Grundfos has always been a first mover when it comes to efficient, reliable pumping solutions.
Harihans Singh
How do you view the data center market scenario in India? What are the emerging trends?
India's digital revolution and rising demand for data-intensive services are fuelling the country’s data center market and as a result we can witness a remarkable growth trajectory of data center market in India.
The government's Digital India initiative, the expansion of e-commerce, revolution in telecom industry, technology advancements and the uptake of cloud computing are some of the reasons propelling the data center market in India.
Last two decades of India has been the decades of mobile and the upcoming two decades will be known as the data era. Technologies like Regenerative AI, Cloud Services, and transition to 5G networks will be resulting in an unprecedented surge in data consumption.
Going forward, data centers will witness a significant change towards more environment friendly and sustainable design to help reducing the carbon footprints. The emerging trends like new age cooling systems (e.g., Distributed Pumping System for Chilled Water System/Air Cooling and Liquid Cooling technology), renewable energy sources, and implementing green technologies is helping the data center to have substantial cost savings along with positive effects on the environment.
What is the role of cooling solutions in data centers?
A data center is a centralized location, where computing and networking equipment is concentrated for the purpose of collecting, storing, processing, distributing and allowing access to large amounts of data.
The servers in data centers consume large quantities of power and the work they do generates a great amount of heat. If a server overheats, it shuts down. So, data centers need the cooling solutions and consume a lot of energy to keep server rooms cool.
Generally, chillers are used to cool down the water in a chilled water system in which pumps circulate water around the Server Hall in a closed loop. In the Hall, the water heats up, then leaves to be cooled, either by a chiller, cooling tower or combination of both.
What are the efficient water pumping solutions offered by Grundfos in data centres?
Grundfos's high-efficiency, energy-saving cooling solutions make it possible for data centers to cool in an effective way while meeting redundancy requirements and exceeding the sustainability goals. In new builds, retrofits or modular systems, our reliable products combine to form intelligent cooling systems tailored to any data center.
Apart from cooling solutions, Grundfos as a one-stop solution provider provides efficient and new-age pumping solutions for other applications in data center like: pressure boosting/hydro-pneumatic systems, water treatment/dosing & disinfection systems, wastewater pumping, modular skids, firefighting & protection, etc.
How are the innovative features of your pumping systems providing effective cooling in data centers?
Data center being a critical infrastructure, whether it is Tier 1 or Tier 4 data center, it is important to draw a special attention on pump selections. At Grundfos, the pump selection criteria involve many important check points which ensure high efficiency and reliable operation without having frequent need of maintenance. Here is sharing a few of important selection criteria below.
1. Duty point to BEP ratio (most optimal range is 80% to 110% of BEP).
2. Pump selection with testing grades 1B or 1E as per ISO 9906:2012.
3. The choice of Best Pump Type depends on duty point requirements, which could be horizontal end suction, horizontal split case or vertical inline pump.
4. Reduced downtime - To minimize data center downtime, the selected pump type should have sturdy internal construction that ensures nearly no maintenance and enables speedy repair (if necessary) without requiring many technicians or specialized equipment.
Grundfos innovative solutions keep water flowing efficiently around air cooling or liquid cooling systems through an array of intelligent pumps, sensors, smart controls and HVAC systems.
Efficient solutions for sourcing, distributing, treating and discharging water all contribute to reducing energy consumption and optimising data centers PUE and WUE.
What opportunities do you foresee for your products and solutions in the current scenario?
In the current scenario, most data centers fall within the power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of 1.4 to 1.6 due to factors such as suboptimal equipment efficiency, inefficient cooling systems, inefficient non-IT equipment, and manual or semi-auto operation of cooling systems.
We see this as an opportunity to provide the efficient and reliable cooling system and other efficient pumping systems which help data centers to achieve their target goals to reduce their PUE ratio and downtime.
What are your development/expansion plans?
Grundfos has always been a first mover when it comes to efficient and reliable pumping solutions.
Offering more than 75 years of trusted water expertise and a complete range of intelligent solutions, we are working to take complexity out of water management - from intelligent energy efficient pumps to digital solutions - including end-to-end support.
DPS for HVAC - We have launched fifth-generation HVAC/Chilled Water System technology, DPS (Distributed Pumping System) for the data centers, which ensures an energy saving of up to 60% against the existing conventional HVAC systems (Primary Fixed, Primary Fixed-Secondary Variable, and Primary Variable).
EPump Range - Last year, we launched our EPump range with IE5 efficiency class motors up to 55 kW, which provide the highest energy efficiency, reliable controls, condition, and performance monitoring solutions over BMS, SACADA, or the Cloud.
Grundfos Connect - Remote monitoring at anytime, anywhere Grundfos Connect is an efficient and cost-effective alternative to complex and costly SCADA systems or similar and opens the door for future AI and cloud-based algorithm technologies for operation and optimisation. It reduces the need for onsite inspections, and, in the event of an alarm or warning, the relevant people are notified directly.
At Grundfos, we're committed to working towards Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs 6 and 13 – as a fundamental part of our business strategy. The world needs more energy-efficient clean drinking water, HVAC and chilled water pumping solution, and wastewater solutions, and we have the technology to make a significant contribution to solving the world's climate challenges including sustainable water access and use.
Moving forward through digital innovation At Grundfos: We never settle for the status quo - we challenge it through innovation, in everything we do. Combining our engineering and water expertise with the knowledge of our customers, we deliver intelligent solutions enabling our customers to meet their goals and obligations, while delivering reliability and sustainability to their business. But intelligent solutions are worth nothing if they are not simple and robust, so we put these qualities at the centre of our development - to ensure our solutions perform under the most challenging conditions.
