Solutions of thermal management problems for terminal racks of in-row cooling architectures in data centers.

Problems of hot air recirculation, hot spots, and bad performance indices of data centers at terminal racks were noticed and reported in the literature. The present work investigates the possible management solutions of heterogeneous thermal problems for terminal racks in data centers in case of using in-row cooling racks arrays. Three possible solutions, namely using top aisle containments, top and side aisles containments, and air conditioning unit at the start and end of each rack row, are investigated. Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) using ANSYS-Icepak software as a specialized software in cooling electronic devices is used to conduct this study. A prototype of a small-scale data center module is experimentally constructed and tested to validate the present CFD work. Supply Heat Index (SHI), Index of Mixing (IOM), Beta Index (β) and Energy Utilization Index (η r) are utilized to investigate, assess and compare the different suggested solutions. The results show that (i) problems of hot air recirculation, hot spots, and bad performances indices are noticed for the terminal racks if no solution is applied, (ii) using top aisle containments partially solve the heterogeneous thermal problem of terminal racks, (iii) using top and sides containments completely solve the problem of hot air recirculation (iv) starting and ending the racks row with computer air conditioning units solve the problem of the heterogeneous distribution of intake air temperature along with the racks height and (v) Energy Utilization Coefficient of terminal racks is increased by 45% if the top and sides containments are applied or starting the racks row with air conditioning units. • Using top aisle containments reduces intensity of the hot spots by 5 °C. • Starting and ending racks' rows with cooling units prevents air by-passing. • Top and sides containments increases η r of terminal racks from 1.25 to 1.95. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]