Thermal analysis for underground data centres in the tropics

Abstract

Different with traditional aboveground data centres, underground data centres have attracted increasing attention during recent years due to its inherent geographical advantages such as zero solar heat gain, low ambient temperature, natural geothermal cooling, and solid rock surrounded structures. The energy reduction in air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) system of the underground data centre is even more significant for the tropical regions where air is hot and humid all the year round. However, little study has been conducted to systematically analyse the relationship between the air-conditioning effectiveness and the corresponding energy efficiency. In this work, both energy simulations and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are conducted to the underground air-conditioning data centres in the tropics. The former one studies the energy consumption and energy efficiency of the whole ACMV system for a data centre. Meanwhile, the latter one studies the corresponding detailed airflow pattern within the data centre room. Optimizations in air management of the ACMV system are also proposed based on the energy and CFD simulation results.