ExhaustFlow Technologies has launched its patented integrated base system for air-cooled chillers and dry coolers, targeting hot exhaust air recirculation in data center cooling plants. The company says the system is designed to restore cooling capacity and efficiency without oversizing equipment, expanding mechanical yard footprints or using water.
The system, covered by U.S. Patent No. 12,372,268, captures and routes ambient air from outside the recirculation zone and displaces hot discharge air before it can re-enter condenser coils. According to the company, this helps maintain uniform inlet temperatures across condenser coils in a chiller array.
ExhaustFlow Technologies says third-party Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling across multiple chiller plant configurations showed performance improvements with the system installed. The company reports WUE of 0, up to 25% more chiller cooling capacity and up to 30% improvement in plant efficiency measured in kW/ton, with corresponding decreases in MCA and MOP.
The system is intended for both new data center developments and retrofit projects. The company says installation requires no modification to chiller internals or controls, creates minimal disruption for retrofit sites and does not require equipment downtime.
Optional features include an integrated free cooling package and a controls platform that monitors condenser inlet, plenum and ambient temperatures to optimize fan speeds and airflow in real time. ExhaustFlow Technologies says project-specific modeling is available to assess CapEx and OpEx benefits for individual facility configurations.
“Data centers are investing billions in cooling infrastructure, yet a well-documented physics problem is quietly undermining that investment every day. Air recirculation isn't a fringe issue. It is endemic to any high-density chiller plant operating in a constrained mechanical yard. EFT was built to solve it definitively,” said Ralph Breisch, SVP - Global Sales & Marketing, ExhaustFlow Technologies.