THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 13
www.datacenterjournal.com
By frank Delattre
Flywheels:
A "Cooler", Green
Back-up Power Solution
for Data Centers
F
or data centers, power and
cooling go hand-in-hand.
While UPS electronics have
improved over the years, the
one area of the UPS that has not
is in the chemical energy storage of the
lead-acid battery used with UPSs. Fortu-
nately, kinetic energy storage flywheels or
kinetic energy systems provide a viable
alternative.
e flywheel is a mechanical device
that quickly stores energy as it spins
(Figure 1). While electricity from the
grid is needed to operate the flywheel,
once the power goes out, the flywheel's
stored kinetic energy generates electricity.
Compared to lead-acid battery-based UPS
systems, flywheels do not need expensive
air conditioning, large real estate or fre-
quent maintenance. Today's kinetic energy
storage flywheels provide mission-critical
data centers a highly efficient and depend-
Figure 1. Flywheel components
