data center, air duct layout, temperature field, plenum height, perforation rate, baffle angle, Heating and ventilation. Air conditioning, TH7005-7699, Low temperature engineering. Cryogenic engineering. Refrigeration, TP480-498, Technology

A sub-module (three-row cabinet as an example) of data center with the cold channel closed in an array of odd-numbered columns is taken as the subject to be investigated. A computational fluid dynamics simulation was used to visualize the compound effect of the plenum height and floor perforation rate on the airflow in the data center. The temperature fields of 25 typical models with various combinations of plenum heights and floor perforation rates were analyzed to find the best match of 600-700 mm (plenum height) and 20%–50% (perforation rate). Furthermore, eight plenum height and perforation rate models that fell within the above range were compared to find the best uniform temperature distribution inside the cabinets. Based on the results, a baffle was erected in the plenum at four angles from -15° to 45° to obtain the most satisfying cooling effect. The results showed that the optimal model for the data center sub-module had a plenum height of 600 mm, perforation rate of 20%, and 15° baffle.