Research on the distribution characteristics of static pressure in data centers from the perspective of airflow transmission path

Abstract

A new observation perspective was proposed to manage the airflow distribution in data centers from the floor plenum and the cold aisle as a unified entity, which is different from the current single space only with geometric parameter adjusting in the floor plenum or adding resistance measures in the cold aisle to improve the airflow uniformity only in one-dimensional direction. Based on it, the transfer rule of the static pressure between two continuous space was explored to analyze the transfer rules of the static pressure difference in the two spaces, and find the regulation mechanism of the airflow to achieve uniform airflow distribution of the cold aisle in two-dimensional direction. The results show that decreasting the perforation rates can increase the airflow uniformity effectively at the inlet of the rack along the horizontal direction, but reduce the airflow uniformity at the inlet of the rack along the vertical direction in data center. Increasting the flow rate appropriately as well as larger porosity of the rack perforated plate can improve the airflow uniformity effectively at the inlet of the rack both horizontally and vertically in data center. The conclusions will help guide the improvement and regulation of airflow organisation to reduce the occurrence of local hotspots and ensure safe operation of the data centers.