Guide to data centre cooling systems for different facilities and regions

Which environmental factors do data centres face? 

Data centres often face a number of challenges. They can be susceptible to damage, so it is important to minimise risks of damage wherever possible. Common issues are triggered by environmental challenges.  
 
Let’s look at some of the environmental factors that data centres face:

  
 
Temperature Control:

 

• Heat Generation: Servers and other IT equipment constantly generate significant amounts of heat during their operational duties. Excessive temperatures can lead to equipment failure, reduced performance, and shortened lifespan
• Hot Spots: Uneven temperature environments can create localised hot spots in a data centre leading to overheating. 
   

Humidity Levels:

 

• High Humidity: The real problem with high humidity level is increased corrosion on the servers leading to higher failure rates and reduced lifespan
• Low Humidity: Extremely dry conditions increase the risk of electrostatic discharge (ESD), which can damage the sensitive electronic components within any data centre. 

 

 
Airflow and Ventilation:

 

• Obstructions: Blockages can be as simple as poorly placed cables or equipment that can impede airflow within the data centre, allowing a reduced supply of cool air. This can lead to overheating. 
   
    

Air Quality and Contaminants:

 

• Dust and Particles: The accumulation of dust can obstruct the ventilation of electronic equipment, which then leads to overheating and equipment failure
• Contaminants: Chemicals and pollutants in the air can be of great concern for electronic equipment and can cause corrosion leading to damage of sensitive components. 

 
Vibration and Noise

 

• Mechanical Vibrations: This almost seems trivial but vibrations from equipment such as cooling systems, generators or any external sources can affect the performance and dependability of hard drives and other sensitive equipment 
• Noise Levels: High noise levels in any building hardware. 

 
Power Quality and Electrical Factors 

 

• Stable Power Supply: Fluctuations in power through voltage spikes can damage equipment and cause data loss
• Harmonics: Harmonic currents and voltages contribute to issues such as power component overheating. 
   

 
Fire Safety and Suppression

 

• Fire Risks: High-density electronic equipment poses a significant fire risk if not professionally managed 
• Suppression Systems: A fire suppression system is needed to extinguish any fires without damaging electronic equipment. 

 

There are many risks involved in data centres, and it is important to understand the challenge to seek the right solution. It just so happens that we at FläktGroup have been in data centre innovation for over 60 years and offer the most optimal solutions.  

 
Assessing and improving energy performance 

With any cooling system being deployed it is important to make sure that you’re maximising the energy performance correctly. There are four key performance metrics related to energy efficiency and cooling systems that are important to know: 

 
1. SHR (Sensible Heat Ratio): 

Indicates how much of the cooling is used to reduce air temperature (sensible heat) versus dehumidification (latent heat). A ratio of 1 means all energy is used for cooling air

 

 

 

2. SEPR HT (Seasonal Energy Performance Ratio – High Temperature):

 
Measures the total cooling provided over a season divided by the total power consumed. Useful for comparing energy efficiency across climates at time periods 

 

 
3. EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio): 

Compares the effective cooling output to the energy input at a specific moment. Reflects the system’s real-time efficiency 

 

 

4. PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness):

 

Evaluates the ratio of total power consumption to the power used by IT equipment, indicating the efficiency of power utilisation in facilities like data centres.

 

These metrics are crucial for assessing and improving the energy performance of cooling systems.

 

 

Distinct types of data centre cooling

 

There are many diverse types of data centre cooling and at FläktGroup we cater to the best solutions on the market. It is about finding the right solution for your data centre’s needs.

 

 

Chilled Water Systems

 

FläktGroup’s chilled water systems offer flexible and efficient cooling solutions with models such as the Hydro-DENCO®, Ultra-DENCO® and Aria-DENCO® providing scalable options that can be actively adapted as the needs of data centres grow.

 

Like water-based systems, the system uses chilled water to absorb heat from the air or, in the case of data centres in particular, equipment. It is then carried away and released outside the building. As such, it is a much larger system but a far more dependable one as well. At the core of the system is the free cooling chiller, this cools the water down to a specified temperature; between 10°C to 20°C. This chilled water is then circulated through pipes to a Fan Wall Unit (FWU) or computer room air handlers (CRAHs) within the data centre to then be passed through the heat exchanger to then cool the air.

 

 

Our Hydro-DENCO® high capacity CRAH, Ultra-DENCO® CRAH and Aria-DENCO® FWUs are systems that all of us at FläktGroup are immensely proud of. They show the best offerings we have and covers all the environmental factor concerns you might have. They are highly energy-efficient and can be easily scaled up with a flexible design for placement of cooling units, decreased noise levels for silent running and reliability. As a solution for data centre cooling, it is by far one of the best for meeting the ever-increasing demands of data centres.