In today’s 21st century business environment, the need for efficient data centers is increasing at unprecedented rates as the demand for computing, processing power, and data storage grows exponentially. The energy consumption in a data center can be significantly more than a typical office space, and a considerable portion of the energy cost (30% to 50%) is dedicated to the data center’s cooling system. More than ever, IT equipment is getting smaller in size yet more powerful, and the need for a proper and efficient cooling system design plays an important role in saving energy.
The new generation of computers operates under higher temperatures, which does reduce the cooling cost and makes it possible for a higher computer intake temperature (80° to 85°F). However, going beyond the intake temperature’s design criteria can cause overheating and IT equipment to be more susceptible to failure. As a result, the need for accuracy and a scientific-based design of the data centers’ thermal management requires the use of advanced engineering tools such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to parameterize and visualize variable designs. CFD enables design engineers to recognize issues at early stages of the design and tackle the engineering challenges that cannot be solved accurately using a conventional design approach.