Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have used the well-known phenomenon of ionic wind to reduce energy costs for cooling servers. Ionic wind acts as an additional element and increases air flow in places in the cooling system where fans would be redundant, allowing significant energy savings in server rooms.
Image source: Empa
Typically, ion wind is created using a stack of needles or combs that are supplied with high voltage. This causes continuous discharges and ionization of atmospheric gas molecules. The ions move away from the discharger and carry air molecules with them, creating a steady flow that can be used, among other things, to remove heat from computer or server components. The scientists were faced with the task of optimizing the dischargers to achieve maximum effect and increase the air flow.
During the development process, single dischargers with rounded tips were created, which turned out to be the most effective for the set goal. Calculations and subsequent experiments showed that the system can be used in places where minor acceleration of air flows is required. This technology will not replace the main cooling system, but as an auxiliary one it has demonstrated high efficiency. In laboratory conditions, it has already been successfully tested when drying fruits without using additional energy.
The developers are currently working on patents for their invention and hope to bring it to market soon. The system is expected to reduce server cooling costs by up to 60%.