Airedale maximises benefits of free cooling for data centre

Airedale, air conditioning, data centre cooling, free cooling
Rear-door cooling of server racks and the maximising free cooling are key parts of Airedale’s cooling strategy for a new server room at the University of Portsmouth.

Airedale International supplied the cooling solution for a new £2.25 million high-density energy-efficient data centre at the University of Portsmouth, which has a PUE (power usage efficiency) of 1.14 (load dependent). Working in partnership with Sudlows, Airedale was selected for its ability to offer a complete solution.

The Airedale solution provides indirect free cooling to the data centre, with direct fresh-air free cooling for the UPS room. Free cooling is available for up to 95% of the year, depending on ambient temperature. When free cooling is available, chilled-water set points are maximised up to 20°C to prolong free cooling.

Airedale’s ACIS web-based control interface delivers intelligent, graphical remote management of the data centre and interfaces with multiple protocols to monitor all elements of the site. The plant includes two 500 kW DeltaChill FreeCool chillers, two 34 kW SmartCool chilled-water precision air conditioning units and 35 high-density OnRak rear-door IT cooling units handling up to 25 kW of cooling load per rack. Other equipment includes external generator, building fresh-air supply, air-conditioning units for the battery and build room, equipment for the UPS room, and water-leak detection and fire-suppression systems.

The ACIS system integrates with the university’s legacy BMS, so that data-centre alarms are visible from the main site.

For more information on this story, click here: April 2014, 123
Related links:
Related articles:



modbs tv logo

More refrigerant bans possible, says government

The government could tighten up the rules that restrict the use of global warming refrigerant gases including speeding up phase-out programmes and introducing new bans, according to a spokesman from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Baxi research suggests schools strongly support heat decarbonisation

A survey conducted by Baxi of 200 state school estates managers, consultant engineers and M&E contractors has found that while enthusiasm for Net Zero and support for low carbon heating systems in schools is thriving, persistent barriers remain.