Data center uses its waste heat to warm public pool, saving $24,000 per year

midian182 · 2023-03-20T07:51:00-0400

In brief: The heat generated from a data center is being put to good use by heating a public swimming pool, helping save thousands of dollars per year while cutting carbon emissions. UK-based Deep Green's system provides enough heat to keep the pool at about 86 degrees Fahrenheit 60% of the time.

As reported by Datacenter Dynamics, UK startup Deep Green's 28kW system runs a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster for cloud customers looking to use its computing resources.

The system, which the BBC describes as washing-machine size, is located at Exmouth Leisure Centre swimming pool and has 12 four-CPU cards. It is used for AI training and machine learning workloads, though Deep Green CEO Mark Bjornsgaard says it could be used for cloud services and video rendering in the future.

The 82-foot pool and children's pool in the center need around 222,000 kWh per year to heat. Deep Green's computers are submerged in mineral oil that removes heat from the servers. The hot oil is then pumped into a heat exchange that warms the pool. Deep Green says it's transferring about 96% of the energy used by its computers, reducing the pool's gas heat usage by 62%. That translates to an expected saving of about $24,000 per year and a carbon emission reduction of 25.8 tonnes annually.

Deep Green's contribution comes at a time when energy prices in the UK are spiraling, the result of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Sean Day, who runs the leisure centre, said, "The partnership has really helped us reduce the costs of what has been astronomical over the last 12 months - our energy prices and gas prices have gone through the roof."

Deep Green pays Exmouth Leisure Centre for all the electricity its data center uses and any setup costs.

Deep Green CTO Mat Craggs said, "Our expected heat transfer from the kit is 139,284 kWh a year, equivalent to 62 percent of the pool's heat needs." He added that adding extra servers could increase this to 70 or 80% of the pool's heating needs.

We've heard of data centers utilizing heat in novel ways before. One of the more unusual cases was a business venture in Hokkaido, Japan, that planned to grow hundreds of thousands of eels in water warmed from by its data center waste heat.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/97995-data-center-uses-waste-heat-warm-public-pool.html

Adhmuz · 2023-03-20T08:14:24-0400

What a concept, use waste heat to heat something wasteful to heat!

yRaz · 2023-03-20T08:32:18-0400

Adhmuz said:
What a concept, use waste heat to heat something wasteful to heat!

I feel like this is a dumb idea as I know very little about the subject, but what if we could use heat pumps to concentrate the waste heat enough to power steam turbines.

Theinsanegamer · 2023-03-20T08:35:47-0400

yRaz said:
I feel like this is a dumb idea as I know very little about the subject, but what if we could use heat pumps to concentrate the waste heat enough to power steam turbines.

The heat output from servers isn't sufficient for boiling water to that capacity. The firebox found in power plants regularly runs over 1000 degrees centigrade when in use. The CPUS would need to be running at similar temps to boil water to that degree. And since said steam would be in boilers, under pressure, the boiling temp would actually increase from 100c, requiring even higher source temps.

Kam7r · 2023-03-20T08:50:53-0400

Thats actually a very good idea, in France we had a company who proposed to heat your house/appartment with heat produced from servers, but I didn't heard about them since several years so I don't really know if they still exist.
If we gonna produce heat anyway, if it can serve to do something, better using it than wasting all that energy.

yRaz · 2023-03-20T08:56:14-0400

Theinsanegamer said:
The firebox found in power plants regularly runs over 1000 degrees centigrade when in use. The CPUS would need to be running at similar temps to boil water to that degree.

If that's the case it seems like manufacturers are already on their way to making this a reality

nismo91 · 2023-03-20T11:21:38-0400

Not a bad application tbh. I always dream one day we'll have the tech to further reuse thermal energy. for an example a typical house in the tropics would have air-conditioner that dissipates heat to the atmosphere. instead of wasting it perhaps one day we could redirect the heat into water storage tank to reduce electric water heater energy consumption.

I actually wonder if one could make a mini laundry dryer out of a server computer. I mean if you have a very hot CPU and GPU you could already make a tiny "sock dryer" operating at 65C/150F. just need to make sure to clean the lint in every cycle lmao.

Julnor · 2023-03-20T12:12:21-0400

I have a few friends that call their GPUs a "space heater" and have been using them to heat for years. The 30 series on for Nvidia just pump out insane heat.

I had a 470 way back and I could only play games in the winter with how much heat that thing put out.

netman · 2023-03-20T13:58:37-0400

"Deep Green says it's transferring about 96% of the energy used by its computers, reducing the pool's gas heat usage by 62%."

With Energy Crisis in Europe, you would see more and more of such energy conservation measures in the future...!

loki1944 · 2023-03-20T14:44:43-0400

I'm sure heated pools are a global concern for waste recycling. Rich people problems.

Theinsanegamer · 2023-03-20T15:13:08-0400

nismo91 said:
Not a bad application tbh. I always dream one day we'll have the tech to further reuse thermal energy. for an example a typical house in the tropics would have air-conditioner that dissipates heat to the atmosphere. instead of wasting it perhaps one day we could redirect the heat into water storage tank to reduce electric water heater energy consumption.

I actually wonder if one could make a mini laundry dryer out of a server computer. I mean if you have a very hot CPU and GPU you could already make a tiny "sock dryer" operating at 65C/150F. just need to make sure to clean the lint in every cycle lmao.

There is a major issue with such integration, and that would be the increase in complexity, and thus price. See also: the price of cars, even "cheap" cars, and their repairs.

zizi59 · 2023-03-20T21:10:55-0400

Theinsanegamer said:
The heat output from servers isn't sufficient for boiling water to that capacity. The firebox found in power plants regularly runs over 1000 degrees centigrade when in use. The CPUS would need to be running at similar temps to boil water to that degree. And since said steam would be in boilers, under pressure, the boiling temp would actually increase from 100c, requiring even higher source temps.
---------------+++++

The water is not boiled as per the article, it is the extracted heat from the servers, that is being rerouted, then repurposed by heating the pool's water to warm temp, which the body can tolerate, but not to a boiling temp, but my question is: How many servers or server farms that can max-produce x amount of btunits of heat per cubic feet, in order to generate enough heat to keep up the warming to x amount of degrees in that pool

sorten · 2023-03-20T21:26:51-0400

Fantastic idea! 86 degrees Fahrenheit is too warm for workouts, but probably great for kids flopping around with their parents.

Watzupken · 2023-03-20T22:55:53-0400

Theinsanegamer said:
The heat output from servers isn't sufficient for boiling water to that capacity. The firebox found in power plants regularly runs over 1000 degrees centigrade when in use. The CPUS would need to be running at similar temps to boil water to that degree. And since said steam would be in boilers, under pressure, the boiling temp would actually increase from 100c, requiring even higher source temps.

The solution does not need to boil the water. Instead, it can be an alternative source of heat that contributes to boiling the water. It is like when you have a solar panel at home, it contributes by supplementing power to your home in addition to the power lines. And to be honest, with CPUs getting increasingly power hungry, I would think the heat output will increase as well.

The problem with heating a pool is that you will hasten the evaporation. So you end up losing water faster, and having to pump them back.

Theinsanegamer · 2023-03-20T23:14:24-0400

Watzupken said:
The solution does not need to boil the water. Instead, it can be an alternative source of heat that contributes to boiling the water. It is like when you have a solar panel at home, it contributes by supplementing power to your home in addition to the power lines. And to be honest, with CPUs getting increasingly power hungry, I would think the heat output will increase as well.

The problem with heating a pool is that you will hasten the evaporation. So you end up losing water faster, and having to pump them back.

Guys I'm not talking about boiling the pool. I was specifically replying to yraz on whether servers could contribute to steam turn ines, which is a totally different ball game.

Data center uses its waste heat to warm public pool, saving $24,000 per year

midian182

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In brief: The heat generated from a data center is being put to good use by heating a public swimming pool, helping save thousands of dollars per year while cutting carbon emissions. UK-based Deep Green's system provides enough heat to keep the pool at about 86 degrees Fahrenheit 60% of the time.

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