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The technology of the Empa spin-off "Ionic Wind Technologies" has developed to such an extent that ionic wind will no longer be used to dry fruit, but to cool data centers.
Keystone
A technology developed for drying fruit will be used to cool data centers in the future. An Empa spin-off has developed a so-called airflow amplifier that can cool data centers using significantly less energy than conventional ventilation systems.
If conventional fans in data centers were replaced by this patented technology, up to 60 percent of cooling energy could be saved, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) announced on Thursday. Instead of mechanical fans, the technology uses electric fields to move air.
The airflow amplifier from Empa spin-off "Ionic Wind Technologies" accelerates the air by charging it electrically. According to Empa, electric current is converted directly into an air flow; energy-consuming and noisy intermediate steps via a motor, rotor or air vane are no longer necessary.
According to Empa, this principle had previously been used to dry fruit. However, the spin-off has now developed it further so that the air flow has been more than tripled.
To achieve this, the spin-off's researchers have replaced nails with needle tips. Previously, construction nails were used as electrical conductors to charge the air electrically. Using specially manufactured needle tips as electrodes, however, it was possible to direct the air flow in a more targeted manner and thus significantly increase it.
30.01.2025, 09:30
