A Parametric Numerical Study of the Airflow and Thermal Performance in a Real Data Center for Improving Sustainability

Diogo Macedo,Pedro Dinis Gaspar,Radu Godina,Pedro Da Silva,Miguel Trigueiros Covas

doi:10.3390/app9183850

Diogo Macedo, Pedro Dinis Gaspar + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app9183850

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Abstract

In recent years, reducing energy consumption has been relentlessly pursued by researchers and policy makers with the purpose of achieving a more sustainable future. The demand for data storage in data centers has been steadily increasing, leading to an increase in size and therefore to consume more energy. Consequently, the reduction of the energy consumption of data center rooms is required and it is with this perspective that this paper is proposed. By using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), it is possible to model a three-dimensional model of the heat transfer and air flow in data centers, which allows forecasting the air speed and temperature range under diverse conditions of operation. In this paper, a CFD study of the thermal performance and airflow in a real data center processing room with 208 racks under different thermal loads and airflow velocities is proposed. The physical-mathematical model relies on the equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation. The fluid in this study is air and it is modeled as an ideal gas with constant properties. The model of the effect of turbulence is made by employing a k–ε standard model. The results indicate that it is possible to reduce the thermal load of the server racks by improving the thermal performance and airflow of the data center room, without affecting the correct operation of the server racks located in the sensible regions of the room.

Highlights

In the last few decades, the increase in energy consumption due to a rising utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a difficult challenge, from the energetic, ecological and economical points of view, which compromises sustainability [1]
Figure 26dimensionless shows the prediction of airflow in the spots in to thethe server racks. air Figure represents the maximum temperature predicted in few hot spots in the server racks
A parametric study was made by employing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling for a real data center room comprising more than 200 server racks with the purpose of studying the thermal performance and airflow

Summary

Introduction

In the last few decades, the increase in energy consumption due to a rising utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a difficult challenge, from the energetic, ecological and economical points of view, which compromises sustainability [1]. The creation and rapid dissemination of grid and cloud computing [2], in recent years, has led to an increase in the number of data centers as well as in their size [3]. A data center is a physical site that comprises ICT installations with the main function being the storage and distribution of data through Internet access or an internal network. Sci. 2019, 9, 3850 the world host on their servers organizations with databases, every Internet website, and cloud services

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