ATLANTA, Georgia, United States, 6 February 2023: Infinitum, which claims to be the creator of the breakthrough air core motor, announced at the AHR Expo a next-generation, sustainable motor designed specifically for data centre cooling applications. Making the announcement through a Press release, Infinitum said the new motor system extends Infinitum’s Aircore EC line of motors and meets the unique needs of data centres to reduce power requirements and energy consumption.

According to Infinitum, data centres currently consume two per cent of the world’s energy and their energy demand is expected to increase eightfold by 2030. Forty per cent of the energy consumed in data centres is from motors powering cooling equipment, such as fans, pumps and compressors to reduce heat generated by servers, Infinitum said, adding that many of the fan systems used to cool data centres today use motors that have more horsepower than the application requires.

Infinitum said its Aircore EC motor for data centres can be customised to meet the application’s specific horsepower, speed and torque requirements, while still achieving performance targets to reduce energy consumption by more than 10-15%. It also means the input current required by the motor can be minimised, opening a significant opportunity to reduce the wiring and protection equipment needs of the electric utility that powers the data centre, allowing data centre designers to save costs on upstream electrical infrastructure, including wiring, circuit breakers and transformers, Infinitum said.

The Infinitum Aircore EC motor

The company said its new Aircore EC motor for data centres features an integrated variable frequency drive (VFD) to optimise motor control and efficiency, as well as smart features, such as IoT connectivity to monitor critical equipment and BACnet and Modbus controllers to optimise building operations. According to Infinitum, the new Aircore EC motor system for data centre applications will be available beginning in Q3 of 2023.

According to Infinitum, Aircore EC motors are 50% smaller and lighter, more efficient, significantly quieter and use 66% less copper than traditional motors. Infinitum said it designs and manufactures Aircore EC motors with a sustainable, circular lifecycle in mind. Modular design allows the housing, rotors, and stators to be reused multiple times, giving parts a second and third life to serve future generations, the company added.

“Data centers are growing in size and energy intensity, as the world’s demand for data grows exponentially,” said Blake Griffin, Senior Market Analyst, Interact Analysis. “Infinitum’s smaller, lighter, high-efficiency motor systems are a key technology for reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint.”

Ben Schuler, Founder and CEO, Infinitum, said: “We’re excited to bring our class-leading, sustainable Aircore EC motors to the data center world and give data center operators the opportunity to reduce energy demand and costs. When thousands of motors are often required to power data centers, our improved motor efficiency, reduced noise levels and smart features for visibility and building optimization add up to make a big impact for this sector.”