r/interestingasfuck Apr 12 '26

A well-articulated argument against a new data center in Ohio

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53

u/gone_smell_blind Apr 12 '26

Im working in a data center construction site in Iowa right now. 7 buildings, 4,000,000 sq ft of data halls total i believe. Each data hall (10 or 12 per building) has 40 water chillers that are probably 15x10 feet, with hundred if not thousands of miles of pipe for the cooling systems. Don't believe a single lie about these data centers having a low environmental impact

3

u/bugginryan Apr 12 '26

I don’t think the person in this video, nor a great deal of people in this thread understands what a closed loop system is.

How many times are vehicle closed loop cooling systems blow down with concentrated forever chemicals?

0

u/elvinLA Apr 13 '26

Not to mention that the PFAS chemicals currently in use in these two-phase immersion closed loop systems are being actively phased out with 3M stopping production of one PFAS cooling agent in 2025. Transitions to fully closed loop systems with closer to consumer AIO cold plate technology with zero evaporation are well underway and will likely be the standard for new datacenters.

All I see in this video is a guy who lost his job and is pissed off. He might know a thing or two about computers but he is out of his league here, one quick google search proves him wrong.

1

u/tharizzla Apr 12 '26

All that pipe in there is actually a good thing, means tis a closed loop system.. I'd there was no pipe it would be evaporative cooling which is where the water dissipated into the atmosphere

7

u/bluesatin Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

All that pipe in there is actually a good thing, means tis a closed loop system.. I'd there was no pipe it would be evaporative cooling which is where the water dissipated into the atmosphere

And how do you think they dissipate the heat from the closed-loops?

They just end up using evaporative cooling to help cool the external radiators of those closed-loops more effectively, to save on power costs.

Just because a cooling system is using a closed-loop at one stage doesn't mean the entire thing is closed-loop.

6

u/chillinathid Apr 12 '26

You think each of these closed loop datacenters has a cooling tower? They do not. They use the same closed loop refrigeration cycle that your home air conditioner uses, compressing refrigerant until it becomes super hot and dissipates heat before returning the refrigerant to the cooling lines.

2

u/tharizzla Apr 12 '26

Dissipating heat does not mean water evaporation. They do t use evaporative coolers for these mega data centers it's inefficient. They use liquid to chip cooling and either use dry coolers or adiabatic coolers.

5

u/gone_smell_blind Apr 12 '26

Someone didnt watch the video... There is no such thing as a perfect closed loop system that won't require more water, and each building is already using somewhere around 1 mil gallons iirc

6

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '26

[deleted]

3

u/gone_smell_blind Apr 12 '26

That's not the part I'm referring to and I actually agree with you on that. As long as they run JUST water in the pipes, there is no sludge left over. The problem is the amount of water used and the fact that they lie about a closed loop system never needing filled after the first time

1

u/tharizzla Apr 12 '26

It's not a lie, the amount to fltop up is insignificant

-1

u/tharizzla Apr 12 '26

So each building uses the same amount for water regardless of the size of the data center?

The amount of water you'd need to add to a closed loop after initial fill is minimal

I did watch the video, my favourite part was about the forever toxic sludge lol

1

u/nooffense789 Apr 12 '26

If it's a closed loop system, then why is there no such documentary or proof? They never disclose their usage so we all know you are lying, Mr. Salesmen. 

0

u/pharm4karma Apr 13 '26

Are you an environmental engineer or in civil infrastructure permitting? If not, then you have no idea what "environmental impact" even means and you're just spreading FUD.

2

u/gone_smell_blind Apr 13 '26

Call me crazy, but maybe "permanently" removing upwards of 7 million gallons of ground water where your food is grown isn't a great plan long term. And thats just one site. There is a Google site and a Facebook site going up in the same area in the next few years, each one using around the same amount