Google Cooling Entire Data Center With Seawater

[lamorpa]

[citation][nom]shmoogle[/nom]lol, you could have a million of these data centers spread out every mile across every coast and not affect the temperature of THE OCEAN by a single degree. Especially considering they try to cool the water back down before returning it. The only potential damage to the environment is any sealife that might exists near the "exhaust" portals of the buildings. Things like algae and maybe some fish might not like a small rise in temp. But anything beyond half a mile or so would never notice the difference.[/citation]
Oh, yes. The heat magically disappears because they have good intentions? 'cool the water back down before returning it' (meaning heating the air) Heat is heat. It has to go somewhere. I cannot believe the number of ignorant comments here. The savings is not in environmental heat output, it is in not having air conditioning compressors, coolant, pressurized reverse-carnot cycle piping, etc.

And to those warning them about corrosion, I'm suuuuuure they never thought of that and they'll appreciate it a lot. Is there anyone one the world experienced with seawater coolant systems? (except all ship building engineers, nuclear power station engineers, water desalination engineers...)

 

[jsc]

[citation][nom]DjEaZy[/nom]... and adding to global worming...[/citation]
Yep. Those big sea snakes will have a cozy place to live.

Oh, wait. You mean global warming.

 

[milktea]

So if there's a Tsunami, then the sea water would wipe out the entire data center?

 

[soundping]

Most be some heavy filtering going on. Any debris will scar the pipes.

 

[misry]

I see we've successfully profiled all those who have no concept of heat transfer in liquid and/or the size of the ocean.

 

[lamorpa]

I see we've successfully profiled all those who have no concept of the significance of small, additive changes. An individual automobile only outputs a little pollution, so all cars put together, there's only a little pollution right?

 

[lamorpa]

[citation][nom]milktea[/nom]So if there's a Tsunami, then the sea water would wipe out the entire data center?[/citation]
...if the data center was in a Pacific or Indian ocean coastal area instead of Finland where it is planned. See, that's the thing about where something is; It's not in some other place where it isn't.

 

[Hellbound]

[citation][nom]DjEaZy[/nom]... and adding to global worming...[/citation]
It's warming, not "worming".. Now get back to playing with your iPad...

 

[eddieroolz]

Okay, so just another attempt to show that they're "eco" and that they're "green" and yeah.

 

[brendano257]

[citation][nom]DjEaZy[/nom]... and adding to global worming...[/citation]

You're adding to global warming, and without much benefit to anyone else I daresay.

 

[stryk55]

Ok, some of you have absolutely know idea what exactly can and can't cause global warming, and you should probably just stop talking about the subject...

 

[valuial]

grotesque lamorpa, MR insight prize. Yeah google is responsible in global warming more than our economic system or so.... let me guess you probably cure your foot when you got a headache? and oh you have wasted ressources here, now please think stop trying to promote ecology you are doing more damage to a noble cause than helping...

 

[eaving]

[citation][nom]mortsmi7[/nom]Ships use seawater to cool everything. Hell on pipes? Not really, sacrificial anodes made from zinc greatly inhibit corrosion, that and the alloy the pipes are made from. The cooling potential far outweighs the maintenance involved.[/citation]

Thank you for that, I was going to post this if noone else had gotten around to it yet. Sacrificial anodes are used all over the place to deal with situations like this. See the Sydney Opera House for one, they use Sea Water in a heat exchange system.

 

[quickmana]

This actually reduces global warming. Global warming doesn't come from us heating things, lol. It comes from the production of heat trapping gases. Those gases are produced by many power plants to generate electricity, so if Google can use this thing to save money on their power bill, a side effect will be saving environmental damage, and i'm all for a win win.

 

[sceen311]

[citation][nom]mobrocket[/nom]the impact this will cause is far less then if they used traditional means of cooling... techonology got us into this problem and techonology can get us out[/citation]
Heat = Energy
They're dumping energy into a place that is currently in excess of the stuff.
They're not being green, they're being less black or brownish grey or what ever the opposite of green would be in this instance.
Being green would be like taking the heat from the servers and using it to keep their coffee warm or keeping a greenhouse full of carbon sucking plants warm to offset the carbon produced by running the data center.
But you're right, they're trying. A feat worthy of a Slow Clap.

 

[malphas]

[citation][nom]lamorpa[/nom]Oh, yes. The heat magically disappears because they have good intentions? 'cool the water back down before returning it' (meaning heating the air) Heat is heat. It has to go somewhere. I cannot believe the number of ignorant comments here. The savings is not in environmental heat output, it is in not having air conditioning compressors, coolant, pressurized reverse-carnot cycle piping, etc. And to those warning them about corrosion, I'm suuuuuure they never thought of that and they'll appreciate it a lot. Is there anyone one the world experienced with seawater coolant systems? (except all ship building engineers, nuclear power station engineers, water desalination engineers...)[/citation]
Although everything you're saying here is technically correct (slight niggle with the cooling method, I think they're just diluting the warm water with additional seawater before ejecting it, to prevent damage to wildlife near the outlets rather than dissipating heat into the air) it will still have zero measurable affect on the temperature of the ocean as a whole, simply due to scale. MISRy is right, the ocean is large enough to absorb the heat of millions of these types of datacentres without increasing in temperature by a single degree.

In any case the point is redundant, the heat is being generated and has to go somewhere no matter what. Ultimately doesn't matter where it goes, it's not going to have any impact one dissipated into the environment.

 

[malphas]

Yeah sceen311, I was thinking while watching the video that the obvious next step would be do something like taking the warm water from the heat exchangers and pumping it into the surrounding residential/office buildings in the area for heating.

 

[Anaxamenes]

Seawater is extremely corrosive, and actually putting heated water back into the environment is not particularly healthy for wildlife. Plants and animals can be very sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Now compared to burning coal or natural gas to power huge air conditioners, this is probably a lot more environmentally friendly. A good step in the right direction.

 

[thillntn]

WoW I bet Al Gore helped them with this; just like the interwebs, it's a series of connected tubes!!! In all seriousness, what is the backup cooling? one pipe laid in the 50's is a risky bet.(no pun intended).

 

[nebun]

[citation][nom]kilo_17[/nom]This is a pretty cool, new idea![/citation]
but not original...google just upgraded it

 

[fir_ser]

Cool, good for Google.

 

[kronos_cornelius]

[citation][nom]mightymaxio[/nom]Wow thats pretty cool as long as the salt from the water doesn't rust the metal and electrical components.[/citation]
He mentioned heat exchangers. The salt water never gets close to the electronics.

 

[f-14]

i love the corrosive comments pouring out, i guess they didn't notice the fiberglass pipes or the fiber glass wrapped pipes or that all the pipes are exposed so they can be readily replaced in less then 6 hours.
just one of the things i noticed from the video. i could find more to nit pick about with the hot water dispersal system.
there's better things to nit pick about then what is in 90 percent of these comments of drivel any ways.

 

[lamorpa]

[citation][nom]valuial[/nom]grotesque lamorpa, MR insight prize. Yeah google is responsible in global warming more than our economic system or so.... let me guess you probably cure your foot when you got a headache? and oh you have wasted ressources here, now please think stop trying to promote ecology you are doing more damage to a noble cause than helping...[/citation]
valuial, GA sight prose. Yes, google is nascent in sea level rise than for inflation globally so... your remedy shoulder socket arthroscopic for caged bird therefore it? and yeah raw material natural resources, can you please keep nobility for the older handsaw assistance...

 

[ojas]

i think i can safely say that the sun is going to be much better at global warming (by releasing heat directly) than this data center.