K & N filtion has worked with the Apple technological giant to develop a sustainable filter solution
Small particles are enemies of the data center operators. If left without control, dirt, dust and pollen can accumulate in the IT team and make it work inefficiently, corrode and, in some cases, malfunction. Fortunately, help is available in the form of filters that can intercept these particles (as well as potentially harmful gases) as air circulates through data rooms via their cooling systems.
Since their function is to trap dirt, these filters have a limited lifespan and thousands of them are thrown away every year, adding to the considerable carbon footprint that most data center operators are actively trying to reduce. Could a reusable version be a better option? Filtration specialist K&N Global thinks so, having teamed up with Apple to develop a washable filter that it says can last for years. The filter has helped Apple achieve significant savings in its data centers, and now other carriers appear to be eyeing the product.
Data center air filters can be made from a variety of synthetic materials designed to resist moisture or microbial growth. Its effectiveness is measured in a minimum value of the efficiency relationships or Mervs, with the value of MINS that reflects the size and type of particles that can capture. For refrigerated or air data centers that use air conditioning from the computer room and the air management of the computer room, which can capture very small particles and have a 20 Mervic score. Traditional filters are changed three or four times a year, depending on the data center’s environment. That means a lot of those filters are sent to landfill. K&N says its analysis shows that a 100-MW data center, the kind now routinely built by hyperscalers and companies looking to do business, uses enough air filters to cover three football fields a year, or about 2,100 square meters. Including metal components and packaging, as well as the filter media itself, the U.S. data center industry sends 60,000 tons of filter waste to landfills each year.
K&N has been making filters since 1969, but its foray into data centers is much more recent. The company was founded by two motorcycle racers, Ken Johnson and Norm McDonald, both of whom are inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame for their exploits on and off the track. Johnson and McDonald met through the sport and teamed up to initially open a chain of motorcycle repair shops in California, but soon branched out into parts engineering as well. Together, they designed the High-Flow Air Filter, a new type of filter that allowed more air to reach a motorcycle engine.
“Back then, the amount of horsepower an engine had was directly related to the amount of air it could ‘breathe,’” says Jason DiFuccia, product leader at K&N Global Filtration. “They invented this filter to help them become better racers, and we’ve become the leader in all things performance air filters.”
Indeed, K&N products were hailed as game-changers when they first hit the market, and are now widely used by racers looking for a performance boost. The company has continued to innovate, and for a few years now, it has been marketing a reusable car air filter, which is how it caught Apple’s attention. Data Center Reuse
Although similar in concept to reusable filters designed for engines, K&N’s data center filter is an entirely new product, DiFuccia says. The engine version is made of a cotton-based material, which means it must be re-oiled every time it’s washed to maintain its efficiency. “We don’t want to oil the filters that go into a V-Bank by the thousands,” DiFuccia says. “So the ones used in data centers are a dry medium, a synthetic material that doesn’t require any oiling or chemicals in the washing and reuse process.”
While DiFuccia doesn’t go into detail about the type of material the filter is made of, he explains that it traps dust and other particles on its surface, rather than inside its fabric like a cotton filter would, making it easier to clean. K&N says the filter is the only product of its kind on the market, although there are other non-data center-specific reusable filters for industrial environments. Its design was refined through collaboration with Apple, which approached the company in 2019 with the goal of developing a reusable filter for use in its growing fleet of data centers.
The product was first installed on Apple’s campus in Reno, Nevada, and more than 20 versions of the filter were built and tested before arriving at the final version. It has already been deployed in the iPhone maker’s five U.S. data centers and can be purchased by other carriers in the V-Bank and Panel cooling system designs. There are MERV-rated versions of 8, 11, 13, and 14 available on the market today, and DiFuccia says it’s easy to customize the design to meet the environmental requirements of a particular data center or customer. DiFuccia comments on the collaboration with Apple: “They were very involved from the beginning and opened the door for us to come in and measure, test or prototype, and they were very open in terms of providing test data and ‘what could be improved.’
He adds: “The reusable filters have been tested before in data centers, but they haven’t been able to demonstrate their effectiveness from a washing protocol or return on investment standpoint. “This is the first one I know of that has a real application in the data center space and it’s wonderful for us to be able to say that we have a solution that a big company like Apple is using.”
Apple says the filters are making a tangible difference in terms of emissions and, in its latest sustainability report, said they have helped it divert 25 tons of used filters from landfill per year. It also claims to have reduced fan power consumption by 35% with these devices.
K&N claims its filters last 15 years and has conducted a life cycle analysis of the product that has not yet been published, but which apparently shows great benefits in terms of carbon footprint. “Compare our filters to disposables that last 15 years,” DiFuccia says. “The reduction in carbon, energy and water use is significant.”
The filters can be washed with a standard hose with cold water at low pressure and cleaned in 30 to 90 seconds, DiFuccia says, although that process could take longer depending on what’s in the air. “From a sustainability perspective, it’s the lightest thing we can do,” he adds.
DiFuccia says K&N is looking at other uses for its filters in the data center, and while the company’s focus remains primarily on its automotive business, tackling a new vertical has been a refreshing challenge for its engineering team. “It’s put a lot of life back into the veins of the company,” he says.
