A HotModule fuel cell system from MTU CFC Solutions GmbH will soon be ensuring reliable operation of the servers in a T-Systems computer center. MTU CFC Solutions received the order for the installation of a HotModule from Munich-based PASM Power and Air Condition Solution Management GmbH & Co. KG (Power & Air Solutions'), a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG.
Power & Air Solutions organises and bears ultimate responsibility for procurement of all the energy needs of Deutsche Telekom AG and generates the full scope of energy-based solutions for Deutsche Telekom AG. The 250kW fuel cell system and absorption refrigeration system represent a package solution that will supply electrical energy and cooling capacity for a server suite, which is a self-contained part of the computer centre located in Munich's Euroindustriepark area. It is based on the cogeneration principle, which combines generation of electrical energy and thermal energy in a single process. The resulting energy efficiency is approximately twice as high as what can be achieved using electrically powered air conditioning systems. Approximately 60 percent of the primary energy is lost up the chimney' as waste heat when electricity is generated in large power plants, but here the thermal energy is utilised to cool the servers.
Deutsche Telekom acquired its initial experience with the HotModule system with an installation in a telecommunications facility. Now its objective is to test the fuel cell system in a computer centre application in preparation for utilising the potential of this environmentally friendly technology on a broad scale. The new HotModule will be officially put into service in the early summer of this year. This innovative project was supported by funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi).
The HotModule combines two attractive approaches to resource conservation. First, utilisation of the cogeneration principle yields significantly lower consumption of primary energy than with a conventional solution. Second, biogas is used indirectly as the fuel. The biogas is produced from energy crops grown in the countryside around Munich. It allows the fuel cells to be operated in a climatically neutral fashion. The amount of CO2 produced by combustion corresponds to the amount the plants that are used to produce the biogas remove from the atmosphere while they are growing. To achieve CO2-neutral operation, Power & Air Solutions purchases suitable quantities from Schmack Biogas. This ensures that the corresponding amount of biofuel is produced in the biogas plant in Pliening. The biogas, which has a methane content of 96 percent, is fed into the natural gas distribution system after passing through a cleaning process, and the HotModule draws its fuel from the natural gas distribution network. This virtual' utilisation of biogas (which is a replenishable resource) is in line with the principle of green electricity. In harmony with the German Renewable Energy Act, it is now available in these parts since last year, when the starting shot for the first large-scale biogas infeed project in Germany was fired in Pliening on 22 December 2006.
According to Michael Bode, managing director of MTU CFC Solutions: This HotModule, which the second one we have now in the IT & Communication area, is the first ever to supply Permanent Premium Power (name MTU CFC Solutions has given to this reliable form of energy supply), to a computer centre. I am especially pleased that this system is also CO2-neutral in operation, which is possible thanks to our biogas purchasing.'
The Permanent Premium Power concept could spare computer centre operators quite a few investments. In addition to providing a reliable, redundant broadband connection to the Internet, they must ensure the availability of electrical and thermal energy. For example, the Euroindustriepark computer centre currently has five electrical service feeds at the medium-voltage level to provide electrical energy, and 240,000 litres of diesel fuel are necessary to enable the engine-driven generators to produce electricity for 72 hours in an emergency. In addition, the 1200 batteries that provide a bridging source of electrical energy while the diesel generators are starting up are costly and take up a considerable amount of space.