RACA Journal I July 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 17
DATA CENTRE FEATURE SERIES
balance water and energy efficiency. The systems utilise annual climatic conditions to alternate between dry and wet operating modes, thereby optimising overall performance.
In South Africa, water scarcity and security remains a significant consideration. Again, many local data centres focus less on water savings and more on mitigating the operational risk associated with unreliable water supply. As a result, air-cooled chillers remain widely used because they do not consume or rely on water, despite their significantly higher energy consumption.
This approach highlights the ongoing balance between operational risk mitigation and environmental considerations.
RELIABILITY AND MISSION-CRITICAL OPERATION Heat rejection systems such as cooling towers, condensers, and fluid coolers are mission-critical components within modern data centres. A cooling tower failure can potentially result in an entire data hall going offline.
Data centres are commonly designed around N + 1 and 2N redundancy principles to ensure operational reliability. Material selection also plays a critical role in ensuring long-term durability and corrosion resistance, particularly in differing environments, such as Durban compared to Johannesburg.
Predictive maintenance and monitoring are considered essential in preventing catastrophic failures. Evapco offers Service Level Agreements, including‘ motor plans’, to ensure equipment remains in full operating condition and available for continuous service.
Modular tower designs can also support phased data-centre expansion, depending on the scale of the project, while simplifying maintenance and replacement parts management. RACA
Supplied by Evapco
Data artificial centres intelligence
RACA Journal I July 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 17