Google is in the final preparation stage of launching it’s latest data center. The location of the new “retro-fit” facility is in the town of Hamina in Finland where it will be built in an old, unused paper mill near the coast.

The cooling system for the new facility has been designed in such a way where it will utilize sea water (as opposed to a chiller plant system) which will be pumped from around 7 meters below sea level. Once the naturally chilled sea water enters the data center, it will travel through specially designed channels throughout the infrastructure made out of granite.

During the implementation stage of these granite cooling tunnels, Google system architects and engineers used a miniature submarine to survey the cooling tunnels to ensure there would be no instances of blockage. Although Google are holding their cards fairly close to their chests with regards to the exact functionality of the “sea cooling system” they have revealed that the incoming chilled sea water will be pumped through a series of four straining systems, then into a water-to-water heat exchanger where it will cool a separate water loop that is used to cool the entire data center.

Mr. Joe Kava, Senior Director of the Data Center Infrastructure, provides a short overview of the unique cooling system integration for the Hamina project in this video:

Google conducted extensive thermal testing simulations before deciding to go ahead with re-using the cooling system for its new data center which has been out of action since the paper mill shut down in 2008. Their testing involved tracking the fluctuation in temperatures from different tidal conditions and also seasonal temperature changes of the water and to what depth. As a result, it was concluded that 7.5 meters below the surface of the sea was the most suitable for optimum cooling all year round.

Google also is taking steps to ensure the water is re-cooled to a temperature that will not adversely affect the surrounding ecosystem after the water is pumped back into the sea.

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