Alfa Laval urges data centres to service heat exchangers

Alfa Laval has published a report urging data centre operators to adopt proactive heat exchanger maintenance, highlighting avoidable losses linked to fouled equipment.

The report, titled Ask the HEXperts, argues that routine heat exchanger servicing can reduce operating inefficiencies as data centre operators face pressure from energy costs and emissions targets. Research cited in the document suggests that one fouled heat exchanger can lead to losses of more than €12,000 over a two-month period and generate an additional 175 tonnes of CO2.

Heat exchangers are widely used across cooling and process systems in data centres, where stable thermal management is central to uptime and power use. The report outlines how performance declines as fouling builds up, raising costs and increasing the risk of equipment problems when units remain in service without intervention.

Maintenance focus

The document compares reactive maintenance, in which operators run equipment until failure, with proactive servicing intended to restore efficiency before breakdowns occur. It also includes a step-by-step outline of the servicing process and case studies from partner organisations.

According to Alfa Laval, regular maintenance can include cleaning, reconditioning, and the repair or replacement of parts such as gaskets. These measures can help recover heat transfer efficiency and give operators greater control over maintenance schedules and downtime.

Alessandro Bracco, Managing director for Alfa Laval UK and Ireland, said: "In a market that is being buffeted by external factors that are out of data centre operators' control, it makes sense to turn inwards and find efficiencies through factors that you do have influence over.

"There is no better example of this than heat exchangers. They can be found in vast quantities in nearly every single process line, yet many businesses still choose to run them to failure - a false economy. Servicing heat exchangers proactively not only allows you to control when downtime is undertaken, but delivers efficiency savings that can be genuinely revolutionary for businesses operating in this environment."

The report is framed around broader strains on the sector, including volatile energy markets, rising electricity bills and tougher decarbonisation requirements. Data centres, which consume large amounts of electricity for both computing loads and cooling, have come under growing scrutiny over how efficiently they use energy and how quickly operators can cut emissions.

In that context, ancillary equipment such as heat exchangers can attract greater attention because poor cooling system performance can affect both energy use and reliability. The report argues that maintenance policy, not just investment in new infrastructure, can influence efficiency outcomes.

Service network

Alfa Laval operates service centres in nearly 100 countries, including a 5,000-square-metre facility in Camberley, Surrey. Heat exchangers handled at that site go through a 10-step servicing process.

Among the processes described is non-destructive testing using dye penetrant to detect cracks that may not be visible during a standard inspection. According to Alfa Laval, this approach can identify faults that might otherwise be missed when equipment is checked by third-party providers.

The report's publication reflects a wider push by industrial equipment suppliers to position maintenance services as a source of cost savings for customers under financial and environmental pressure. For data centre operators, where outages can be expensive and cooling systems run continuously, the economics of preventive maintenance have become more prominent as operators seek savings beyond major capital projects.

Bracco made the same point in a second comment included with the report: "Servicing can be the lifeline that data centres never knew they needed. In the wake of tightening decarbonisation targets, rising energy costs and growing overseas competition, now is the time to Ask the HEXperts, and see what heat exchanger servicing can do for your business."