Businesses rely heavily on the applications, services, and information contained within a data center, making it an essential asset for day-to-day operations. As a result, the proliferation of the internet, cloud-based services, and e-commerce is increasing demand for these facilities. This is one of the primary reasons that data centers generate a lot of heat and necessitate specialized cooling systems.
Excessively warm server rooms weaken the equipment’s components — such as the hard drive, CPU, and motherboard — causing them to fail prematurely. It can also harm data server infrastructure applications due to slower response times, decreased stability, system errors, and data losses. Suppose equipment failure occurs as a result of excessive heat. In that case, data centers will experience downtime, forcing them to replace damaged equipment, recover data, and hire HVAC and IT technicians to get the server room back up and running.
By investing in efficient data center cooling systems, you can avoid these issues and problems in the first place. In this article, we will discuss refrigeration pumps for server cooling and data server cooling solutions and how they work.
Refrigeration Pumps for Server Cooling
Data center cooling systems provide year-round temperature regulation with a high intensity per square foot of surface area. Because of the high sensitivity of electronic components in these facilities, temperature, humidity, air movement, and air sanitation must all be maintained consistently and within specified limits. One of these systems is the refrigeration pump.
Refrigeration pumps are cooling devices that circulate chilled water through heat exchangers and extract heat with cold-pumped refrigerants. These pumps use refrigerant-cooled heat exchanges installed on the back of the equipment to cool servers. Then, the airflow passing through the heat exchanger will release excess heat from the equipment rack and convert it back to room temperature. A fluid handling system also pumps the refrigerant through the heating systems to provide efficient cooling.
Data Center Cooling Systems
The cooling system in a data center works by removing excess heat from the air and replacing it with cooler air. Several cooling systems and techniques have been developed over time due to technological innovations in the data server and network infrastructure industry. Here are three of the most commonly used cooling systems in data centers worldwide:
Air Cooling
This cooling technique is ideal for smaller or older data centers with raised floors and hot and cold aisle designs. When the computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit or computer room air handler (CRAH) sends out cold air, the pressure beneath the raised floor rises. This allows the cold air to enter the equipment inlets before displacing the hot air, which is then cooled and recirculated in the CRAC or CRAH.
Hot and Cold Aisle Layouts
Server equipment is organized in a row pattern, with each row facing opposite the one in front. Cold intake and hot air vents face each other in this equipment configuration, resulting in alternating hot and cold air aisles — CRAHs in each aisle either vent or pump in air to keep the cooling system running smoothly. As a result, the hot aisle is vented, and the cold aisle pumps cool air.
To further direct airflow, data centers can add doors and walls to the layout. The equipment should also be as full as possible to avoid empty spaces, gaps, and openings through which hot or cold air can leak into the opposite aisle.
Liquid Cooling
Liquid cooling is comparatively newer than other cooling systems. It is more efficient and cost-effective as data centers can install it on any server infrastructure device. It can also support higher equipment densities and items that produce more heat than usual, such as high-density and edge-computing data centers.
There are two main types of liquid cooling:
- Direct-to-Chip Liquid Cooling: In this method, the entire electrical device is immersed in dielectric fluid in a closed system. The liquid soaks up the heat emitted by the device, converts it to vapor, and condenses it. This method utilizes flexible tubes to deliver non-flammable dielectric fluid straight to the heat-generating processing chip or motherboard components, such as the CPU or GPU. The liquid absorbs heat by converting it to vapor and transports the heat out of the equipment via the same tube.
- Liquid Immersion Cooling: In this method, the entire electrical device is immersed in dielectric fluid in a closed system. The liquid soaks up the heat emitted by the device, converts it to vapor, and condenses it.
The World’s Leader in Cost-Effective and Reliable Cooling Packages
Tark is the world’s leader in cooling package design, manufacturing, and refurbishment. We have cutting-edge facilities that allow us to create custom solutions for our customers’ needs. We can also build your pump or entire cooling system from prototype to finished package in our full-service machining, manufacturing, and testing facility.
Our standard cooling systems and pumps may need to be modified to fit your application, or you may require a completely new design. Tark Engineers are available to meet with you to determine your specific size, weight, and cooling needs.
Contact us right away for more information, or request a design consultation and let our team create a solution tailored to your specific requirements!