Visual flowsheets
Arrange streams, equipment, and unit operations directly on an Excel worksheet.
Data Center Power & Cooling Studies in Excel
iBalance
Connect IT heat loads, cooling systems, and supporting utilities in Microsoft Excel. Build steady-state energy balances to study cooling demand, equipment duties, and opportunities for heat reuse.
Explore iBalance ↓Designed for practicing engineers
Power and cooling,
in one Excel model.
iBalance is Excel-based process simulation software for developing, solving, validating, and documenting steady-state mass and energy balances.
Connect heat exchangers, pumps, chillers, air-handling equipment, and utility streams. Enter IT loads and equipment performance, then review cooling flows, temperatures, thermal duties, and supported power calculations in the same workbook.
Engineering calculations
Solve steady-state material and energy balances using familiar engineering units and plant data.
Clear reporting
Review stream data, unit-operation results, constraints, and diagnostics inside the workbook.
Data center power and cooling · iBalance 1.3.5
Connect the power.
Balance the cooling.
Bring IT heat loads, cooling loops, and supporting utilities into one steady-state Excel model. Trace where energy enters, how cooling removes it, and where heat can be rejected or reused, using your operating assumptions and equipment data.
IT loads and cooling demand
Start with specified IT heat loads and operating temperatures. Develop the heat balance needed to evaluate cooling-water flow and heat-exchanger duties.
Liquid-cooling loops
Connect facility-water and liquid-cooling circuits through heat exchangers, pumps, and distribution streams. Review supply and return temperatures, flow requirements, and thermal duties.
Air-side cooling
Represent air-handling equipment and cooling coils with specified loads and conditions. Track air and water streams alongside the rest of the cooling plant.
Power and supporting utilities
Account for IT demand alongside cooling-system duties and pump or fan power where supported by the selected equipment model. Use specified efficiencies and supplier data to develop the facility energy balance.
Heat rejection and reuse
Connect cooling equipment and heat exchangers to study heat rejection and potential waste-heat recovery. Compare useful heat delivery at your specified flow rates and temperatures.
Compare operating cases
Review Base, Design, and Turndown cases with Scenario Manager. Compare cooling demand, circulation rates, equipment duties, and selected constraints as operating assumptions change.
One connected model
Keep loads, equipment, utility streams, assumptions, and calculated results together in a shareable Excel workbook.
Live stream information
Show flow, temperature, pressure, preliminary line size, and actual velocity directly on the flowsheet. Update the balance as inputs change.
Review the balance
Use mass, component, and energy validation to check the calculated model before using its results in an engineering study.
iBalance also supports steam and power, water treatment, HVAC, and other process industries, so supporting utilities can be considered alongside data-center cooling.
Release 1.3.5 is available. Get the current release. Results depend on the selected models and specified equipment performance. Steady-state balances support engineering studies; electrical protection, transient resilience, and final equipment or piping design require separate analysis.
Industry applications
Built for process-intensive plants
Explore the industries supported by the current unit-operation library. Connect industry-specific equipment with shared tanks, pumps, heat exchangers, and utilities to develop steady-state material and energy balances. The library now includes 29 additional equipment types across eight new industry applications, with connected example balances. Performance inputs such as conversion, recovery, and thermal duty depend on the selected model.
Biofuels & biogas
Renewable fuel process balances
Connect conversion, separation, gas cleanup, and residue handling with specified conversions and recoveries. The latest integrated example combines ethanol and biogas processing with a parallel biodiesel route and explicit recycle loops.
- Biomass hydrolysis, fermentation, and ethanol recovery
- Anaerobic digestion, biogas cleanup, and digestate dewatering
- Biodiesel production with methanol recovery and recycle
Brewing
Brewhouse to packaged beer
Connect brewing operations to account for ingredients, fermentation products, process heat, and product losses.
- Mash and lauter, wort kettle, and whirlpool
- Fermentation, conditioning, and beer filtration
- Carbonation, pasteurization, and packaging yields
Cement & lime
Mineral conversion and finishing
Build connected balances for lime and cement production using specified reaction conversions, solids recoveries, and outlet temperatures to account for products, process CO2, and thermal duties.
- Solids preheating, lime calcination, and cooling
- Lime hydration and clinker production
- Kiln dust collection and cement finish milling
Chemical processing
Reaction and separation balances
Combine reactors, tanks, heat exchangers, and separation blocks for process-wide material and energy studies. Column blocks use specified component recoveries and heat duties.
- Reactors and continuous stirred tanks with heating coils
- Distillation, stripping, and absorption balances
- Filter presses and component separation
Compressed air & plant utilities
Compressed-air and instrument-air systems
Connect compressor trains and regenerative dryers to track air delivery, moisture removal, and purge losses across plant utility systems.
- Compressor flow, discharge pressure, and power calculations
- Heatless, steam-assisted, and heat-of-compression dryer modes
- Specified moisture removal and calculated pressure dew point
Dairy
Milk concentration and powder balances
Develop component and energy balances across cream separation, membrane concentration, heating, evaporation, and powder drying. The latest integrated train tracks products, coproducts, utility streams, and moisture removal.
- Cream separation and membrane recovery balances
- Milk heating and vacuum evaporation with specified heating-steam flow
- Powder drying with specified solids content and outlet temperatures
Data centers
Data center cooling and energy balances
Model steady-state cooling systems using connected heat exchangers, pumps, chillers, and air-handling equipment. Apply specified IT heat loads and equipment duties to track heat removal and cooling-water flows across the facility.
- Chilled-water and liquid-cooling loop balances
- Air-side cooling and heat-exchanger duties
- Heat rejection and waste-heat recovery studies
Fertilizer
Phosphate fertilizer production
Connect DAP neutralization, granulation, and finishing operations to study material flows, moisture removal, heat requirements, and off-size recycle using specified conversions and recoveries.
- Diammonium phosphate (DAP) neutralization
- Granulation, drying, and cooling
- Product screening, recycle, and dust collection
Glass manufacturing
Glass batch to finished product
Track batch and cullet through melting, forming, annealing, and reject recycle with specified recoveries and a carbonate-decomposition balance.
- Batch and cullet mixing with forming-reject recycle
- Melter, forming, and annealing operations
- Screening energy duties; detailed glass chemistry and fusion heat are outside the model
HVAC & building services
Air and hydronic energy balances
Represent connected air and water systems using specified thermal loads and pressure losses to account for heating, cooling, and distribution duties.
- Heating and cooling coils, air handling units, and VAV zones
- Chiller and heat-pump water-side duties
- Energy-recovery ventilation, duct segments, and hydronic distribution
Hydrogen electrolysis
Water-to-hydrogen process balances
Connect water electrolysis with separate hydrogen and oxygen knockout trains, water recycle, hydrogen drying, and compression.
- Specified water conversion and hydrogen/oxygen production
- Gas knockout, drying losses, and compressor calculations
- Reaction-energy accounting; electrical efficiency and crossover are not predicted
Metal finishing
Plating, rinsing, and water reuse
Build connected plating and rinse balances using specified metal retention, dragout recovery, and wastewater solids capture.
- Plating bath and dragout-recovery operations
- Two-stage countercurrent rinsing and liquor recycle
- Specified solids capture; electrochemistry and precipitation chemistry are outside the model
Minerals & mining
Mineral processing and recovery
Develop balances for wet classification, mineral concentration, and product or tailings dewatering using specified component recoveries.
- Hydrocyclones and mineral flotation
- Magnetic and gravity separators
- Mineral thickeners and filter presses
Oil & gas
Well-fluid production and conditioning
Track gas, oil, and produced water through separation and conditioning using specified component recoveries and fixed-phase screening balances.
- Three-phase separation and oil treating
- Gas aftercooling, liquid knockout, sweetening, and dehydration
- Produced-water deoiling and connected compression
Pharmaceutical solvent recovery
Solvent recovery and reuse balances
Track solvent, water, and residue through recovery, product cooling, and polishing using specified liquid-component recoveries.
- Recovery column, solvent product cooler, and polisher
- Reusable-solvent, aqueous-waste, and bottoms streams
- Screening balances; no stage equilibrium, reflux, or condensation latent-heat prediction
Plastics & PET recycling
Recovered plastics to reusable product
Connect PET washing, float/sink separation, dewatering, indirect drying, and extrusion to track recovered polymer, contaminants, and water.
- Washer, float/sink separator, and dewatering operations
- Specified water evaporation and polymer recovery
- Integrated wash-water filtrate recycle
Pulp & paper
From woodyard to mill water and tissue
Develop connected balances for wood preparation, pulp and paper stock systems, process heat, and mill utilities. New integrated examples cover woodyard recovery, kraft condensate reuse, and tissue through-air drying.
- Debarking, chipping, screening, and oversize recycle
- Condensate stripping, heat recovery, polishing, and reuse
- Tissue forming, pressing, through-air drying, and whitewater return
Steam & power
Power plant and utility modeling
Build steady-state steam and power balances with boilers, heat exchangers, turbines, generators, process loads, and connecting streams. Review energy distribution and equipment results together in one auditable Excel model.
- Package-boiler combustion, flue-gas, and NOx reporting
- Steam-turbine and generator calculations
- Parallel steam headers, utility balances, and cogeneration studies
Steel mini-mills
Scrap-to-cast-metal balances
Study material recovery through electric-arc-furnace, ladle, and casting blocks with explicit metal, slag, and reject streams.
- Scrap and alloy additions with specified recoveries
- Furnace, ladle treatment, and continuous casting
- Sensible-energy screening; melting heat, oxidation, and arc efficiency are outside the model
Sugar
Sugar extraction and recovery
Follow sugar, water, and fiber through extraction and product recovery using specified extraction performance, crystal yield, and component splits.
- Cane or beet juice extraction
- Sugar crystallization and mother-liquor separation
- Sugar centrifuges and wet-crystal recovery
Textile finishing
Scouring, dyeing, and rinse balances
Follow fabric, dye, soil, and water through scouring, dye uptake, countercurrent rinsing, and indirect drying.
- Scouring and dye-bath operations with specified uptake
- Two rinse stages with countercurrent water reuse
- Specified water evaporation and connected energy balances
Water & wastewater
Industrial water treatment
Track treated water, reject streams, and sludge using specified recoveries, solids capture, and solute rejection.
- Clarifiers and dissolved-air flotation (DAF)
- Media filtration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and nanofiltration
- Sludge dewatering and process-water reuse balances
Wood & pellets
Wet wood to screened pellets
Connect indirect drying, size reduction, pelletizing, cooling, and screening to account for moisture removal, product recovery, and fines.
- Wood dryer, size reduction, pellet mill, cooler, and screen
- Off-size fines recycle and explicit loss streams
- Specified yields and drying; pellet strength and particle-size prediction are outside the new models
How iBalance works
From flowsheet to engineering answer
- 1
Draw the process
Place unit operations on the Excel flowsheet and connect them with material or energy streams.
- 2
Enter known conditions
Add available flow, composition, consistency, pressure, temperature, duty, or equipment data.
- 3
Solve and review
Run the model, inspect calculated stream and equipment results, and use diagnostics to refine the balance.
- 4
Share the workbook
Keep the model, assumptions, results, and reporting together in the familiar Excel file.
Product tour
See iBalance in action
Frequently asked questions
About iBalance
How do I import license text and signature files?
Save the license text and signature files from your email to your computer. In the license pane, use the separate import button for each field to select its matching text file, then use the existing license validation and activation controls.
How can iBalance support data-center power and cooling studies?
Use specified IT heat loads and equipment performance to build steady-state balances across liquid-cooling loops, air-handling equipment, heat exchangers, pumps, chillers, and supporting utilities. Compare operating cases and review cooling flows, temperatures, thermal duties, and supported power calculations. Electrical protection, transient resilience, and detailed equipment design require separate analysis.
What is iBalance?
iBalance is steady-state process simulation software for building, solving, validating, and documenting mass and energy balances in Microsoft Excel.
Which industries does iBalance support?
iBalance covers biofuels and biogas, brewing, cement and lime, chemical processing, compressed air and plant utilities, dairy, data centers, fertilizer, glass manufacturing, HVAC, hydrogen electrolysis, metal finishing, minerals and mining, oil and gas, pharmaceutical solvent recovery, plastics and PET recycling, pulp and paper, steam and power, steel mini-mills, sugar, textile finishing, water and wastewater, and wood and pellets. Models support steady-state mass and energy studies using the conversions, recoveries, and thermal assumptions of each selected unit operation.
How is iBalance offered?
iBalance is offered as a freemium model, with a free version and a Professional version available by subscription or one-time purchase.
Does iBalance run inside Microsoft Excel?
Yes. The flowsheet, engineering data, results, and reports remain in an Excel workbook while the iBalance Excel add-in provides the calculation engine and process-modeling tools.