Investigation and improvement of air distribution system’s airflow performance in data centers

Abstract To improve cooling and energy utilization efficiency, under-floor flexible baffles (UFBs) was applied to transform the under-floor airflow pattern in this paper. The application of UFBs impacted the airflow pattern within the Cold aisle containment (CAC). As a result, the exhaust air temperatures of racks were reduced and the exhaust air temperature distribution of the racks was better distributed. The results indicated that, although the use of CAC reduced the exhaust air temperature of racks and the maximum temperature of local hotspot, the air temperature distribution of the racks presented as a non-uniform distribution and the temperature of local hotspot was still high. However, not only could UFBs further reduce exhaust air temperature, but also it made the exhaust airflow more uniform. When the angle between the baffle and CRACs outlet air orientation was at 45, the maximum temperature of local hotspots dropped most, which was from 30.5℃ to 28.4℃ and achieved a 2.1℃ temperature drop. Under the circumstance, the exhaust air temperature distribution was more uniform compared to the data center with CAC but without UFBs.