Computational fluid dynamics simulations comparing hard floor and raised floor configurations in an air cooled data center

Abstract

An increasing number of companies and organisations have started to outsource their data storage. Although the potential of future investments in data centers is prosperous, sustainability is an increasingly important factor. It is important to make sure that the server racks in data centers are sufficiently cooled whereas too much forced cooling leads to economical losses and a waste of energy. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is an excellent tool to analyze the flow field in data centers. This work aims to examine the performance of the cooling system in a data center using ANSYS CFX. A hard floor configuration is compared to a raised floor configuration. When a raised floor configuration is used, the cold air is supplied into an under-floor space and enters the room through perforated tiles in the floor, located in front of the server racks. The flow inside the main components and the under-floor space is not included in the simulations. Boundary conditions are applied to the sides where the flow goes out of or into the components. The cooling system is evaluated based on a combination of two different performance metrics. Results show that the performance of the cooling system is significantly improved when the hard floor configuration is replaced by a raised floor configuration. The flow field of the air differs in the two cases. It is considered to be improved when the raised floor configuration is used as a result of reduced hot air recirculation around the server racks.