is also important to appreciate all the interactions and dependencies. Most systems in a data centre do not operate on their own.

“If you are looking to » April 2017 MCP

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DATA CENTRE DESIGN

prove the UPS’ operation, for example, it needs to be commissioned, set up and ready to accept load, but you also need: controllable step load banks, cooling for the UPS and controlled simulation of the design conditions, cooling for the batteries (and simulation of the environmental conditions), output switchgear, meters and BMS connectivity.

“One area that is often a stumbling block is BMS systems testing. To commission it properly you need all the systems that feed into the BMS to be commissioned so the level of dependency is high.”

He explains that it can be proven simultaneously with all other testing – proving the BMS on its own would require repeating a lot of conditions which will have occurred naturally during previous testing, eg fault status monitoring.

Risk of testing vs the risk of not testing At the design stage, consideration needs to be given to how future testing

will be achieved to minimise intrusive works – it will involve balancing the ‘risk of testing vs the risk of not testing’.

Full mains failure simulation is recommended on an annual basis, but Sudlows is also seeing an increase in the use of noninvasive and predictive testing approaches – such as thermal imaging, lab analysis of fluids (ie oils, coolants and chilled water), power analysis and review of BMS trend data.

“Ultimately, data centres are not ‘fit and forget’ – initial testing will provide confidence that the systems will operate as intended.

“However, ongoing testing and maintenance will be required to maintain this confidence for many years,” Potts concludes. l

Zac Potts recently gave an insight into testing strategies at Data Centre Summit, London

You can allow contingency time for the tests to ‘fail’ but how many tests will fail is unknown; you could be unlucky. However, you can allow a sensible order of testing so that by the time it has got so far down the line, the chances of a common failure happening is unlikely

The accurate simulation of load within the data centre space is essential to allow testing to properly represent the final facility. CFD modelling, as shown above, can identify the best configuration to match the proposed IT loads

MCP April 2017

missioncriticalpower.uk

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

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hile energy prices fell in the past two years, in reality rising non-commodity cost cancelled out final bill savings, according to Vodafone UK energy manager Paul Garland. Policy costs continue to rise and energy prices are both on an upward trend and increasingly volatile.

Moreover, the energy system is undergoing systemic change.

“At some point in time, this will all come to a crunch,” says Garland.

Maximising energy productivity is therefore a key focus for the year ahead.

Vodafone spends “tens of millions” on energy per annum and Garland is acutely aware of the need to mitigate rising costs. But the core business comes first.

“Energy is a big number but it is not the main factor.

What we deliver for people is an incredibly important part of national infrastructure, including the infrastructure of the energy system itself.

Therefore we need energy – and we have to be über secure and reliable,” says Garland.

The company therefore locks in plenty of power and maintains lots of backup.

But Garland says it has also developed a “programmatic” approach to exploiting energy trading opportunities as they arise.

Rapid response That translates to embedding pre-defined rules of engagement throughout the company and executing at speed, he explains.

Given wholesale markets are illiquid and can give off “strange” signals, the ability to execute at speed can often trump other hedging factors, says Garland. He explains that the telco is working to add intelligence and automation to its operations to extract the maximum from the energy it buys – and avoid addressable non-commodity costs.

He says the firm is reducing demand where possible and applying artificial

missioncriticalpower.uk

Ring in the changes to remain resilient Vodafone UK energy manager Paul Garland talks to Brendan Coyne about the energy challenges facing the telecoms industry intelligence to manage thermal environments for its technology. That is, “a self-learning [algorithm] that anticipates and does the best it can” to maximise available resource. Many people would define that as being energy efficient. But Garland thinks energy productivity is a better yardstick. Maximising productivity, says Garland, enables firms to eliminate excess cost, which he thinks should be a key focus.

“Energy productivity with measurement of excess cost leads to improving competitiveness for the business and customer satisfaction,” he says.

“If you can bring those things together you are sure to deliver good outcomes for both customers and the business.”

He acknowledges that may sound “a little bit like corporate speak”. So he unpicks the measurement aspect using a Bullseye

analogy. “Basically saying ‘this is what you could have had’ if you had worked differently. I find that a very good way of putting across the lost value in the business,” says Garland. “I use it when suppliers perform less efficiently than they should.’”

Garland says the same rules are applied within Vodafone.

“Most people use the term benchmarking, I prefer to cut to the chase and use the term excess cost, because it is above what it could, or should, have been.”

Security threat?

Ultimately, says Garland, all of these improvements and efficiencies are subservient to the core business – delivering a robust and resilient communications infrastructure. So while National Grid has played down the risk of supply interruptions, that confidence is not necessarily reflected in

market sentiment. Garland says Vodafone has to prepare for all eventualities.

“We would be foolish if we were not concerned – because we have to cater for such contingencies,” he says. “We have resiliency plans in place, but you have to worry; you can’t afford not to.”

Systemic changes mean businesses must reevaluate whether those plans remain fit for purpose, says Garland.

“You constantly have to review resilience; to test what is in place will deliver within the environment that is coming into play, not just what has been,” he says.

“It would be wrong for us to put our heads in the sand.” ● This article forms part of The Energyst’s Directors’ Report 2017.

To download a copy for free, visit: theenergyst.com April 2017 MCP

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IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Is there an alternative to financing options for critical infrastructure, which also avoids the need for capital outlay?

A new approach has piqued the interest of large users of critical power and cooling, seeking to ‘liberate their budgets’, according to Burland Energy.

Louise Frampton reports

Mission critical infrastructure: why buy the cow?

I

n 2015, a group of individuals from infrastructure, finance and insurance industries identified a market need for delivering mission critical power on a ‘pay-per-use’ basis to help data centres improve their power infrastructures’ efficiencies and costs – reflecting a move to an ‘on demand’ economy.

This vision culminated in the development of a disruptive approach to the specification of critical infrastructure – avoiding capital investment and asset depreciation, while focusing attention on energy usage. At the end of the millennium, there was a move

MCP April 2017

away from the ‘comparison of products and features’, to discussion of ‘total cost of ownership and value’.

More recently, a number of vendors – including Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Hewlett Packard – have driven demand for the ‘everything-as-a-service’ trend and data centres are very accustomed to this business model. While this has been

software driven, the markets’ demand to include other solutions is also growing at a rapid pace.

There is a special focus on various ‘support systems’ which represent a massive share of annual IT budgets (80% according to research firm IDC. [https://tinyurl.com/m6eozwr]) By replicating this approach for mission critical applications,

Geneva-based Burland Energy SA, is aiming to move data centre customers from ‘owning’ infrastructure, such as UPS systems and cooling systems, to becoming ‘users’.

End to TCO? Risto Thurén, the company’s president, explains that the company’s ‘Facilitate’ concept aims to ‘liberate budgets’ from

Rather than paying fixed monthly payments (as is the case for traditional renting solutions), monthly billing is based upon a fixed rate per kWh consumed – just like any other utility provider missioncriticalpower.uk

Rather than paying fixed monthly payments (as is the case for

29 A number of vendors – including Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Hewlett Packard – have driven demand for the ‘everything-as-a-service’ trend and data centres are very accustomed to this business model manufacturers – with the aim of providing a pay-per-use, onestop-shop for mission critical infrastructure. The solutions may incorporate power conditioning, generators, power distribution, monitoring and management, as well as heat extraction.

Customers need to know the initial current load, anticipated growth in load requirement and the time period (to support that growth). These parameters enable the company to provide a cost per unit kWh. However, future growth in capacity may also be supported, with solutions such as modular UPS, for example.

After due diligence and contractual obligations are completed, the OEM partners will install and commission the equipment required to provide power conditioning (UPSaaS), heat extraction (COOLaaS), or the entire infrastructure (Facilitate).

Burland Energy only invoices the user for their

this concept moves all related costs from CAPEX (capital expenditure) to OPEX (operating expense) – which is a significant benefit, since these expenses differ in their respective treatment for tax purposes.

“Why buy the cow just to have some milk?” asks Thurén.

“We are transferring customers from being passive owners to efficient users.”

The first offering to the market, under the ‘Facilitate’ concept, included the power conditioning (UPSaaS) services, followed by heat extraction (COOLaaS) services, more recently in February 2017. While the business model has focused initially on data centres, all mission critical facilities have the potential to adopt this approach.

Burland Energy partners with a variety of manufacturers – including Active Power, AEG Power Solutions, Stulz along with four other, still undisclosed, world-class

capital investments by selling the output of the assets, instead of assets themselves. This is different from a ‘leasing’ option, he points out. Rather than paying fixed monthly payments (as is the case for traditional renting solutions), monthly billing is based upon a fixed rate per kWh consumed – just like any other utility provider. Selling ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ (TCO) belongs to the past, in his view.

The kWh price includes everything – the required products, transportation, installation, maintenance, service, spare parts and batteries for the entire duration of the contract. Furthermore, missioncriticalpower.uk

consumption and retains ownership of the assets at all time. There is a minimum consumption stipulated as part of the contract and once this has been exceeded the user can choose to either continue with the service or return the equipment. However, purchasing of the asset is not an option.

There has already been significant interest from the market and this has included banks, chemical companies, as well as food and beverage industries, according to Jonas Enström, director at Burland Energy.

“These are large corporations that have a lot of money, but see the benefit of liberating their budgets from assets that do not directly add value,” he comments.

“The decision is no longer being made by the purchasing manager – we see it increasingly becoming a financial decision made higher up within the organisation.” l

Burland Energy claims that, with the new IFRS-16 accounting standards, UPSaaS, COOLaaS and Facilitate will become an even more attractive option for customers.

Below is the company’s example comparing a ¤300,000 UPS acquired directly (black line) and UPSaaS (red line) without any accounting benefits and lost opportunity costs.

Cumulative costs per year

¤600,000 ¤500,000 ¤400,000 ¤300,000 ¤200,000

Purchase UPSaaS

¤100,000 ¤0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

April 2017 MCP

30

TESTING & MAINTENANCE

The critical importance of battery maintenance for UPS Even if a UPS battery test result shows up as being ‘good’, this does not always guarantee the batteries will be resilient enough to support the UPS at its full load autonomy as it was originally designed for. Chris Kitiris from PPS Power discusses some important considerations and strategies to ensure optimum reliability

W

e are all reminded to test our smoke alarms at home – a simple check which takes a few seconds and could save lives.

Now consider a UPS system with one, or multiple strings, of valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) type backup batteries located in an environment where the critical load it supports may be for an operating theatre in a hospital special care baby unit or a server room controlling traffic systems for a flight control tower. If the backup batteries to this UPS were to fail on a MCP April 2017

mains blackout, the UPS would undoubtedly fail and drop its load. The consequence of this occurring could potentially be considered life-threatening.

Regular UPS maintenance is always recommended (whatever the age of the UPS installation) and, more often than not, a reputable UPS service provider will include a UPS battery test as part of its maintenance schedule.

However, even if a UPS battery test result shows up as being ‘good’, this does not always guarantee the batteries will be resilient enough to

support the UPS at its full load autonomy as it was originally designed for. There are several reasons for this, which will be discussed in this article.

The UPS battery test duration may only be for one minute or a few minutes. In reality, the UPS may need to support the load for a longer period on mains failure. A deep battery test (where the UPS is set up to carry out a battery test for a much longer duration) is a possible option but most UPS systems do not offer ‘controlled deep battery tests’ and will drop the load during such a missioncriticalpower.uk

31 test if there is an issue with the batteries. The risk of dropping the load under these conditions is like forcing the UPS (while protecting a critical load) to operate from its battery supply by simply manually opening the mains input breaker to the UPS – very risky indeed.

One or more ‘bad’ battery blocks (usually with high internal impedance) will often, under sufficient load conditions drag a whole string of batteries down and the UPS will not be supported. The UPS may detect and ‘see’ the DC circuit from the battery string as being ‘open circuit’.

Quite often, a battery fuses open alarm on a UPS display is a sign that one or more battery blocks have become open circuit. As an analogy to this scenario, consider a metal chain with one of its links broken. The chain will of course be considerably weakened and break in half across the broken link if you

batteries when exposed to such high temperatures (even for short periods of time) is irreversible and in most cases, can cause other problems (leakage and swelling etc).

If the UPS is in the same location as the batteries, the heat output from the UPS can also contribute to rising ambient temperatures and battery degradation.

UPS battery management is essential with the UPS system being totally dependent on its battery backup if it is to perform as required.

The maximum lifespan of a UPS VRLA type battery will vary. Most manufacturers will quote a maximum battery life based on optimum environmental conditions. The reality is that most installations are far from perfect when it comes to battery environments.

The operating temperature has a significant effect on battery life and performance. At low temperatures, the performance

By checking (or monitoring) the impedance of each battery block, any ‘bad’ blocks (ie batteries with a high internal impedance) can be identified and replaced ahead of any imminent failure

A reputable UPS service provider will include a UPS battery test as part of its maintenance schedule missioncriticalpower.uk

were to apply a sufficient pulling force (or load) across it.

An increase in the UPS’ output load or changes in the ambient temperature between maintenance visits could also affect the performance of the batteries when they are placed under load.

Annual planned maintenance visits (ie one maintenance visit per year) are certainly riskier with the end user unknowingly compromising their critical load protection. There have been many incidences where an air conditioning unit located in a UPS battery room has failed over the course of 12 months and gone unnoticed.

With no climate control in place, the room temperature can often reach as high as 40°C. The damage to the UPS

(capacity) of the battery is reduced; at high temperatures, the battery ages more rapidly and reaches the end of life more quickly.

If the UPS charger float voltage is not set correctly (or the UPS charger is faulty), this may also cause irreversible internal damage to its batteries.

Maximising UPS battery autonomy By checking (or monitoring) the impedance of each battery block, any ‘bad’ blocks (ie batteries with a high internal impedance) can be identified and replaced ahead of any imminent failure. The greater the frequency between PM visits, the lower the risk of having a failing UPS system when you need it. » April 2017 MCP

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TESTING & MAINTENANCE The greater the frequency between PM visits, the lower the risk of having a failing UPS system when you need it

UPS battery installations should ideally be in designated UPS battery rooms with adequate ventilation and suitable air conditioning units to boot.

Daily round robin checks will eliminate the risk of any failing air conditioning unit going unnoticed (or if they are linked to a BMS system – even better). Introduce sufficient air flow and climate conditioning in areas where the UPS and its batteries are in the same room.

The air conditioning unit is required more for controlling the battery environment than for the UPS. Even with the air conditioning unit set to maintain the room temperature at, say, 20°C, the ambient temperature around the batteries can typically rise to 26°C and above with heat contribution from the batteries, UPS, servers and other systems typically found in an MER. missioncriticalpower.uk

I know of at least one data centre in Bedfordshire that went as far as fitting an array of small AC powered fans on the front doors of each battery cabinet in a desperate attempt to keep the UPS batteries cool.

Battery strings installed on open racks always fare better, are more accessible for servicing and inspection purposes than ones built inside a UPS (or UPS battery cabinet) which can restrict air flow and trap heat. It would be a nice

Annual planned maintenance visits (ie one maintenance visit per year) are riskier, with the end user unknowingly compromising their critical load protection.

There have been many incidences where an air conditioning unit located in a UPS battery room has failed over the course of 12 months and gone unnoticed

idea if UPS manufacturers designed their UPS battery cabinets with adequate provision for air flow and better temperature control.

If you are protecting a critical load with a single UPS (ie with no redundancy), opt for a battery bank comprising multiple battery strings configured in parallel (provided of course that your UPS can accept this kind of configuration). The cost mounts up but at least should one string fail, the remaining battery strings will hold-up the UPS on mains failure.

On ageing batteries or installations where there has been a known history of environmental temperature issues, it may be worth considering carrying out a battery load bank test.

This may involve placing the UPS system on external bypass (which means your load could be subjected to any flaws in the mains supply) or without its battery bank connected, continue operating with the ‘load not protected’ for the duration of the load bank test.

If the site has backup diesel generators installed, it would probably make good sense to supply the load via the UPS on generator power rather than relying on the supply from national grid. However, there are risks involved in switching supplies.

The reason is that, if the UPS has faulty batteries in the first place, during the UPS feed changeover (ie from normal mains supply to generator supply), there will be a ‘break period’ (usually less than 20 seconds) that needs to be bridged by the UPS operating on its batteries. If there is an issue with the UPS batteries, the UPS may drop the load before the generator starts up and stabilises. Therefore, the supply to your critical load will be at risk.

In conclusion, a UPS system will only be fit for purpose if its batteries are in good working order. Without its DC power backup, a UPS system simply acts as a ‘mains conditioner’ and nothing more. l April 2017 MCP

TESTING & MAINTENANCE

33

Emergency backup systems need to be ‘kept in shape’ so they work when called on

Testing times: will the power come on when it counts?

Testing and maintenance can mean the difference between well-functioning or failing emergency power applications. Faced with economic pressures, are mission critical organisations giving testing and maintenance the investment it deserves?

I

n the worst-case scenario, inadvertent power supply failure can be a matter of life or death. In hospitals, for example, outages may mean the loss of respiratory devices and other critical equipment for patients in intensive care, neonatal or cardiac units; or the loss of life-support systems and monitoring equipment during high-risk surgical procedures.

Healthcare providers were recently reminded of the importance of ensuring the reliability of their emergency power systems when the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast experienced a 10-minute delay in one of its backup generators starting up during power cuts.

The investigation into how this happened and whether it had any impact on patient care is currently ongoing (source: BBC, 28 February 2017).

Data centres are another missioncriticalpower.uk

industry example where there is a need for reliable emergency power and where the financial costs associated with downtime can be extremely high.

However, suppliers of control systems for decentralised power production often meet customers who do not follow industry recommendations on how to test and maintain their emergency power plants.

“Perhaps it is a consequence of the economic crisis, but we often talk to companies that simply skip testing and maintenance of their emergency power plant, yet this is crucial,” comments Henrik Rødtnes, from DEIF UK. Emergency power systems need to be ready to take over power at all times, and when the power returns the emergency power system must transfer the load back to the grid without interruptions and remain on

standby for the next grid failure.

In principle this is as simple as it sounds – but only when it works. The problem is that emergency power systems require regular maintenance and test runs to ensure they work properly.

“During the past six to eight years, faced with economic pressures, many companies have seen severe cutbacks which have also affected their financial ability to maintain emergency power systems. ‘As long as it runs, why do more?’ is the attitude of some. But a failing emergency power plant can result in a massive loss.

“For smaller companies, the loss could well be devastating.

At hospitals it can be fatal – so investing in the insurance (which is what an emergency power plant really is) makes good sense,” says Rødtnes.

In addition to supplying »

During the past six to eight years, faced with economic pressures, many companies have seen severe cutbacks which have also affected their financial ability to maintain emergency power systems April 2017 MCP

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TESTING & MAINTENANCE

emergency power, generator plants are also used for grid support in geographies around the world. In addition, with prices fluctuating during the day, it has become feasible to use diesel generators when prices are peaking,” says DEIF’s Rene Kristensen.

In the UK, demand side response (DSR) technologies help National Grid to manage peaks and troughs in electricity supply and demand – for example, when a power station fails – and in the process help to reduce UK carbon emissions and provide a more robust grid.

With the new government incentive scheme recently launched for DSR, awareness campaigns have been suggested for businesses to take part in DSR schemes that can provide significant revenue and cost saving opportunities.

There are several factors at work – older, generation power stations are closing down and National Grid has committed to 30-50% of grid balancing requirements being met through DSR by 2020.

KiWi Power (a UK DSR aggregator) and DEIF UK have successfully completed the frequency injection test required by National Grid at a major London financial institution. This test demonstrates their site’s ability

Investment in testing and maintenance for emergency power systems is critical

to respond automatically, within seconds, to balance the grid. Successfully completing this test now enables the company to take part in a fast response DSR programme managed by KiWi Power on behalf of National Grid.

Keep your plants in shape Emergency power systems can be designed in many ways but, in general, they include a UPS (battery or rotating), which supplies power to the

servers, machine plant operating systems and operating rooms in hospitals. The UPS is often supplemented by a diesel generator, which provides energy partly to the UPS, and partly to the operation of production facilities.

The challenge is that the plants are idle most of their life and therefore need to be ‘kept in shape’. But what does it take to ensure that the emergency backup system works when it is needed?

Preventing losses in the salmon farming sector The financial losses associated with power failures can be significant and can make or break a business. Acclaimed salmon producer Luna’s farm, Hiddenfjord, is located on the island of Fútaklettur, one of the remote Atlantic Faroe Islands. Raising and nurturing smolt (young fish) is an extremely delicate process. From egg and larval stage to the juvenile fish stage, growth and survival is dictated by precise water temperatures and salt levels. As the smolt approach the time when they are ready to migrate, they lose their camouflage bars and undergo a process of physiological changes, which allows them to survive a shift from freshwater to saltwater.

A loss of power and a fall in water temperature at this stage would be catastrophic. If power to Luna’s salmon farm failed for more than 30 minutes, for example, it could result in a loss of up to £2.27m in the short term and long-term losses of £45m as the smolt cannot survive even a short failure of the supply of oxygen and light. In the event of a loss of 0.8MW and the emergency generators not starting, within as little as 15-30 minutes the entire stock of 3-4 million smolt would be lost.

The short-term financial losses could include not only the value of the livestock and damaged equipment – such as pumps, air compressors, O2 systems and blowers – but the long-term costs could ultimately result in the ruin of Luna and Hiddenfjord.

When Luna and the company’s agent, Faroe Island’s P/F EL-service, first contacted DEIF regarding a green, safe and reliable solution for an existing critical power plant, Hiddenfjord already had a set-up run by DEIF Advanced Genset Controllers (AGC-3).

The four generator 1MW plant required upgrading in connection with a new power hub from the national supplier, Dong Energy. In cases of unstable grid supplies, the power hub will automatically signal Hiddenfjord’s plant to start up at approximately 49Hz in fixed power mode (parallel to grid), generating 80% of their nominal power. Power production above 80% is exported to the grid, the setup is timer regulated and closes down automatically 20 minutes after the grid has stabilised. In cases of total blackout, the AGCs automatically continue to run in automatic mains failure mode, protecting Hiddenfjord’s fragile smolt and its valuable equipment.

MCP April 2017

missioncriticalpower.uk

35 way – such functionality can be integrated in some controllers available on the market today, including DEIF’s,” Kristensen adds.

“Our AGC Automatic Genset Controller, for instance, has a standard battery test feature capable of detecting ‘bad’ batteries. The controller simply turns the genset starter for example 20 seconds without activating the fuel pump. Using predefined ‘Bat. Voltage OK’ limit values and time delays, the controller measures battery voltage and triggers an alarm if the settings are exceeded.”

“All mechanical components containing moving parts must be used regularly in order to make sure they do not become inoperative and faulty,” Rødtnes says.

“Therefore, it is essential that all contactors and breakers are tested and lubricated at least every third year. The lubricating agent becomes harder over time and, worst case scenario, the breakers cannot be closed quickly enough, thus risking getting out of phase and short circuits.”

The start batteries of the generator plant constitute another area to be checked to ensure correct startup of the plant: “A measurement of the battery voltage during startup can reveal if problems are on the missioncriticalpower.uk

Three kinds of testing In Denmark, it is also possible to use the grid as the load for test runs and it is therefore a good idea to run the generator at 75-80 % of max for an hour or so once a month.

Kristensen says: “We recommend performing three tests: 1) cut off the external power supply without synchronisation to simulate a real grid blackout ; 2) test a controlled island operation where you start a generator and synchronise with the grid, deload the mains breaker and go into island operation with your generator without blackout or power interruptions. Then you synchronise with the external supply and shut down the generator; 3) a parallel test stressing the generators with 75 to 80% of their maximum capacity without shutting off the external power supply.”

Rødtnes adds: “We often talk to customers who are afraid of testing their emergency power systems, which is a concern.

One of our customers, a large data centre, cuts off the grid power once a month letting its own emergency power system take over the supply. But this

£45m

The estimated losses to a salmon farm if power fails for more than 30 minutes

Maintaining and testing of emergency power and generator sets Check • Preheating: every day • Oil, cooling water, fuel: once a month • Start battery (fluid level): every six months Lubrication • Contactors/circuit breakers: at least every third year Replacement of • Engine oil, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter: annually • Start batteries: every five years (or as needed – measure battery voltage during startup) • UPS batteries: depending on the make and type of each third to fifth year • Measuring relays on contactors/switches: every 10 years • The genset control system: every 10 years • UPS systems, electronics: every 10, 15 or 20 years depending on the manufacturer and type Test runs • Load test – generators loaded up to 80% of capacity, without interruption of the external power supply; power from the generator is exported to the grid: once every month • Partial test, synchronised switching on and off the generators: once a week for 10 minutes • Full test, interruption of grid supply without synchronisation: once a month (one hour test)

is rarely seen. On the contrary, we often encounter companies who are reluctant to test just a part of their emergency power systems.”

Remote testing DEIF recommends regular testing of the different sequences that are part of an emergency situation.

“When we deliver emergency power solutions, we always train our customers in handling the situations that will put the system into operation.

Customers need to become familiar with pushing all buttons. Examples include cutting off the grid power completely, or running the system in parallel operation for a period of time,” says Kristensen.

“Today, the test can be performed remotely. This is helpful if clients have a large number of emergency power systems placed at different locations, because they can

monitor, manage and test functionality from one central location. Via an integrated timer function in our AGC genset controller, we can perform automatic tests – for instance once a week – and log the results within the controller.

Particularly interesting for telecom sites and other sites in remote locations, starting the test sequence can also be done from a remote location, typically using either a VPN connection or a GSM modem.

“In many countries the uptime on the national grid is very high, making some ‘neglect’ the importance of their backup power. But as most know, a chain is only as strong as the weakest link – if you make that link your emergency power system, it may prove costly.

“We recommend creating solid testing procedures and intervals to ensure a fully operational system at all times,” Rødtnes concludes. l April 2017 MCP

36

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Only serious shocks will wake boards

David Brown, head of energy and sustainability services UK & Ireland at facilities management firm Sodexo, says some clients are proactively driving down cost and shoring up their operations. But it may take a severe price shock to spur mainstream action. Brendan Coyne reports

D

avid Brown believes rising energy prices may lead firms to refocus on energy efficiency.

However, Sodexo’s head of energy and sustainability services UK & Ireland says energy still doesn’t make it onto the top 10 board priorities and it may require shock therapy to change that majority mindset.

Nevertheless, there are easy wins for businesses across all sectors, which should be a focus of cost control over the next 12 months. “Most clients are still missing a trick when it comes to procurement and bill validation, particularly when MCP April 2017

they have large portfolios, maybe losing sense of the assets that they own,” says Brown.

“There is still a wealth to be done on consolidating and fully understanding that portfolio to then put the best energy strategy in place in terms of procurement. That is a really big opportunity,” he says.

Asset managers ‘get’ it…

Having a detailed knowledge of assets and energy use helps build a more robust energy efficiency strategy, he says, at least for those with appetite.

Proactive clients tend to be portfolio and property managers, according to Brown.

“The asset management segment of the finance sector really understands the risk of the exposure in their portfolios and has focused on increasing EPC ratings,” he says.

“Those type of clients ‘get’ energy efficiency to a greater extent than other clients, because ultimately, it is part of their overall cost. If a building is increasingly expensive in comparison to a competitor’s, it becomes less attractive.” …manufacturing less so Conversely, Brown has experienced lag in the manufacturing sector.

That is, “more car

manufacturers and parts manufacturers than on the consumer goods side: [Automotive] is a challenge because they often have very old assets. Keeping them running at all times is seen as a priority because it is very difficult to replace a piece of German kit built 30 years ago specifically for that company,” Brown says.

“But if a client feels a piece of kit has to be running 24/7 because of the risk, it probably has more fundamental problems than just energy management. So, where possible, we tie it up with broader asset management and missioncriticalpower.uk

37 integrate it within a hard FM service,” says Brown.

DSR appetite He thinks another opportunity for businesses is demand side response as part of a security strategy over monetising assets.

“DSR appetite is increasing.

But instead of talking about ‘the smart grid’ and maybe even the financial benefits, clients are talking about building it into continuity planning.”

However, the “frustrating” process around connecting to the grid “can be a limiting factor”, says Brown.

While suppliers and brokers warn of price volatility and potential hikes over the next couple of years, Brown thinks it will take a significant shock to drive energy up the agenda.

“Energy would be lucky to get into the top 10 [board items]. It is quite far down the list.” He says while some more complex FM tenders are asking deeper questions, “the reality of approving the contract usually comes down to how cheaply you can deliver the overall service”.

If that is the case, does it not follow that rising wholesale costs will sharpen that focus?

“If energy prices go up or down 5%, most clients’ perception of energy would not change much,” says Brown. “It is only when you get to 1970s oil shock levels that you see a fundamental shift in attitudes –

Having a detailed knowledge of assets and energy use helps build a more robust energy efficiency strategy David Brown, Sodexo

and we haven’t had that for 40 years. Until we get to that point, I don’t think it will be high enough a priority for clients.”

Even in tandem with rising non-commodity costs?

“Potentially, if you are in a position to explain that breakdown of where the energy costs come from,” says Brown.

“The complexity of energy prices … is often beyond the time limit that a person with responsibility for the energy budget will have – unless they are an energy manager,” says Brown.

“Most clients do not have a dedicated energy manager – and large organisations that do have one certainly don’t have enough for the size of their portfolio.”

That has been the lament of the profession for 30 years. But Brown thinks that technology, particularly smart phones and the internet of things, could potentially act as a counterbalance. “[Comms innovation] is actually driving things a lot more than some of the fundamental conversations around bill validation, efficiency and demand-side response,” says Brown.

“It is a lot easier for people to pick up an app and control things from it – and that is where we see the space going over the next couple of years from a broader FM consideration.” l

Solar: still appetite to invest?

Supply fears justified?

Following cuts to subsidies, are businesses still investing in solar? “What we are seeing, because the paybacks are far longer than they would have been prior to the Fit reduction, is more conversations around power purchase agreements (PPAs) as a way of financing that investment,” says Brown.

Appetite to self-finance solar has diminished in some sectors, he adds, but remains strong in others. “Certain clients with asset management portfolios – such as shopping centres that are looking at the long term – will still invest in solar themselves. But I think a standard site would struggle to find the right incentives in terms of paybacks to do it, unless it had a very good location.”

Despite that, Brown says the PV companies he deals with are “as busy as they have ever been”, and are delivering just as many projects, just under different financial and commercial structures.

If businesses are showing increased appetite for demand-side response from a security of supply perspective, the implication is that they are not wholly confident that the lights will stay on. Are those fears real or perceived?

“I think there is a perception... But over the last couple of years, National Grid data shows we are increasingly close to capacity; the impact of renewables on baseload [economics and the loss of that baseload] certainly suggests there is risk,” says Brown.

“But I think as long as an organisation has generators, they would be in a fairly comfortable position, even if there was a blackout for a short period. Our grid is mature, but there are fundamental structural problems that are not being dealt with and there are symptoms that suggest we are not really managing continuity of supply in the future.”

missioncriticalpower.uk

April 2017 MCP

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POWER MANAGEMENT & DISTRIBUTION

Optimising power distribution to improve visibility and continuity By adopting a more holistic approach to infrastructure management, and in particular the monitoring and management of power distribution, IT and data centre managers can improve monitoring and maintenance across all applications, make better informed decisions and reduce costs. Scott Bailey, IT/DC segment manager for Eaton UK, explores the challenges and how rack-based power distribution unit technology can address some of the issues

T

he successful management of a company’s facilities infrastructure, combined with its IT infrastructure (be that via a data centre or network closet) is now the foundation of successful business operations.

Peak operating efficiency and reliability are, of course, necessities. Should the facility falter, the business suffers as a result and consequently these demands are changing the way companies view their

MCP April 2017

infrastructure. There is a need now in many businesses to monitor every piece of powerdrawing equipment and to do so in detail and with high accuracy.

For both enterprise network closets and multi-tenant data centres, the ability to keep operating requires precise monitoring of every aspect of power, as well as effective management of power distribution. This is where advanced rack power distribution units can come

in. Without them an IT infrastructure is at risk of being unable to keep up with everexpanding requirements and demands.

Functioning much like a utility, data centres provide computing capacity in response to demand. High-level power distribution strategies are needed for peak efficiency but businesses that are contending with a variety of pressureinducing factors must keep an eye on all aspects of power

distribution at a granular level too. The latest in advanced rack PDU technology offers devices with monitoring and management capabilities and comprehensive functionality that addresses the most pressing operational needs.

Controlling cooling costs Firstly, cooling costs have to be controlled as density increases.

Modern hot-air containment solutions require higher rack PDU operating temperatures. missioncriticalpower.uk

39 operation. Rack PDUs that enable mass configuration and updating capabilities free up staff to concentrate on more strategic tasks.

In addition, rack PDUs with branch circuit colour-coding that match corresponding outlet sections can make it easy to know which branch circuit breaker connects to which specific outlet. This can reduce the time spent troubleshooting the source of problems and can simplify load balancing.

Other features that can keep costs down include a low-profile form factor. It is also worth looking for rack PDUs with lowprofile circuit breakers or the ones that are width-optimised for side mounting. This prevents interference with the rail that can block hot-swap fans and power supplies and minimises the time required to service the rack in the event of component failure.

Therefore, rack PDUs that have the ability to function at high operating temperatures, (60°C) UL and CE rated, can help reduce overall costs. Adding temperature monitoring can also control cost by accurately identifying where heat and humidity is building. This allows operators to respond accordingly.

Such environmental monitoring is particularly suited for containment or network closets where excessive heat can create reliability issues.

Additionally, as outside air is used more frequently to reduce cost, it becomes increasingly necessary to monitor temperature. Environmental tracking also includes switch closure monitoring to connect door switches or water sensors.

Given budget and resource constraints, administrative overhead is another critical area that requires constant diligence.

With operational staff stretched to the limit, rack PDUs that can help reduce this overhead are key in creating an efficient missioncriticalpower.uk

Creating agility When it comes to creating agility, one of the best ways to do this is to ensure a vendor can supply both the rack and the PDU. The compatibility of the two goes a long way to ensuring ease of use and optimises the way both components work together.

Furthermore, agility can be

High-level power distribution strategies are needed for peak efficiency but businesses that are contending with a variety of pressure-inducing factors must keep an eye on all aspects of power distribution at a granular level too

further enhanced by features present on the rack PDU itself.

Features such as the ability to set the IP address, rotate the display if installed upside down for busway and the ability to read alarms are all available in PDUs with advanced pixel LCD displays with interactive menu systems.

For rack PDUs with daisychain capability, the menu display also enables staff to quickly configure multiple rack PDUs from a single IP address and network port, facilitating the management of power supplies on different feeds through a single interface.

The ability to establish a daisy chain can reduce physical infrastructure installation costs by 75% – through the reduction of network ports. This reduction saves on expenses and simplifies management, both factors that can increase agility.

Advanced rack PDUs Even the most agile environment is at risk if the prospect of downtime remains a concern. Here, next-generation advanced rack PDUs can have a significant impact. One factor that affects reliability is issues associated with IEC plug retention. It is not uncommon for plugs to get jogged loose in the rack, leading to server Âť Businesses need to monitor every piece of power-drawing equipment

April 2017 MCP

40

POWER MANAGEMENT & DISTRIBUTION

shutdown. A rack PDU with IEC plug retention prevents the accidental dislodgment of a plug and can greatly enhance reliability. There are a few methods to secure the plug, but a solution integrated into the outlet is ideal to avoid the bulk of external clips or cable trays. It is also important to avoid solutions that require proprietary power cord solutions that involve additional expenses. On the other hand, an integrated IEC outlet grip reduces the total cost of ownership and improves reliability.

Ease of installation is also worth bearing in mind. Not only are they more convenient and of course time-saving, rack PDUs that are easy to install save on startup and provisioning costs for customers making them an easier sell. Tool-less button mounting options for rack PDUs ensure out-of-box to install time is minimised, this solution requires a rack enclosure with keyhole (tool-less) mounting capability.

Another way is to ensure the rack PDU has been designed for mounting flexibility. An ideal solution would have the tool-less buttons factory-installed on the PDU. This would accommodate the rack metal thickness and would have the flexibility to be mounted on the side for 90-degree mounting.

Other mounting options may be required, so that further flexibility can be obtained, if the rack PDU has bracket mounting capabilities such as a clip foot

MCP April 2017

75% Reduction in physical infrastructure installation costs that can be achieved by establishing a daisy chain.

This reduction saves on expenses and simplifies management, both factors that can increase agility

Enclosure Power Distribution Units (ePDU)

bracket. In addition, a rack PDU with a lightweight aluminium chassis, which is 30% lighter than a steel equivalent, is also easy to install. It can even reduce shipping costs, plus it can dissipate heat better and deliver improved electrical ground conductivity.

The process of selection should begin with the power rating of the PDU, when designing a data centre, operators typically take into account the planned capacity of the rack to calculate power and cooling requirements. Rack capacity is then used to select the appropriate input plug for the rack PDU. Companies want a device capable of carrying the full power load, as well as offering the possibility for capacity expansion in order to future proof. Any excess capacity that is being provisioned can be handled seamlessly simply by implementing a larger capacity PDU. Once the power is considered, the next step should be to evaluate the available technologies. Typically rack PDUs come in three technology categories: basic, metered and managed/switched distribution.

Moving up the stack from basic to metered, will allow companies the ability to locally measure current and load balance.

It also enables the capability to remotely monitor branch circuits and facilitate capacity planning. With advanced metering, there is an opportunity to gain the

capability to meter power at the outlet level. This important functionality is required for accurate Level 3 Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) calculations.

Outlet-level metering also provides a level of detail in reporting power usage, which is often required in multi-tenant racks at co-located facilities.

In addition, managed PDUs facilitate outlet switching which is an ideal function for lights-out operation and in situations where a fast response to remotely cycle power in the rack is needed. Furthermore, businesses can also turn off outlets when not in use thereby preventing accidental overloading of the rack PDU. Finally, outlet switching enables the ability to sequence power up and perform load shedding.

These are advanced features that can be important elements of an overall power strategy.

To conclude, it is obvious that advanced rack PDUs have the features and reliability today’s data centres need to monitor, manage and maintain power distribution in their operations. More importantly, they are capable of supporting the changing and accelerating demands of the business to facilitate seamless operation.

Businesses would be wise to develop their power strategy by understanding the current rack environment, work load demands and then consider choosing the appropriate rack PDU. l

missioncriticalpower.uk

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IT & INFRASTRUCTURE

H

ealth secretary Jeremy Hunt wants the NHS to have a ‘digital revolution’ by 2020. There is a major drive towards digitalisation within the NHS and trusts will increasingly be scrutinised on their ‘digital maturity’ in the next few years – putting IT connectivity at the top of the agenda. The aim is for patients to be able to access their own electronic health records, adding personal data from devices such as FitBit and enabling two-way interaction.

At the same time, hospitalbased monitoring devices are increasingly being linked directly into patients’ electronic patient records, with a view to becoming ‘paper-free at the point of care’.

The mission to go paperless, coupled with the increasing use of intelligent medical devices and a proliferation of medical apps and web-based platforms used to improve diagnosis and care management, is driving increased reliance on IT systems, making the performance of data centre infrastructure critical for the efficient and safe operation of the hospital environment.

Resilience must be included in any design on new or existing installations to ensure continuity, therefore.

So what are some of the key priorities for healthcare providers when installing data centre infrastructure?

Chris Wellfair, projects director, Secure IT Environments, comments: “NHS trusts now realise that they, like other organisations, are totally dependent on their IT infrastructure. The key priorities are energy efficiency and having the ability to locate a new data centre external of the main hospital, which releases valuable real estate. Healthcare organisations do not differ from other organisations as they are all looking to be more energy efficient, as data centres consume vast amounts of power if not correctly designed.”

He adds: “Most want to achieve a PUE of 1.2 or lower.

With the vast amount of energy efficient mechanical and electrical equipment now available this is quite easy to

MCP April 2017

The best of health With the NHS facing huge demands on its infrastructure, the modernisation of the vast number of ‘dinosaur data centres’ must be made a priority. Ensuring resilience and lowering energy costs are some of the key challenges facing hospital data centres today achieve with good planning.”

Secure IT Environments specialises in the design and build of modular data centres, both internal and external facilities. The company’s modular data centres offer high levels of protection and security against natural disasters, terrorism and theft yet are quick and clean to build and can easily be extended at any stage to accommodate future growth.

Northampton General One hospital that has taken a forward-thinking approach is Northampton General Hospital.

The healthcare provider wanted to become more energy efficient, enabling it to increase capacity and start to future-proof its data centre infrastructure, for the increased demands of modern computing. The project was for a second data centre rather than

replace the existing one as this was in constant use.

Christina Malcolmson, deputy director of ICT, Northampton General Hospital, explains: “Our IT strategy states that the vision of the trust is to move to a paperless hospital in five years.

The further development of the electronic patient record in this time will make information more accessible to clinicians, to allow for more efficient treatment of patients. We are committed to invest in easy access to good quality clinical information, but the first challenge in achieving this vision was to invest in the underpinning infrastructure, to ensure that access to all systems is quick, easy and reliable.

“We were very clear about our requirement for an energy efficient and flexible second data centre, both to support the trust in its growing vision and

ultimately the NHS in these challenging times.”

Secure IT Environments was commissioned to design and build the data centre to be located externally, freeing up valuable clinical space in the hospital. This was part of a programme to improve security and disaster recovery for the whole IT infrastructure.

The project aimed to help deliver the NHS vision of enabling robust and resilient access, quickly and efficiently, to all patient data, while lowering risk of outages.

The trust required the use of energy efficient technologies, processes and equipment that were on the ECA Energy Technology List. Northampton also specified that the data centre have an overall design trailing 12-month (TTM) power usage efficiency (PUE) of 1.15 or missioncriticalpower.uk

43

An energy efficient data centre installed for Northampton General Hospital, with a PUE of 1.15

below based on the Green Grid standard nomenclature.

Equipment included an external modular room building to secure 20 x19” cabinets, hot aisle capture, N+1 UPS, raised access flooring, Novec fire suppression and VESDA detection and energy efficient LED lighting. Highly energy efficient air conditioning was installed with plug fan and EC motor technology allowing the system to ramp up and down as the cooling requirement demands.

All new power, individual intelligent cabinet power distribution units, cooling and ventilation systems include

Queen Elizabeth Hospital The Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s modular data centre, at Kings Lynn, incorporated 20 cabinets, full power supply infrastructure, including generator hook up, hot aisle capture configuration for energy efficiency, Novec fire suppression and Wagner early particle detection to ensure safety, as well as energy efficient air conditioning and UPS systems in an N+1 format. All 19” cabinets included intelligent power distribution.

active data collection so performance can be continually monitored and is configured to meet Intermediate Level 2 requirements of the Green Grid’s Usage Reporting Guidelines for Infrastructure Metrics.

Other projects completed for the NHS have included the installation of modular data centres for the Luton and Dunstable and Queen Elizabeth hospitals (see box, above), both of which delivered power usage efficiency of 1.2.

The challenges While some healthcare providers are ahead of the curve in terms of going paperless by investing

in the resilience and modern infrastructure required, there is still a need to drive further improvement in the sector.

“There is a vast amount of ‘dinosaur’ data centres/small hub rooms dotted around various hospitals, which are pre-1970s, that still have not been upgraded and are totally inefficient,” says Wellfair. “The biggest problem is convincing clients that while the ‘old’ equipment they have may be perfectly functional, it is costing them excessive amounts due to its energy consumption.

However, when you explain the energy efficiencies to be gained and the ROI they then stand up

The biggest problem is convincing clients that while the ‘old’ equipment they have may be perfectly functional, it is costing them excessive amounts due to its energy consumption missioncriticalpower.uk

and think more seriously about this.”

A main barrier to investment, unsurprisingly, is the fact that the NHS is facing significant financial pressures. So how can hospitals build a business case for more efficient infrastructure?

Wellfair says that the process should start with an audit on existing facilities to establish the power consumption, general layout of the facility, air conditioning and thermal performance.

“Following this, recommendations can be made to redesign the existing data centre to be more energy efficient. As part of this it will be possible to compare the existing running costs with the new design. In many cases the ROI can be as little as three years when this process is carried out,” he concludes. ● April 2017 MCP

44

COOLING & AIR MOVEMENT

Resilience vs I energy: today’s dilemma Gary Marshall, operations director at engineering consultancy Sweco, stresses the importance of innovative techniques that provide additional resilience, while reducing data centre operational costs

MCP April 2017

n a recent report, research firm IDC predicted that by the end of this decade, the total amount of data globally will be about 40 zettabytes, which to put the number into context is 40 followed by 222 zeros. With this data becoming more and more imperative to business operations, there is greater emphasis on the need for data centres to be as resilient as possible.

With the exponential growth of data in recent years, fuelled in part by what was described

by The Economist as the ‘Third Industrial Revolution’, the reliance on data centres for business critical functions has also increased dramatically.

In today’s environment, expectations are increasing for mission critical sites to experience no downtime and be fully operational, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Any interruption to power supplies, no matter how small, can cause severe disruption to business operations, including reduced output and – in some sectors, such as financial services – the potential for monetary penalties. More and more businesses are also offsetting their data; just think how much useful work you can do with no access to your network and its data.

While the focus remains on the implementation of highly resilient data centres and reliable storage of information that is imperative to businesses, each company has its own individual set of needs and concerns.

Understanding the needs of a business when it comes to its mission critical sites is vital, with reliability, resilience, flexibility and adaptability all being key concerns. However, one of the most pressing matters in today’s climate is missioncriticalpower.uk

45 solutions for providing free cooling for the majority of the year. This is done by analysing the climate conditions and maximising the temperature bands for electronic data processing equipment.

Energy efficiency can be maximised through the use of permeable façade systems that allow for controlled natural ventilation and through the creation of electronic data processing equipment that operate at much higher temperatures, negating the need for cooling and natural ventilation.

Cooling: innovative approaches Free cooling has been investigated by other consultants and Sweco is looking at more radical solutions by using the planet’s resources and natural environmental solutions that are all around us. One of the most significant changes in recent years is the way data centres are cooled, and there is rightly a focus on improving these systems. We have seen traditional methods displaced by innovative approaches, with the reduction of energy costs at the forefront of the developments. A the efficient use of energy, from both an environmental and cost perspective.

These pressing issues are leading companies to seek innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of their data centres. Many are looking at ways of reducing the energy costs associated with running these critical business assets, while also ensuring they are powered by a reliable energy source.

Rising power demands Power demands and costs are continuing to rise and it has been predicted that the amount of energy consumed by the world’s data centres will treble in the next decade, putting an enormous strain on energy supplies. According to recent research from the United Nations DESA, Cisco IEA, by 2050 more than 2.5 billion people will live in cities, while the internet of missioncriticalpower.uk

things (IoT) and digitalisation will allow for approximately 50 billion connected devices.

Those megatrends, coupled with industrialisation, are driving uplift in energy demand by more than 50% by 2050.

In this scenario, we need natural and sustainable solutions.

However, these must be coupled with renewable energy sources and systems that are simplified, flexible and scalable, meeting both current and future expandability in power demands. In the UK in particular, increased energy demand is a very significant issue.

Businesses are relying on a single electricity grid, which has seen spare capacity dwindle in the recent past, and which could put the reliability of mission critical data centres at risk.

Sweco is investigating the reduction in power usage energy (PUE) through the use of alternative and innovative

design can help to deliver highly efficient, reliable and economical thermal management.

A realistic acceptance from clients regarding the input temperature range to the server rooms, which matches the manufacturer’s maximum limits, is essential. Considerations around the life expectancy of the electronic data equipment should also be addressed.

Why not explore electronic data processing equipment that can operate at much higher temperatures? This will negate the need for cooling and natural ventilation is all you need. I guess to an extent, this is gradually happening and we will no doubt see further step leaps in technology over the next five years.

The speed of technological advancements and the rapid growth of the reliance on data mean the design and engineering behind mission critical services need to catch up. Cooling is just one example of the innovative design required in the modern world and illustrates the importance of rewriting 20th century templates and developing new 21st century solutions to suit the global

Businesses are relying on a single electricity grid, which has seen spare capacity dwindle in the recent past, and which could put the reliability of mission critical data centres at risk particular area of interest is the possibility of free cooling for data centres, and research is under way to improve the use of natural cooling that can be accessed in more temperate climates, such as the UK and mainland Europe.

By designing data centres that can make use of natural cooling, significant reductions can be made in the amount of power these mission critical sites use.

This could be so effective that 80% of cooling will effectively be free, with just 20% supplemented by more traditional energy usage. This kind of innovative

urbanisation trend and the increased importance businesses place on systems critical to their operation.

The trends in data centre cooling point towards evaporative cooling, direct fresh air using ventilated facades and lower PUE using indirect adiabatic cooling.

This is a method that reduces server room heat through a change in air pressure caused by volume expansion. We need to look beyond the conventional, explore new ideas and embrace technology. We still only consider resilience in terms of power » April 2017 MCP

continuity, but if a design is over complicated it will fail through human error.

Focusing on controls The next largest contributor to power failure is the controls, so why not double up on these systems? We have developed the SRM 200 module, which doubles the resilience of a transformer/ generator control system. Also, circuit breakers are only deigned as either ‘on or off’ – why?

Can we not design a switch that has multiple poles on a rotating shaft? Distribution schematics need to be developed to embrace the new innovations in technology and provide simple, robust cooling and power solutions.

Why do engineers complicate the designs by installing complicated PLC systems with hot standby PLCs when they are all backed up with UPS modules, which have exponential curves, so you invariably have hours of battery autonomy?

Other innovative solutions include the possibility of powering a data centre entirely by fuel cells built into the server racks, which has been proposed by various manufactures, and even the ability to generate your own power with chicken litter and burn it to create steam which in turn can drive the steam turbine and create your own on site power station. Other solutions to consider are the use of off peak electricity and battery storage to support both the data centre and/or the national grid for frequency response.

Coupled with emerging advances in technology, the national grid is changing and the spare generating capacity to meet demand has also changed from circa 25% to 6%, so data centres can play a role in meeting this demand and frequency response, from utilising the large generating infrastructure of the data centre and feeding back into the grid.

80%

The percentage of coooling that can be ‘free’, when using natural solutions Engineering companies, including Sweco, are working to redefine current templates, through the identification of risk areas and the development of new solutions. We are currently in the middle of a research programme looking into free cooling using different solutions for varying climatic conditions.

Moreover, we are re-examining cooling solutions to reduce the PUE by going back to nature and learning from the things and resources around us, within the natural world, relooking at the controls for chillers, pumps, AHUs, UPS modules and standby diesel generators. As energy costs continue to increase, we need to consider alternative means of power such as fuel cells, battery storage, photovoltaics, wind energy and below-ground resources.

A further area for consideration beyond individual data centre resilience is ‘cross centre resilience’, which considers the loss of data between various backup and duplicate sites. If data centres have mirror images, this would mean looking at the whole data centre resilience picture, rather than just considering each data centre individually, but this is a whole different story. These will help to eradicate single points of failure, provide maintainable systems, and minimise the risk of system failures.

Providing cost-effective and reliable solutions using our experience and expertise can ensure the creation of data centre systems that meet the world’s ever-increasing demand for data. l

By designing data centres that can make use of natural cooling, significant reductions can be made in the amount of power these mission critical sites use MCP April 2017

missioncriticalpower.uk

PRODUCTS

47

Batteries offer increased power density and longer life EnerSys presented its DataSafe XE batteries at Data Centre World, London. Engineered with advanced thin plate pure lead (TPPL) technology, the batteries are designed to provide high power capable of supporting short duration run times of less than five minutes.

“Changes in the datacentre industry, such as the advent of cloud storage, the shift to colocation companies and the growing trend toward modular, containerised power and a shift toward shorter run times have placed new demands on battery

technology,” said Luca Cassani, from EnerSys. “The batteries must be capable of providing more power at shorter run times and able to operate in higher

Loadbank solution Hillstone has developed a load bank solution to increase reliability, efficiency, and uptime performance while reducing energy costs. The loadbank Genset range has been designed to overcome fuel being the single point of failure in a datacentre and to prevent breaches in generators Service Level Agreement (SLA) and warranty conditions.

The loadbank Genset range is designed using the latest PLC

technology to deliver a dual automatic and manual operation with open software interfacing to BMS and DCIM systems. The benefits of having a permanent load bank connected to the genset system include: validation of fuel supplies, prevention of wet stacking and associated operating savings in energy costs.

It creates a very short ROI by improvements in best practice, while ensuring uptime performance.

Efficient modular UPS AEG has extended its range of UPS with the addition of its latest modular system: the Protect Plus M600. It features a highly flexible modular architecture in a compact footprint cabinet that can be easily extended using 30kVA UPS modules up to a total capacity of 900kVA. The UPS is designed to operate at high efficiencies of over 95% in online double conversion mode and includes a smart user missioncriticalpower.co.uk

interface and battery management system.

The range offers two cabinets sizes that can take up to six or 10 times 30kVA UPS modules giving a total cabinet power capacity of 180kVA and 300kVA. The modular technology allows the user to right-size their day-one operating capacity, incorporate N+X redundancy and easily expand to meet future load changes through the addition of further UPS modules.

ambient temperatures, while lasting longer.”

The batteries are made using a highly controlled grid fabrication process for maximum consistency and advanced, high purity structural and active material for optimum conductivity, electrical performance and energy efficiency. Absorbed glass mat (AGM) construction and TPPL technology reduce both grid corrosion and grid growth, providing optimum conductivity and performance. The use of high purity materials also reduces gas generation within the cell. As a result, the batteries

can operate at a higher temperature, enabling users to reduce cooling costs. The lack of impurities also improves battery shelf life by as much as four times compared with conventional batteries. The batteries also pack more plates into each two-volt cell, yielding greater surface area and better active materials utilisation.

With this energy-dense design, smaller, lighter batteries are able to achieve the same run times as larger standard VRLA batteries with reduced recharge rates. Following a full discharge, the batteries can achieve 100% state of charge (SOC) in 50% less time than conventional VRLA batteries.

Expanded engine choice Generator manufacturer JCB Power Products has launched a new generator range from 650kVA and above. It offers customers an expanded list of engine suppliers for its heavy range of generator sets.

The JCB generators, which are all designed, engineered and built in the UK, feature: • Four industry recognised engine manufacturers to meet customer requirements • 50Hz and 60Hz options to suit global demand • Choice of standard Newage-Stamford and

optional Mecc-Alte alternators JCB Power Products and its extensive generator dealer network has developed a broader engine offering to suit all territories and applications. Perkins and Cummins engines will be offered along with MTU and Mitsubishi engines in a range of 50Hz generator sets from 700kVA to 3,350kVA. A choice of Cummins, MTU and Mitsubishi power will be available in 60Hz sets, with a maximum output of 3,200kW.

April 2017 MCP

48

PRODUCTS

Energy-efficient compact chiller and condensing unit range Cooling specialist Airedale International Air Conditioning has launched upgraded editions of its Ultima compact chiller and condensing units (30-150kW) optimised for use with R410A refrigerant. The compact chiller and condensing unit range complements the existing R407C series and delivers increased efficiency and performance.

As with its predecessors, the units are compact with single or dual circuit variants, offering regular quiet and extra quiet sound variants.

Highly efficient, they can achieve an impressive EER (energy efficiency ratio) of up to 3.6 and an ESEER (European seasonal energy efficiency ratio) of up to 4.7.

The R410A range is ideal for a variety of environments including data centres, retail, manufacturing and leisure, and is available in five case sizes. The chiller range is offered with an extensive selection of full hydraulic pump options and buffer tanks to reduce

installation time, footprint and operating costs.

For increased efficiency and reliability, both ranges use next-generation DSH scroll compressor technology. DSH compressors have low vibration levels and are focused on part-load energy efficiency, lowering applied costs and complete robustness.

The intermediate discharge valves avoid

over compression and extra effort by motors during part-load operation, reducing power consumption, increasing energy efficiency and SEER from 3-10%.

The Ultima compact chiller and condensing unit range has been specifically developed for use with the refrigerant R410A. With the higher heat transfer capabilities of R410A it is designed to increase system efficiencies and is less susceptible to efficiency losses due to pressure drop when compared with R407C. Electronically commutated axial fans give increased performance for reduced power input and are up to 80% more efficient than an AC fan at part-load.

EEVs are included on all Ultima compact chillers as standard, maintaining control of the suction superheat at reduced head pressures and providing significant energy savings. This can result in an EER increase of up to 30%.

Li-on power cabinet

Modular UPS solution

Yuasa had an extensive presence at this year’s Data Centre World exhibition, held at Excel, London, which included a state-of-the-art lithium (Li-ion) power cabinet in the DCW Live Green Data Centre.

Designed to be a space saving, ‘plug and play’ solution, the Li-ion power cabinet contains 12 GS Yuasa LIM50EN12-F2 Li-ion high energy modules controlled by a battery management system. Despite being only the size of a filing cabinet, the system provides 300kW of power and is designed to be a convenient alternative to valve regulated lead acidpowered UPS systems for data centre and other

PowerWAVE 9500DPA from UPS offers a standardised modular approach, low power consumption and high reliability, providing an ideal UPS solution for all types of data centres from 100kW up to 3MW. The decentralised parallel architecture (DPA), upon which the PowerWAVE 9500DPA is based, refers to each 100kW UPS module containing the hardware and software required for full system operation. The modules share no common components, with each module containing its own independent static bypass, rectifier, inverter, logic control, control panel, battery charger and batteries. With all the critical components duplicated and distributed between individual units, potential single points of failure are eliminated.

MCP April 2017

critical standby power applications.

Also on show was the Yuasa SWL VRLA battery rack. Both systems are designed to ensure reliability and high performance.

In the unlikely event that one UPS module does encounter a problem, the overall system will continue to operate normally but with one less module of capacity. The failed module will be fully disconnected and will not impact the remaining operating modules.

The modules are also truly ‘hot-swappable’, so they can be removed or inserted without risk to the critical load and without the need to power down.

missioncriticalpower.uk

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50

Q&A

Arun Shenoy Schneider Electric’s VP for IT and data centre business on the Moon landings, making people happy and using logic Who would you least like to share a lift with?

A salesperson whose elevator pitch takes more than 10 seconds.

In our industry, and in other technology-based ones, it is often the case that sales people talk about their stuff rather than their understanding of their customer’s business. Get to the point and start with the outcome.

You’re God for the day.

What’s the first thing you do?

I would get everyone in our data centre industry to take a few days off work to spend time with others in mission critical infrastructure environments such as oil and gas and power utilities and nuclear. We can all learn how engineering, operations and finance all come together to create infrastructure that’s reliable, efficient and sustainable, and financially effective. Oh, and I might just see if I can get religions to come together and unite humanity – that might be a useful spend of some of my time.

If you could travel back in time to a period in history, what would it be and why?

I think I might prefer to travel forward in time, that might give me some insight on what to spend time on and what (or who) to avoid. If I did travel back in time, I’d like to go back to the 1960s and not to change anything or even profit from it but simply to watch Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove working on semiconductors and chips – the microprocessor has been the biggest liberating invention of the past 100 years; everything we do today depends on it.

Who or what are you enjoying listening to?

My sons tell me that I have a lot of garbage in my music MCP April 2017

collection, I prefer to think about it as a varied and eclectic taste.

From garage to rock to classical.

Rag’n’Bone Man and Hed Kandi are my current playlists.

What unsolved mystery would you like the answers to?

The Moon landings! Is it really true that fully suited astronaut can’t fit through the Eagle lander door – perhaps that’s just an urban myth? How about the fact that humans are largely hairless and have subcutaneous fat?

What would you take to a desert island and why?

My memories and knowledge, and optimism that the weather will be good.

What’s your favourite film (or book) and why?

The Fifth Element. Although I’ve never really worked out why as the acting was probably never in the Oscar winning category. I suspect the combination of Luc Besson, Éric Serra and Jean-Paul Gaultier coming together has something to do with it.

If you could perpetuate a myth about yourself, what would it be?

This is true escapism but I’d have to say it would be great to hear

“oh, look, there’s the guy that figured out AI one afternoon”.

What would your super power be and why?

Knowing what the next two questions are, I’ve always been fascinated how some people are unpredictable and non-linear – it would be useful for them to seem predictable and linear to me.

What would you do with a million pounds?

Give half to charity and then think about what I can do to make our family’s life easier.

What’s your greatest extravagance?

I once bought a car outright and regretted spending my hardearned money on a depreciating asset. I haven’t made that particular mistake since, although I’ve many others.

If you were blessed with any talent, what would your dream job be and why?

It would have to be something that makes people smile. I’d love to figure out what makes people happy and give every individual person their little ‘fix’ (as long as it doesn’t break the law) .

Unsolved mystery: the Moon landings

What is the best piece of advice ever been given?

People buy using emotion and justify using logic. Don’t sell on logic!

What irritates you the most in life?

Selfish people. We’re supposed to evolving as a race, becoming more emotionally intelligent and working towards a collective sentience – although I’m a little taken aback with how primitive we can sometimes be.

What should the energy users be doing to help itself in the current climate?

Get to know what’s going on in the world of technology.

Innovation is what makes us all move faster and my organisation is often faced with the dichotomy of “we don’t want to talk to vendors” and “we don’t see any innovation in the market”. Faster moving (eg microprocessors) markets where products have a relative short lifecycle commoditise more quickly but also innovate more quickly and so faster, better, cheaper is business as usual. Slower moving (eg electrical and mechanical products) markets have longer product lifecycles but are often being commoditised as quickly.

Ultimately, it is about value and total cost ownership (TCO). Both vendors and end users have a big role to play in order to better understand how technology innovation drives business growth.

What’s the best thing – work wise – that you did recently?

I recognised and rewarded a team that have had a fantastic few months. It reminded me that as business leaders we often don’t do that enough. I’m committing to do it more. l missioncriticalpower.uk