Comarch is a Polish IT-company offering innovative IT-systems for a variety of economic sectors in Poland and abroad. The company and its nearly 7,000 employees focus on developing solutions in comprehensive service models, including cloud computing, the storage and processing of business information without the need to have their own infrastructure. The company also runs their own data centers, one of them located in Krakow. Data centers consume a lot of energy, in average 40 % of the total energy consumption is needed for a corresponding cooling system.
The Energy Scout team consisting of Małgorzata Sakłak, Paulina Rasińska, Aleksandra Niedziela, Piotr Handzlik and Grzegorz Kapturkiewicz decided to focus on using waste heat from that data center. More precisely, they plan to harness the thermal energy from the cooling system of the Krakow data centers and redirecting it to heat a swimming pool in a recreational facility located next to it.
The concept includes modern precision air conditioning, using environmentally friendly chilled water units instead of traditional and environmentally harmful refrigerants like freons. The biggest challenge is to capture and transport waste heat from the data center’s cooling system to the pool using heat pumps. The Energy Scouts calculated two complex scenarios. In addition to reducing the use of natural gas for heating the pool and consequently lowering the operating costs of the data center, the investment will primarily contribute to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.
This innovative project is showcasing how to make the most of surplus heat by using it for the local community.
Heat Recovery
Heating
- Industry sector: information technology
- Energy source: electrical electricity
- Energy savings potential: 1,071 MWh/year
- CO2 savings potential: 93 tons CO₂/year
- Investment costs: 389,000 €
- Payback period: 3.2 years
- Company:
Comarch S.A.
Al. Jana Pawła II 39a
31-864 Kraków
https://www.comarch.com/
