Powering Data Centres Sustainably: Recovery & Re-use of Semiconductor Devices

Data centres are the backbone of modern technology, supporting everything from cloud storage to real-time data processing. As demands for efficiency and uptime grow, the reliability of the electronic components within these centres become critical.

Components face numerous challenges, including oxidation, solder joint degradation, and obsolescence, leading to failures that disrupt operations and incur significant costs.

Solutions such as retinning, recovery, re-use, and reballing of semiconductor devices provide innovative, cost-effective, and eco-friendly solutions to these challenges, ensuring uninterrupted operations in this critical sector.

The challenges facing Data centre electronics

Component Oxidation
Oxidation of solder and electronic connectors is a common issue, particularly in environments with fluctuating humidity or poor ventilation. This leads to degraded electrical conductivity, overheating, and ultimately component failure.

Solder Joint Fatigue
With data centres running 24/7, temperature variations and mechanical stress cause solder joints to weaken over time, increasing the likelihood of intermittent faults or complete failures.

Obsolescence of Components
Rapid advancements in semiconductor technology render older components obsolete. However, replacing entire systems is costly and often impractical, particularly for large-scale data centres with customised architectures.

Environmental Impact of Disposal
The disposal of electronic components contributes significantly to e-waste. Many of these components could be refurbished or reused, but they are often discarded due to a lack of viable recovery processes.

Solutions for Data Centre Reliability & Cost Effectiveness

Recovery and Reuse: Reducing Waste and Costs

Instead of discarding faulty components, recovery services salvage and restore functional parts, enabling their reuse. This cuts down on waste and significantly reduces procurement costs for replacements.

Benefits:
- Supports circular economy principles.
- Offers a cost-effective alternative to full replacements.
- Alleviates supply chain pressures for hard-to-source components.

Retinning: Preventing Oxidation and Restoring Conductivity

Retinning involves replacing the oxidised or degraded solder layer with fresh solder, restoring the component’s conductivity and extending its lifecycle. This process is particularly useful for legacy servers where oxidation is a prevalent issue.

Benefits:
- Reduces the need for new components.
- Enhances the longevity of existing equipment.
- Minimises operational interruptions caused by connection failures.

Reballing: Restoring BGA Components

Ball Grid Array (BGA) components are crucial in data centres. Reballing involves replacing these solder balls to ensure reliable connections.

Benefits:
- Improves the performance of critical semiconductor devices.
- Reduces risk of connection failures under high thermal stress.
- Extends the usability of high-value components.

Conclusion

Data centres face unique challenges in maintaining reliability. Through services like retinning, recovery, reuse, and reballing, organisations can address component level issues effectively while also reducing costs and environmental impact.

The data centre industry can ensure uninterrupted operations and a more sustainable future.

Retronix stands at the forefront of these advancements, offering expert services to help data centres. Adopting these solutions aligns with sustainability goals in the tech industry. Refurbishing components instead of discarding them reduces e-waste, lowers carbon footprints, and supports a circular economy.

To learn more click here to contact us, or email us at contact@retronix.com