Alan Matzka, P.E., Senior Mechanical Engineer Bradford Consulting Engineers

Transcription

1 Information Technology and Data Centers HVAC Showcase November 26, 2013 Alan Matzka, P.E., Senior Mechanical Engineer Bradford Consulting Engineers Welcome. Today s webinar is being recorded and will be posted at:

2 Datacenter Power Why Care? 1. Power consumption per square foot over 50 times that of a typical office operation. 3. Requires constant cooling. 4. Data needs are always growing. 2

3 Typical Power Breakdown 3

4 Key Factors to HVAC Power Draw 1. What space temperatures are employed. 2. How airflow is circulated through the datacenter. 3. How and when mechanical cooling is used. 4. Type of mechanical cooling employed. 5. Actual load vs. design load. 4

5 Environmental Ranges 5

6 Technologies To Discuss 1. Airflow Management Air-Side Economizer Ongoing Commissioning of Economizers Direct Server Cabinet Cooling

7 Airflow Management - 62 Servers and IT Equipment 1. Predominantly air-cooled devices. 2. Designed to operate under specific operating temperature differentials and ranges. 3. Usually will adjust their own airflow as needed to maintain internal component temperature. 4. Have fans that won t tolerate much back-pressure. 7

8 Airflow Management - 62 Balanced Condition 8

9 Airflow Management - 62 Bypass Condition Too Much Air Handling 9

10 Airflow Management - 62 Recirculation Condition Too Little Air Handling 10

11 Airflow Management - 62 Examples of Airflow Management: 1. Arranging racks into Hot and Cold aisles. Adjusting supplies and returns to match 2. Enclosing aisles to form hot or cold containment. 3. Grouping differing densities into segregated areas. 4. Improving equipment control to better satisfy real vs. design loads.. 11

12 Airflow Management ,000 FT 2 DATACENTER 12

13 Airflow Management - 62 CFD BEFORE AIR MANAGEMENT 13

14 Airflow Management - 62 CFD AFTER AIR MANAGEMENT 14

15 Airflow Management Energy Savings Potential: 15-30% 2. Non-Energy Benefits: Fewer hot-spots, lower equipment maintenance. 3. Technology Readiness: Ready to deploy. 4. Ease of Adoption Varies, may require invasive reorganization. 5. Value: High, paybacks can be less than 1 year. 15

16 Air-side Economizers Key features 1. A set of dampers that allows a fan system to use outside air to cool the datacenter when appropriate. 2. Dramatically reduces power consumption. 3. Well understood technology but relatively new to datacenters. 16

17 Air-side Economizers Economizing CRAC Examples 17

18 Air-side Economizers Key Constraints to Implement: 1. Need a path to OSA for both intake and pressure relief. 2. CRAC implementations can involve much ductwork if no exterior wall or roof is nearby. 3. Additional controls are typically needed and may require extensive retrofit. 4. Dampers and actuators require regular maintenance to maintain proper function. 18

19 Air-side Economizers Energy Savings Potential: 25%-35% 2. Non-Energy Benefits: Less compressor wear. 3. Technology Readiness: Ready to deploy. 4. Ease of Adoption Varies, may require invasive retrofit. 5. Value: Varies, retrofits can be prohibitively expensive. 19

20 Ongoing Commissioning of Economizers 486 Why commission economizers? 1. Damper actuators can become stuck. 2. Temperature sensors and interlocks can lose calibration. 3. Both of the above can lead to economizers being open to outside air that is warmer than the datacenter. Creating a risk of failure or excessive mechanical cooling to correct the excess. 20

21 Ongoing Commissioning of Economizers 486 Key Constraints to Implement: 1. Maintenance teams may require training to properly re-commission economizers. 2. Additional alarms and data points may be required in the controls to support proper monitoring of economizer behavior. 21

22 Ongoing Commissioning of Economizers Energy Savings Potential: 1-10% 2. Non-Energy Benefits: Less compressor wear. 3. Technology Readiness: Ready to deploy. 4. Ease of Adoption Varies, depends on maintenance team training. 5. Value: High, all economizers will benefit from routine commissioning. 22

23 Direct Server Cabinet Cooling - 68 Key features 1. Methods to isolate individual racks (or pods of racks) into individually controlled environments. 2. Allows very high densities and density extremes without interference. 3. Can provide more functional expansion in datacenters with limited cooling capacity or in spaces that are isolated from central AC ducting. 23

24 Direct Server Cabinet Cooling - 68 Examples: In-row Coolers Chilled Doors 24

25 Direct Server Cabinet Cooling - 68 Key Limitations: 1. Increases the amount of equipment leading to more maintenance. 2. Air-side economization can be difficult if not impossible. 3. Additional controls are typically needed and may require extensive retrofit. 4. Solution must be cognizant of actual loads. Low density cabinets typically see little to no benefit. 25

26 Direct Server Cabinet Cooling Energy Savings Potential: 20% 2. Non-Energy Benefits: Can allow datacenter expansion in difficult areas. 3. Technology Readiness: Ready to deploy but some solutions have limited installations. 4. Ease of Adoption Varies 5. Value: Varies wildly. Depends heavily on density and site conditions. 26

27 Summary and Recommendations 1. Know your present usage and future needs. 2. Understand your real loads. 3. What s not good for one datacenter may be fantastic for another. 4. Try to keep things simple. Small changes can net big gains. 27

28 Questions? Alan Matzka, P.E. DCEP, LEED AP Senior Mechanical Engineer Bradford Consulting Engineers

29 Next Webinars Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at noon PST Topic TBD Register at More information about emerging technologies: E3T database: E3T Program: Conduit: THE E3T TEAM WISHES YOU A WARM HOLIDAY SEASON AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! 29