Skip to content
  • Looking for Parts? Visit Trane Supply
  • Education Plattform

Select Your Language

Selecting a language changes the language and content on the Trane site.

  • United States English
  • Canada English
  • Argentina Spanish
  • Mexico Spanish
  • Brazil Portuguese Spanish
  • Aruba English
  • Bahamas English
  • Belize English
  • Bermuda English
  • Bolivia Spanish
  • Bonaire English
  • Cayman Islands English
  • Chile Spanish
  • Colombia Spanish
  • Costa Rica Spanish
  • Curacao English
  • Dominican Republic Spanish
  • Ecuador Spanish
  • El Salvador Spanish
  • Grenada English
  • Guadeloupe English
  • Guatemala Spanish
  • Guyana English
  • Haiti English
  • Jamaica English
  • Martinique English
  • Netherland Antilles English
  • Nicaragua Spanish
  • Panama Spanish
  • Paraguay Spanish
  • Peru Spanish
  • Puerto Rico Spanish
  • Saint Lucia English
  • St. Vincent & Grenadines English
  • Suriname English
  • Trinidad & Tobago English
  • Venezuela Spanish
  • Armenia English
  • Austria German
  • Belarus Russian
  • Belgium English
  • Croatia English
  • Czech Republic Czech
  • Denmark English
  • Estonia English
  • Finland English
  • France French
  • Georgia English
  • Germany German
  • Greece Greek
  • Hungary Hungarian
  • Israel English
  • Ireland English
  • Italy Italian
  • Kazakhstan Russian
  • Latvia English
  • Lithuania English
  • The Netherlands Dutch
  • Norway English
  • Poland English
  • Portugal Portuguese
  • Romania English
  • Russia Russian
  • Serbia Russian
  • Slovakia Czech
  • Slovenia English
  • Spain Spanish
  • Sweden English
  • Switzerland French German Italian
  • Turkey Turkish
  • Ukraine English
  • United Kingdom English
  • Azerbaijan Русский
  • Tajikistan Русский
  • Uzbekistan Русский
  • Turkmenistan Русский
  • United Arab Emirates English Arabic
  • Qatar English
  • Kuwait English
  • Egypt English
  • Lebanon English Arabic French
  • Iraq English
  • Jordan English
  • Mainland of China 选择语言
  • Korea, Republic of (South Korea) Korean
  • Vietnam Vietnamese
  • India English
  • Australia English
  • Japan Japanese
  • Guam English
  • Thailand Thai
  • Taiwan Traditional Chinese
  • Hong Kong SAR English
  • Indonesia English
  • Malaysia English
  • Philippines English
  • Singapore English
  • New Zealand English
  • Services
    • Services
    • Energy & Sustainability
      • Energy & Sustainability
      • Energy Monitoring & Analysis
      • Energy Supply
      • Active Energy Management
      • Renewable Energy & Distributed Energy Resources
      • Energy Conservation Measures (energy efficiency)
    • Operate, Maintain & Repair
      • Operate, Maintain & Repair
      • Connectivity & Cloud Services
      • HVAC System Management
      • HVAC System Repair
      • Rental
    • Upgrade & Modernize
      • Upgrade & Modernize
      • Building Systems
      • HVAC System Retrofits
      • HVAC Equipment Upgrades
      • Financing & Energy Services Contracting
      • Indoor Air Quality Assessment
      • Ready for now
  • Products
    • Products
    • VRF & Ductless Solutions
      • VRF & Ductless Solutions
      • N-Gen CITY MULTI VRF
      • P Series
      • Nv Series
      • VRF System Design
    • Chillers
      • Chillers
      • Water-Cooled Chillers
      • Air-Cooled Chillers
      • Cold Gen Scroll Chillers
    • Packaged Units & Split Systems
      • Packaged Units & Split Systems
      • Rooftop Units
      • Split Systems
      • Self-Contained Units
      • Water Source Heat Pumps
      • Dedicated Outdoor Air Units
    • Energy Management & Controls
      • Energy Management & Controls
      • Building Management Systems
      • Building Automation Systems
      • Trane® Air-Fi™ Wireless Systems
      • Controllers
      • Thermostats
      • Accessories
    • Air Handling
      • Air Handling
      • Terminals
      • Sensible-Cooling Terminal Unit
      • VAV (Variable Air Volume) Units
      • Performance Air Handlers
      • Air Handling Accessories & Controls
    • Energy Storage
      • Energy Storage
      • Energy Storage Systems
    • Precision Cooling
      • Precision Cooling
      • Precision Cooling
    • Residential Units
  • Industries
    • Industries
    • Higher Education
    • Indoor Agriculture
    • K-12
    • Data Centers
    • Restaurants
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Healthcare
    • Local Government
    • Hospitality
      • Hospitality
    • Industrial
  • About
    • About
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Customer Stories
    • Looking for Parts? Visit Trane Supply
    • Education Plattform
    • North America
      • North America

      • United States English
      • Canada English
    • Latin America
      • Latin America

      • Argentina Spanish
      • Mexico Spanish
      • Brazil Portuguese Spanish
      • Aruba English
      • Bahamas English
      • Belize English
      • Bermuda English
      • Bolivia Spanish
      • Bonaire English
      • Cayman Islands English
      • Chile Spanish
      • Colombia Spanish
      • Costa Rica Spanish
      • Curacao English
      • Dominican Republic Spanish
      • Ecuador Spanish
      • El Salvador Spanish
      • Grenada English
      • Guadeloupe English
      • Guatemala Spanish
      • Guyana English
      • Haiti English
      • Jamaica English
      • Martinique English
      • Netherland Antilles English
      • Nicaragua Spanish
      • Panama Spanish
      • Paraguay Spanish
      • Peru Spanish
      • Puerto Rico Spanish
      • Saint Lucia English
      • St. Vincent & Grenadines English
      • Suriname English
      • Trinidad & Tobago English
      • Venezuela Spanish
    • Europe
      • Europe

      • Armenia English
      • Austria German
      • Belarus Russian
      • Belgium English
      • Croatia English
      • Czech Republic Czech
      • Denmark English
      • Estonia English
      • Finland English
      • France French
      • Georgia English
      • Germany German
      • Greece Greek
      • Hungary Hungarian
      • Israel English
      • Ireland English
      • Italy Italian
      • Kazakhstan Russian
      • Latvia English
      • Lithuania English
      • The Netherlands Dutch
      • Norway English
      • Poland English
      • Portugal Portuguese
      • Romania English
      • Russia Russian
      • Serbia Russian
      • Slovakia Czech
      • Slovenia English
      • Spain Spanish
      • Sweden English
      • Switzerland French German Italian
      • Turkey Turkish
      • Ukraine English
      • United Kingdom English
      • Azerbaijan Русский
      • Tajikistan Русский
      • Uzbekistan Русский
      • Turkmenistan Русский
    • Middle East
      • Middle East

      • United Arab Emirates English Arabic
      • Qatar English
      • Kuwait English
      • Egypt English
      • Lebanon English Arabic French
      • Iraq English
      • Jordan English
    • Asia Pacific
      • Asia Pacific

      • Mainland of China 选择语言
      • Korea, Republic of (South Korea) Korean
      • Vietnam Vietnamese
      • India English
      • Australia English
      • Japan Japanese
      • Guam English
      • Thailand Thai
      • Taiwan Traditional Chinese
      • Hong Kong SAR English
      • Indonesia English
      • Malaysia English
      • Philippines English
      • Singapore English
      • New Zealand English
  • Energy & Sustainability
  • Operate, Maintain & Repair
  • Upgrade & Modernize
  • Energy Monitoring & Analysis
    Energy Monitoring & Analysis
  • Energy Supply
    Energy Supply
  • Active Energy Management
    Active Energy Management
  • Renewable Energy & Distributed Energy Resources
    Renewable Energy & Distributed Energy Resources
  • Energy Conservation Measures (energy efficiency)
    Energy Conservation Measures (energy efficiency)
More on Energy & Sustainability
  • Connectivity & Cloud Services
    Connectivity & Cloud Services
  • HVAC System Management
    HVAC System Management
  • HVAC System Repair
    HVAC System Repair
  • Rental
    Rental
More on Operate, Maintain & Repair
  • Building Systems
    Building Systems
  • HVAC System Retrofits
    HVAC System Retrofits
  • HVAC Equipment Upgrades
    HVAC Equipment Upgrades
  • Financing  & Energy Services Contracting
    Financing & Energy Services Contracting
  • Indoor Air Quality Assessment
    Indoor Air Quality Assessment
  • Ready for now.
    Ready for now
More on Upgrade & Modernize
  • VRF & Ductless Solutions
  • Chillers
  • Packaged Units & Split Systems
  • Energy Management & Controls
  • Air Handling
  • Energy Storage
  • Precision Cooling
  • Residential Units
  • N-Gen CITY MULTI VRF
    N-Gen CITY MULTI VRF
  • P Series
    P Series
  • Nv Series
    Nv Series
  • VRF System Design
    VRF System Design
More on VRF & Ductless Solutions
  • Water-Cooled Chillers
    Water-Cooled Chillers
  • Air-Cooled Chillers
    Air-Cooled Chillers
  • Cold Gen Scroll Chiller
    Cold Gen Scroll Chillers
More on Chillers
  • Rooftop Units
    Rooftop Units
  • Split Systems
    Split Systems
  • Self-Contained Units
    Self-Contained Units
  • Water Source Heat Pumps
    Water Source Heat Pumps
  • Dedicated Outdoor Air Units
    Dedicated Outdoor Air Units
More on Packaged Units & Split Systems
  • Building Management Systems
    Building Management Systems
  • Building Automation Systems
    Building Automation Systems
  • Trane® Air-Fi™ Wireless Systems
    Trane® Air-Fi™ Wireless Systems
  • Controllers
    Controllers
  • Thermostats
    Thermostats
  • Accessories
    Accessories
More on Energy Management & Controls
  • Terminal units
    Terminals
  • Sensible-Cooling Terminal Unit
    Sensible-Cooling Terminal Unit
  • VAV Units
    VAV (Variable Air Volume) Units
  • perf-CSAA
    Performance Air Handlers
  • Air Handling Accessories & Controls
    Air Handling Accessories & Controls
More on Air Handling
  • Energy Storage Systems
    Energy Storage Systems
More on Energy Storage
  • Precision Cooling
More on Precision Cooling
Read Customer Story

Creating a comfortable and inviting atmosphere for 1177 West Hastings

Higher Education K-12 Restaurants Healthcare Hospitality Industrial
Indoor Agriculture Data Centers Commercial Real Estate Local Government
Read Blog Post

4 Questions to Determine Your Equipment Upgrade Strategy

About Us Customer Stories
Contact Us

CONTACT A TRANE EXPERT

Puerto Rico Sales & Service Office

Air vs. Water Cooled Chillers: Which is Best for Data Centers?

By: Justin Wieman, Trane Applications Engineer

October 31, 2019

3D Rendering of data center room with abstract data servers and glowing led indicators, abstract network and ceiling lights. For Big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence concept background.

Which chiller type is best for data centers: air cooled, or water cooled? There’s no single answer. HVAC system designers need to ask a lot of questions before advocating one type of chiller over another. The obvious equipment choice is sometimes over-ruled by unique project factors including the available square footage, backup power strategies, local regulations limiting power and water use, or the owner’s sustainability priorities.

Ideally, data centers will consult with the HVAC company on the front end of the design process to make sure the solution meets short- and long-term objectives. If you’re the one making the decision on behalf of a data center, it helps to understand the pros and cons that are inherent to each type of chiller.

Capacity: Packaged air-cooled chillers are typically available in sizes ranging from 7.5 to 500 tons [25 to 1,580 kW]. Packaged water-cooled chillers are typically available from 10 to 4,000 tons [35 to 14,000 kW]. In other words, water-cooled chillers can deliver higher cooling capacity with fewer units and a smaller footprint.

Maintenance: Air-cooled chillers eliminate the need for cooling towers. Water-cooled chillers require cooling towers, which have critical maintenance demands: water treatment, chiller condenser-tube cleaning, tower mechanical maintenance, and freeze protection. Systems that use open cooling towers must have a water treatment program to prevent contaminants such as bacteria and algae. Cooling towers also evaporate water so you will need access to a large supply of make-up water to replace the evaporated volume.

Location: The pursuit of cheap power and lower taxes is changing the face of the data center industry, placing huge facilities in remote locations far removed from the users. If placed in location where temperature drop below freezing, air-cooled chillers can be easier to operate , because they eliminate the problems associated with operating a cooling tower in severe winter conditions. Cooling towers may require special control sequences, basin heaters, or even an indoor sump for safe operation in freezing weather.

Energy efficiency: Water-cooled chillers are typically more energy efficient than air-cooled chillers. The refrigerant condensing temperature in an air-cooled chiller is dependent on the ambient dry-bulb temperature. The condensing temperature in a water-cooled chiller is dependent on the condenser-water temperature, which is dependent on the ambient wet-bulb temperature. Since the wet-bulb temperature is often significantly lower than the dry-bulb temperature, the refrigerant condensing temperature (and pressure) in a water-cooled chiller can be lower than in an air-cooled chiller. The lower condensing temperature, and therefore lower condensing pressure, means that the compressor needs to do less work and, subsequently, consumes less energy. This efficiency advantage may lessen during nighttime operation because the dry-bulb temperature tends to drop faster than the wet-bulb temperature when the sun goes down.

Delivery & Installation: Most air-cooled chillers are “packed systems.” The system, including the condenser, compressor, and evaporator, is designed and configured at the factory for optimal performance and reliability, which reduces design and delivery time and simplifies installation. Water-cooled chillers have the added complexities of condenser-water piping, pumps, cooling towers, and controls.

Longevity: With the continued technology advances and growth in more data processing, the data center infrastructure needs to be able to support these advancements while delivering consistent performance. In general, air-cooled chillers last 15 to 20 years while water-cooled chillers last 20 to 30 years.

Partially, it’s because water-cooled chillers are typically installed indoors and operate at lower condenser fluid pressure, while air-cooled chillers operate outdoors, at higher condenser pressure.

Water conservation: Water availability, cost, treatment requirements as well as potential additional construction complexity all play a role in system selection. Since air-cooled chiller do not require water, they are often a preferred choice especially in locations where there is a water shortage, or the water is very expensive.

Water is one of two major resources data centers consume [1] . Combined, US data centers were responsible for consumption of 626 billion liters of water in 2014, which includes both water consumed directly at data center sites and water used to generate the electricity that powered them that year. However, as the report points out, far more water is used to generate electricity that powers data centers than to cool them so chiller efficiency again comes back into consideration.

In summary, air-cooled chiller advantages include lower maintenance costs, a prepackaged system for easier design and installation, and better performance in freezing temperature. Water-cooled chiller advantages include greater energy efficiency, larger capacities, and longer equipment life. Yet, the best choice for the project may also depend on an entirely different set of decisions criterial. It’s important for data centers and system designers to take all factors into consideration to make sure the chiller that ultimately gets specified balances all the objectives over the long term.

 

[1] Sverdlik, Yevgeniy, DataCenter Knowledge, July 2016, “Here’s How Much Water All US Data Centers Consume.”  https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2016/07/12/heres-how-much-water-all-us-data-centers-consume

Looking For Parts?

Visit Trane Supply

For General and Corporate Questions:

Contact Us
  • About Trane
  • Customer Stories
  • Locate a Sales Office
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Environmental Compliance
  • Quality
  • Ethical Business Conduct
  • Supplier Terms
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Privacy Policy  |   Terms of Use

Trane Technologies