| Title |
The Planning and Design of the Optimal Cooling System for IT Environments in (Internet) Data Centers |
| Authors |
Cho Jin-Kyun ; Jeong Cha-Su ; Kim Byung-Seon |
| Keywords |
Internet Data Center ; Cooling System ; IT Equipment ; Design Parameters ; Energy Simulation ; Economizer System |
| Abstract |
Today's data centers require precise, stable environments for sensitive IT equipments to operate optimally. As the latest computing equipment becomes smaller and uses the same or even more electricity than the equipment it replaced, more heat is being generated in data centers. There are 4 basic ways to collect and transport heat from the IT environment to the outdoor environment such as air cooled systems, glycol cooled systems, water cooled systems and chilled water systems. Each method uses the refrigeration cycle to transport or pump heat. When designing or selecting cooling system of data center, the existing facility infrastructure, the total power level of the installation, the geographical location, the physical constraints of the building and initial installation/operating costs should also be considered. In this research, the design parameters and economical aspects of cooling system were studied with the largest multi-megawatt data center that is recently completed in Korea. Energy simulation analysis was carried out in order to compare the energy consumption combined with four basic cooling systems by TRNSYS simulation program and energy saving effects of water-side economizer systems are reviewed. A method for planning and design of the appropriate cooling system was described. IT professionals versed in precision cooling mechanisms, components and configurations can work more effectively with HVAC/cooling engineers to ensure the specification and design of optimized cooling solutions. |