Cooling confidence: precision testing with liquid cooled load banks
- The Challenge
Level 3 -5 commissioning tests on the CDU
- The Solution
Load testing from engineering to decommissioning
- The Impact
Data centre commissioning safeguards the reliability of the operations
Client:Leading data centre operator
Location:Sydney, Australia
Sectors:Data centres
The Challenge
Level 3 -5 commissioning tests on the CDU
A leading data centre operator needed to perform Level 3-5 commissioning tests on the CDU primary and secondary loops as part of their data centre extension and refurbishment. The testing required temperatures of up to 70°C and a power load of 1.2MW per loop. To achieve this, the customer required liquid cooled load banks to simulate real-world conditions.
Since the facility employed pioneering direct-to-chip liquid cooling for GPUs, contamination control was critical. Any contaminants introduced into the primary system could compromise performance, while the secondary system needed to remain as clean as possible. The customer needed a reliable partner with expertise in large-scale commercial data centre cooling projects, particularly those in sensitive environments. That’s why they turned to Aggreko.
The Solution
Complete load testing from engineering to decommissioning
Aggreko provided a comprehensive load testing solution, managing everything from engineering to decommissioning. To ensure a clean and efficient testing environment, we deployed four H32 heat exchangers to isolate the primary loop and it’s PG25 glycol mix from the testing equipment, preventing contamination.
To meet the customer’s power testing requirements, we utilised twelve 600kW liquid-cooled load banks, along with a backup unit, to deliver the heated glycol mix necessary for testing the data centre’s heat rejection systems, including cooling towers, dry coolers, and the chilled water loop. The load banks were designed to allow precise, incremental heating of approximately 20kW per step, ensuring a controlled and gradual load increase on the cooling infrastructure.
Throughout the testing process, our engineering team closely monitored the equipment’s performance, ensuring accuracy and reliability while maintaining the pristine conditions required for the customer’s direct-to-chip liquid cooling system.
The Impact