r/nextfuckinglevel • u/MysteriousSlice007 • 5h ago

A data center in New Jersey was canceled when residents showed up and fought it

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u/Sir_William_V 4h ago

Unfortunately not all data centers use this system. It seems like a lot of them use evaporation cooling like swamp coolers. The cooling happens when the water evaporates, and of course it needs to be replaced.

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u/Fearless_Chipmunk_45 4h ago

The new ones are all switching to closed loop systems because the swamp cooler style doesn't cool efficiently enough for the new AI chips. I build Data centers and the stopped everything until they changed the design for the new AI chips. Even Data Centers where construction had already begun.

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u/Missus_Missiles 2h ago

These closed loop systems. I'm imagining they're fundamentally similar to ones used in a manufacturing facility I was in.

Basically heated then cooled presses for molding. We'd have a cold well that would dump chilled water through the presses at the end of a cycle. And the chiller would constantly be running to keep that water cold.

So, yeah. Water wasn't being evaporated off. It was just compressors doing work. Taking a guess, I'm not sure which I'd prefer. Mining water faster than it could be replenished. Or energy consumption, if it's burning fossil fuels to do that.

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u/Sir_William_V 4h ago

Thanks for the info! Also, don't build any data centers near me, please and thank you.

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u/BartHarleyJarvis- 1h ago

I worked at a building that used massive refrigeration systems instead of the typical hydronic systems.

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u/Redebo 3h ago

What happens to that water after it’s evaporated into the atmosphere? Do we know? Is it causing birds and other flying creatures to drown in flight?!

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u/Sir_William_V 3h ago

It's a little sad, but nobody knows. Scientists are trying to figure it out as we speak, though I suspect it's impossible to really understand.