在数据中心退役期间，机电设备会发生什么情况？
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在数据中心退役期间，机电设备会发生什么情况？
What happens to mechanical and electrical equipment during data center decommissioning？
电子废物是数据中心退役的主要关注点，但需要对柴发等机电设备进行更多的思考。
E-waste is the major focus of data center decommissioning, but more thought needs to be given to mechanical and electrical equipment such as generators
Dan Swinhoe | March 08, 2021
数据中心生命周期结束并退役后，重点通常会转向IT资产处置以及如何处理IT硬件上。
When it comes to the end of life and decommissioning of a data center, the focus often turns to IT Asset Disposal (ITAD) and what to do with IT hardware.
这当然很重要，关于含有敏感信息的IT硬件处置有很多规范要求，并且包含稀有、有价值或有毒材料的设备也需要回收再利用以并且安全处置。
This is important; there are numerous compliance requirements around IT hardware containing sensitive information, and the equipment contains rare, valuable, and toxic materials that need to be reclaimed, recycled, and safely disposed of.
尽管电子废物是主要问题，但数据中心的机电设备的处理同样需要考虑。变压器、发电机组、暖通设备、精密空调、开关柜、地板、布线设备、安防系统甚至机柜在整个生命周期内都会对环境产生一定的影响。然而其中大部分将会被当作废旧材料回收，大多公司更愿意购买新设备而不是翻新旧的；更愿意快速处理而不是转售或者再利用它们。
But while e-waste is a major issue, the mechanical and electrical components of data centers also require consideration. Transformers, generators, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) units, switchgear, flooring, wiring, security & monitoring systems, and even server racks all have an environmental impact across their lifespan. And while most of it will be salvaged for scrap and materials, many firms are all too happy to buy new rather than refurbished equipment and then quickly dispose of equipment rather than resell or reuse on other facilities.
LEDG的负责人兼创始人Todd Boucher指出：“关于数据中心的解构重点都是围绕电子废物进行的，很少有人强调其它材料和基础设施在生命周期结束后的利用途径”。
“The majority of focus around deconstruction in the data space is around the e-waste,” says Todd Boucher, Principal & Founder, Leading Edge Design Group (LEDG), “and not a lot of emphasis placed on the end of life path for other materials and infrastructure that are utilized in the data center.”
“我还没有发现太多强调什么是设备生命周期结束后的价值和途径。大多重点都放在运行过程中效率、性能以及可靠性上。”
“I have not seen much emphasis placed on what the end of life value or pathway would be for that equipment. Most of the focus is placed on the energy efficiency of operations as well as performance and reliability.”
Iron Flag Power Systems的研发总监Eric Hoover提到：“买一个二手的发电机组是一件很滑稽的事，即使它们占到了成本的三分之一，而且剩余的使用年限超过预计的周期”。
“People feel funny about buying a used generator, even if it’s a third of the cost and its remaining useful life exceeds the expected life of the facility.” Eric Hoover, director of development at Iron Flag Power Systems.
Syska Hennessy的负责人Rob Ioanna把退役数据中心的机电设备称作“不为人知的伤心事”。
Rob Ioanna, principal at Syska Hennessy, calls the decommissioning of mechanical and electrical equipment the 'untold sad story’ of the data center.
“像发电机组这种耐用的设备，在普通的商用环境中可以使用35-40年。但由于数据中心对可靠性和冗余的要求，一般运行20-25年就会找机会换掉，相当于减少了15年的设备寿命。”
“You have this robust equipment like generators that in a regular commercial environment would run the generators for 35-40 years. But in a data center because of reliability & redundancy requirements, they don't want to take a chance so they'll replace the generators in 20 to 25 years so they decommit the lifespan by 15 years.”
LEDG的Boucher指出“控制因素”的存在使得许多公司不愿意购买二手设备，尤其是考虑到设备运行时间和弹性要求方面。
LEDG’s Boucher says there is a “control factor” that makes many companies uncomfortable buying used data center equipment, especially with regard to their uptime and resiliency requirements.
“业主更希望获得端到端的控制。即使潜在购买的设备还有很长的使用寿命而且非常可靠，但对于设备进场之前发生过什么仍然无法控制，所以我认为很难从可靠性的立场出发来看待它。”
“Owners are most comfortable when they have control from end to end. Even if you're potentially buying a piece of equipment that has a lot of life in it and is reliable, you also haven't had control over what happened on that equipment before it came to your site, and I think that's really difficult from a reliability standpoint.”
“大家还是想要新的设备”，Iron Flag Power Systems的研发总监Eric Hoover说道，该公司专注于退役数据中心的资产回收。“买一个二手的发电机组是一件很滑稽的事，即使它们占到了投资的三分之一，而且剩余的使用年限超过预计的周期”
“People want new equipment,” says Eric Hoover, director of development at Iron Flag Power Systems, a firm that specializes in data center decommissioning and asset recovery. “People feel funny about buying a used generator, even if it’s a third of the cost and its remaining useful life exceeds the expected life of the facility.”
Syska Hennessy的负责人Syska Hennessy指出：很多客户对待他们的机电设备——尤其是发电机组——拒绝接受任何系统弹性的风险。
Josh Fluecke, principal at Syska Hennessy says it’s common to see clients look at their mechanical and electrical equipment – especially generators – and refuse to accept any risk to their resilience.
Fluecke表示：“如果一个20年的设备只有很短的运行和使用时长那么它算是一个不错的设备。并且只要已经做过所有的预防性维护措施那就没有任何技术原因替换它。”但由于是冗余弹性组件，没人愿意担这个风险，更没人愿意因为没更换设备为他们的客户担风险。
“If it's 20 years old but if it's got really low run hours and been used that much it's a perfectly good piece of equipment; There's no technical reason to replace it as long as you've met all the preventive maintenance measures over time,” says Fluecke. “But because of that redundancy resiliency component, nobody wants to take the risk and nobody wants to take the risk for their customers by not replacing that equipment.”
Hoover说可持续发展最大的障碍就是缺少计划和远见。
Hoover says one of the biggest barriers to sustainability is a lack of planning and foresight.
他补充道：“几个月前我们去丹麦的一个数据中心，并且对他们拆除UPS、铜缆、ATS（自动切换开关）、开关柜、发电机组等设备非常感兴趣。然而我们意识到它们中大部分很难拆除因为它们根本不能通过门和走廊”。
“A few months ago we walked a data center in Denmark, and we were interested in removing UPS equipment, copper wires, automatic transfer switches, switchgear, and a few large generators,” he explains. “However, we realized that a large percentage of it was not able to be removed because they simply could not fit through the doors and down the hallway.
“显然，新的围墙是在设备安装以后才建好的，把设备拆掉的范围和费用都很大，远大于困在里面设备的价值。老旧数据中心的寿命已经超过它本身的使用年限，但设备却注定要无限期放在旧银行的新基础设施里面。或者直到有人花费大量资金去拆除这些设备，摧毁上万美元的优良资产，并且失去践行保护生态行动的机会。”
“Apparently, new walls were built in the facility after the equipment was installed, and the expense and scope of bringing them down was so large, it far exceeded the value of the equipment trapped inside. The old data center was years beyond its useful life, but the equipment was destined to sit inside the new infrastructure of an old bank indefinitely or until someone drops the major expense of dismantling the large equipment, and therefore destroying tens of thousands of dollars of perfectly good assets, and ruining the opportunity to make an ecologically-responsible action.”
像许多事一样，在任何围绕可持续的决策中，资金是最重要的因素。建设单位都希望过程又快又省钱，以便于设备进场前的利润最大化。设备通常在生命周期内会转手多次，这个事实就使得在建设和安装阶段的决策和退役阶段的决策主体不会相同。
As with many things, money is often a large factor in any decisions around sustainability. Companies involved in construction may often wish to build quickly and cheaply in order to maximize profit before handing the facility over. The fact that these facilities often change hands multiple times across their lifetimes often means those making the decisions at the construction & installation phase aren’t the same as those at the decommissioning stage.
Hoover指出一个公司应该把他们大多数的退役项目看做是盈利型而不是支出型——通过卖掉设备——应该非常乐意做出这样“生态负责”的决定，但这种理念需要激励措施。
Hoover says that a company that sees their major decommissioning project as a revenue rather than an expense – through selling equipment – is very happy to make the “ecologically responsible” decision, but this requires incentive.
“大多数人不关心环境影响，他们只关注钱。像在丹麦的所作所为一样，人们做出这样目光短浅的决策是因为在当下成本比较低，并且决策者甚至可能不会处理在以后可能会出现的更大的花费”
“Most people don’t care about the environmental impact, they just care about the dollars. The reason people make short-sighted decisions, like they did in the Denmark facility, is because it costs less in the moment, and the decision-maker may not even be around to deal with the bigger expense when it comes time to deal with it farther down the road.”
“一些有着大局观并了解长期情况的人可能不会参与决策，甚至无法为决策者提供必要的建议。为了避免这些传统隐患，仅仅需要让所有人都参与到对话汇总，而不是只让了解片面信息的高层人员做出决策。”
“Someone who has the big-picture and long-term understanding of the situation may not be the one making the decision or even available to provide the necessary input to the decision-maker. All it takes to avoid many of these classic pitfalls is to simply bring everyone across all levels into the conversation rather than making a decision from the top with incomplete information.”
虽然设备再利用是非常罕见的，但的确偶尔存在，并且似乎企业可能更愿意升级利用那些公司现有资产中的机械设备。
While reusing equipment is rare, it does happen occasionally, and seemingly companies may be more comfortable with upcycling mechanical equipment already in the company’s possession.
JB Associates的总经理Ashley Buckland说：“我们为一个客户做了关键基础设施升级项目，他们的容量从1兆瓦升级到3兆瓦。他们有一个项目的发电机由于容量过小被拆除，但正好适合第一个升级项目。”
“We had a critical infrastructure upgrade project for a client,” says Ashley Buckland, Managing Director at JB Associates, “they were moving from 1MVA to 3MVA. They had another project where these generators were being taken out because they were not big enough, but were suitable for the first project.
“我们实际上与他们以及另一家公司合作翻新发电机组并且做一个全面的检修，更换软管和皮带、检查运行时间并做测试。然后他们就可以另外一个项目使用了。”
“We actually worked with them and another company to refurbish the generators and do a complete overhaul on them; change the hoses and belts, check all the running times and test them all. And then they were reused on the other site.”
“我已近看到它的作用，但也看到客户表示看不到保留他们的用处，有时候最简单的方式就是说我们会买新的，然后那时候你已经拥有的发电机组可能只运行了300、500或者1000个小时。”
“I’ve seen where it has worked, but then I've also seen it where clients have said we don't see the use in keeping these. Sometimes the easiest thing sometimes is just to say well we'll just get new in, and then you've got these generators which probably could have only run for 300, 500 hours or 1,000 hours.”
Buckland补充道，然而他发现企业有事保留冗余设备是为了达到在更换设备期间临时使用的目的，或者保留作为备品备件 。
Buckland adds, however, that he sometimes sees firms keep redundant equipment used for temporary purposes during a change-out, or kept for as spares and repairs.
“有时，我们保留旧的精密空调为了在出现冗余问题或故障的时候，使用它们的部件，我想这也是为了变得绿色环保。”
“Sometimes will keep the old CRAC units to use if they have a redundancy issue or a breakdown so they can use the parts from it, which I suppose is trying to be green.”
Iron Flag的Hoover指出：发电机组几乎总能在数据中心退役后找到二次利用的机会。开关柜和ATS也能再利用，灭火设备也一样。
Iron Flag’s Hoover says that generators can almost always find a second life after a data center decommission. Switchgear and Automatic transfer switches and are almost always reused, as is fire suppression equipment.
Hoover说虽然专卖没有太大的利润，但活动地板总能找到新家并且企业将会把它们免费带走。铜缆不会被再次利用因为它们不可能长距离拉拽并且绕在卷轴上，但是它们是有价值的并且总能被回收利用。UPS和PDU能被再次利用，但超过10年的设备只能被报废回收一些金属和部件，精密空调也一样。
Hoover says while it’s not profitable to resell, raised flooring often finds a new home, and companies will take them away for free. Copper doesn’t get reused because it is impossible to pull out in long lengths and rewind around a spool, but is valuable and is almost always salvaged and recycled. UPS and PDUs can be reused, but units older than 10 years are often scrapped and salvaged for metal and parts. The same goes for CRAC units.
含有PCB（多氯联苯）的变压器不可能再利用，要适当地排掉并且送去金属报废。然而非PCB变压器通常能获得二次新生。由于保质期有限，电池几乎都被回收，并且买家是不会对任何超过使用时间的东西感兴趣的。不幸的是，机柜是可能被处理到垃圾场的，尽管Hoover说有时候是能找到把它们免费带走的企业。
Transformers containing PCB are impossible to use and must be properly drained and sent to metal scrap. Non-PCB transformers, however, often find a second life. Batteries are almost always recycled due to their limited shelf life, and buyers are rarely interested in anything that’s more than a few years old. Unfortunately, server racks are an item that might hit the landfill, although Hoover says the company is sometimes able to find companies interested in taking them for free.
目前正在持续鼓励在建筑寿命结束时材料和设备再利用方面的可持续性发展。由欧盟资助的BAMB项目正在开发材料护照，它可以帮助机构了解材料的来源，并在选择可回收材料和设计可逆建筑时变得自如，从而鼓励更有效地修复、再利用和回收建筑中的材料、产品、和部件。
There are ongoing efforts to encourage more sustainability with regards to both equipment and the reuse of materials at the end of a building’s life. The EU-funded BAMB project is working on Materials Passports that can help organizations understand the provenance of materials and become more comfortable choosing recycled materials as well as reversible building design to encourage more efficient repair, re-use, and recovery of building materials, products, and components.
翻译：
苏鹏伟
捷通智能科技股份有限公司 技术经理
DKV（Deep Knowledge Volunteer）精英成员
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