Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centers
The layout of IT equipment racks in data centers directly affects airflow circulation. Inefficient airflow or uneven cooling can lead to thermal shutdowns, compromising data centers’ IT equipment operational stability and air-conditioning system efficiency. Precise control of environmental parameter...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | Case Studies in Thermal Engineering |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25008640 |
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| author | Wei Lun Wang Yichen Li Kuei-Peng Lee |
| author_facet | Wei Lun Wang Yichen Li Kuei-Peng Lee |
| author_sort | Wei Lun Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The layout of IT equipment racks in data centers directly affects airflow circulation. Inefficient airflow or uneven cooling can lead to thermal shutdowns, compromising data centers’ IT equipment operational stability and air-conditioning system efficiency. Precise control of environmental parameters can prevent localized hotspots and airflow mixing, which are crucial for maintaining effective cooling. The distribution of cold and hot air determines the effectiveness of data center cooling; greater mixing of hot and cold air results in greater energy loss. Effective airflow management and optimization of air-conditioning energy use are crucial to preventing short airflow circuits between racks and minimize heat diffusion. This study was conducted at a data center in a financial information building in Taipei, Taiwan. The data center had an area of approximately 117 m2. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed to analyze airflow channel configurations, specifically cold and hot aisle containment systems, with validation through actual measurements. The study also examined airflow distribution inside and outside IT equipment racks. Models of rack frames and equipment chassis were developed, and the effects of side panels between racks were investigated. Four simulated scenarios were considered, varying airflow channel enclosures and the installation of side panels between modular racks. These configurations were simulated using ANSYS software with clearly defined quantitative boundary conditions to assess their effects on data center cooling effectiveness. The study concluded that an overhead hot aisle enclosure configuration without side panels between racks substantially enhances heat dissipation from IT equipment and improves overall data center cooling effectiveness. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3da72b86ed9647ae97628e781f37d844 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2214-157X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Case Studies in Thermal Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-3da72b86ed9647ae97628e781f37d8442025-08-20T03:29:35ZengElsevierCase Studies in Thermal Engineering2214-157X2025-09-017310660410.1016/j.csite.2025.106604Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centersWei Lun Wang0Yichen Li1Kuei-Peng Lee2Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, TaiwanCorresponding author. Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, 1, Sec. 3, Zhongxiao E. Rd. Taipei, 10608, Taiwan.; Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, TaiwanThe layout of IT equipment racks in data centers directly affects airflow circulation. Inefficient airflow or uneven cooling can lead to thermal shutdowns, compromising data centers’ IT equipment operational stability and air-conditioning system efficiency. Precise control of environmental parameters can prevent localized hotspots and airflow mixing, which are crucial for maintaining effective cooling. The distribution of cold and hot air determines the effectiveness of data center cooling; greater mixing of hot and cold air results in greater energy loss. Effective airflow management and optimization of air-conditioning energy use are crucial to preventing short airflow circuits between racks and minimize heat diffusion. This study was conducted at a data center in a financial information building in Taipei, Taiwan. The data center had an area of approximately 117 m2. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed to analyze airflow channel configurations, specifically cold and hot aisle containment systems, with validation through actual measurements. The study also examined airflow distribution inside and outside IT equipment racks. Models of rack frames and equipment chassis were developed, and the effects of side panels between racks were investigated. Four simulated scenarios were considered, varying airflow channel enclosures and the installation of side panels between modular racks. These configurations were simulated using ANSYS software with clearly defined quantitative boundary conditions to assess their effects on data center cooling effectiveness. The study concluded that an overhead hot aisle enclosure configuration without side panels between racks substantially enhances heat dissipation from IT equipment and improves overall data center cooling effectiveness.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25008640Data centerComputational fluid dynamicsCold aisleHot aisleIT equipment |
| spellingShingle | Wei Lun Wang Yichen Li Kuei-Peng Lee Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centers Case Studies in Thermal Engineering Data center Computational fluid dynamics Cold aisle Hot aisle IT equipment |
| title | Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centers |
| title_full | Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centers |
| title_fullStr | Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centers |
| title_short | Effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of IT equipment in data centers |
| title_sort | effects of airflow distribution changes on the thermal environment of it equipment in data centers |
| topic | Data center Computational fluid dynamics Cold aisle Hot aisle IT equipment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25008640 |
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