Effect of Supply Air Temperature on Rack Cooling in a High Density Raised Floor Data Center Facility
In this paper we experimentally investigate the effect of supply air temperature on rack cooling in a high density raised floor data center facility. A series of experiments are performed on a 42 U (1-U = 4.45 cm) rack populated with 1-U servers. Desired rack heat loads are achieved by managing the distribution of server compute load within the rack. During the present experiments, temperatures at various locations in the hot and cold aisle corresponding to the rack air inlet and outlet are recorded. The temperatures are measured using a grid consisting of 256 thermocouples. The temperature measurements are further complimented with the flow field at the rack inlet. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique is used to capture the flow field at the rack inlet. The temperature maps in concert with the PIV flow field help in quantifying the rack cooling effectiveness. The temperature and flow measurements are measured for various cases by altering the supply air temperatures and perforated tile flow rates. The results are analyzed and compared with the ASHRARE recommended guidelines to arrive at the optimum supply air temperature. A perceptible change in the temperature and flow distribution is observed for the six cases investigated.