Data centre enjoys lower maintenance with JS humidification

Published: January 2010

New humidification equipment supplied by JS Humidifiers for this data centre has dramatically reduced maintenance requirements.

Maintenance requirements for humidifying the Citadel 100 data centre in Dublin have been dramatically reduced following the installation of a new system from JS Humidifiers. The previous system had to be serviced every six weeks to empty limescale from the boiling chambers, which took about a day. The new system, with reverse-osmosis water treatment, requires servicing every six months.

The two Neptronic SKE resistive steam humidifiers can supply up to 140 l/h to control humidity in the 7500 m2 of data halls. The water-treatment systems remove most of the minerals from the supply water before it is boiled.

George McDonald, technical manager at Citadel 100, explains, ‘We need to maintain 50% relative humidity in the data halls to prevent static build-up and maintain a healthy environment. Without the humidifiers, the atmosphere can drop to 25% RH, which is a risk both to people working in the area and the equipment.

‘The humidifiers operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 80% capacity. The new humidifiers have performed well since they’ve been installed, and we’ve been able to fit and forget them with absolutely no issues.’

Heating elements are made from scale-resistive Incoloy 825 super alloy which, when heated, causes any limescale that does build up to crack from the surface in small, manageable pieces that are mostly washed to drain during normal operation.

The PureFlo 100 reverse-osmosis water-treatment system removes 90% of minerals from the water supply.