Energy Demand Reduction in Data Centres Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

AbstractA data centre is a facility where it hosts the server systems, computer systems, and its associated components such as cooling units, redundancy power supplies and power storage systems. Data centres are a very energy-demanding sector. Data Centre Dynamics magazine forecasts that by 2025, Data Centres will consume more than 2% of the global electricity supply. Due to this forecast, it is become vital to reduce the energy consumption in the data centre industry. On average, data centres use 30–50% of their total energy supply on mechanical cooling to cool their IT equipment. However, many of them still have difficulties with high-temperature regions such as hot spots in the server data hall which contributes to server downtime. Along with this, the power densities of the data centres are on the rise as the telecommunication industry at exponential growth over the years. This inefficiency in the temperature distribution can be resolved through advanced computational fluid dynamics software. It also becomes essential to expand the use of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) into key sections of Data Centre design, to reduce thermal inefficiencies. It is necessary to identify the potential issues at the initial stages to deliver efficient solutions which will work at a low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), to future-proof data centre facilities. This paper outlines the importance of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis in the data centre design. The mock-up data centre internal and external models are analysed in 6Sigma Software. The various parameters were investigated to optimise the energy performance of the infrastructure. The results also provided the analysis of the data hall with detailed rack inlet and 3D modelling of the data hall, external simulations with chillers and generators inlet temperatures highlighting trouble areas. Additional to this, Water cooled, and Air-cooled chiller performance comparison also studied and concluded that Water cooled chiller performance well than Air cooled chiller. Having the data hall air supply temperature 27 °C than 24 °C, has improved the energy efficiency in the data centre. The model developed in this study can be used as a benchmark study for the present and future thermal optimization of data centres.