Latest e-nose technology ensures safe air conditioning with free cooling in Orange’s new data centres

Global telecommunication giants, Orange will soon replace its 6 historical French data centres with 3 modern buildings located in Val De Reuil in Normandy and Chartres. Engie, who are responsible for the operation and maintenance of this prestigious construction project has turned to Chromatotec for their specialist understanding of air monitoring solutions. Each 900 m2 building of will be equipped with Chromatotec’s latest generation vigi e-nose network to ensure safe air conditioning using direct free cooling in order to help reduce energy consumption in the facility. Fresh air is used at 92% to cool computer rooms, halving the environmental impact which is associated with traditional air conditioning systems.

The solutions provided consist of a mixture of analytical technology (GC-ED, PID, NH3 detection) located close to the intake air control systems on the cooling devices. If excessive pollution is detected, a real-time warning is generated to automatically disable the free cooling system and trigger the traditional air conditioners. This prevents contamination from polluted air with direct reduction of CO2 emissions by 5,000 tons.