Investigation of air management and energy performance in a data center in Finland: Case study

This is the first research paper on data center from Finland. The objectives of this study are to evaluate air management and energy performance of cooling system and investigate the possibilities of energy saving and reuse in the data center. Field measurements, particularly for long term's IT and facility powers, were conducted. Different performance metrics for the cooling system and power consumption were examined and analysed. Key problem areas and energy saving opportunities were identified. The electrical end use breakdown was estimated. Results show that IT equipment intake conditions were within the recommended or allowable ranges from ASHRAE. The Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) value for a typical year was about 1.33. Noticeable recirculation of hot air was not observed, but extreme bypass air was found. The air change rate was set much bigger than the recommended ASHRAE's value. There was no heat recovery system. The air management and heat recovery issues therefore need to be addressed. Fan speeds (Computer Room Air-Conditioning Unit) should be reduced and the ventilation rate should be minimized. Further, a simulated heat recovery system was presented demonstrating that the data center could potentially provide yearly space and hot water heating for 30,916 m2 non-domestic building.

► We investigated air management and energy performance in a data center in Finland.
► Notable recirculation air was not found but bypass air existed.
► PUE was about 1.33 for a typical year, a kind of energy efficient data center.
► CRAC fan speeds should be reduced and the ventilation rate should be minimized.
► Adding heating recovery system could satisfy yearly heating demand for 30,916 m2 non-domestic building.