Xinhua Net Focuses on Shiyan Indirect Evaporative Cooling Tower Project: Aolan Technology Empowers Green Transformation of Data Centers

Recently, Xinhua Net's Hubei channel released a special report focusing on the successful implementation of an indirect evaporative cooling tower project at a national-level communication production base in Shiyan, Hubei. The project adopts core technological solutions independently developed by Aolan. It not only demonstrates a breakthrough in the application of indirect evaporative cooling technology in the data center sector but also stands as a benchmark case, aiding the local area in advancing the "dual carbon" goals and achieving industrial upgrading, sparking widespread attention within the industry.

As China's "dual carbon" strategy advances, the demand for energy conservation and consumption reduction in the data center sector is becoming increasingly urgent. Traditional data center cooling systems rely on mechanical compression refrigeration, characterized by high energy consumption share, significant carbon emissions, and high operational and maintenance costs, which have become a core bottleneck constraining the industry's green transformation. The implemented project addresses the centralized cooling needs of the base's communication hub building by adopting Aolan's customized indirect evaporative cooling solution—maximizing the utilization time of dry air as a natural cold source through indirect evaporative technology, significantly reducing the operational hours of compressor-based mechanical refrigeration systems, thereby achieving notable energy and consumption savings.

The total construction area of the project is approximately 5,303 square meters, capable of supporting the installation capacity of at least 710 server racks. The base's technical director explained that the project was constructed in strict accordance with the highest national standard for Tier-A data centers. The power supply system employs a redundant backup design, enabling millisecond-level switching to backup power systems during mains power interruptions to ensure continuous and stable power supply for the data center.

The project is equipped with two sets of Aolan indirect evaporative cooling water towers, enabling intelligent switching based on different seasonal operating conditions: Under high-temperature and high-humidity conditions in summer, although the units operate as cooling towers, when the wet-bulb temperature is ≤29°C, the supply/return water temperature is 36°C/30°C, with an approach temperature of 1°C, providing low-temperature cooling water for the mechanical refrigeration system and significantly improving its energy efficiency. During transitional seasons (spring and autumn) and winter, the units directly serve as a cold source. When the wet-bulb temperature is ≤17°C, the supply/return water temperature is 17°C/23°C, with an approach temperature of 0°C. The cooling towers provide stable chilled water to terminal equipment via plate heat exchangers, effectively reducing system energy consumption.

The project leader stated that the cooling solution achieves key innovations by adopting a coordinated cooling supply technology integrating centrifugal variable-frequency chillers and Aolan indirect evaporative cooling towers. Critical equipment in the cooling station is configured according to a "2+1" redundancy principle, ensuring efficient heat dissipation for high-power chips. Calculations indicate that the project's Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is as low as 1.272, placing its energy-saving level at the forefront of the industry. This solidifies a green computing power foundation for the sustained provision of high-quality and efficient computing infrastructure services.

As the technology provider for this project, Aolan has actively responded to the national "East Data, West Computing" strategy in recent years. Leveraging its independently innovated evaporative cooling technology and rich project experience, it has deeply participated in the construction of multiple large-scale data center ventilation and cooling projects, providing crucial support for industry energy conservation, consumption reduction, and green transformation. The technological solution highlighted in this Xinhua Net special report represents a significant practical achievement by Aolan in the field of indirect evaporative cooling. Guided by the "dual carbon" goals, the application of such green cooling technologies will drive the data center industry's transition from a "high-energy-consumption" model towards a "low-carbon" direction, contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to the global low-carbon transition.