Case Study: Freeing up 60 tons of Excess Cooling
SUMMARY:
Tier IV Colocation provider freed up excess cooling capacity with Purkay Labs’ Dynamic Heat Map Service
CLIENT
CONFIDENTIAL- TIER IV COLOCATION PROVIDER
LOCATION:
CONFIDENTIAL
SAVINGS
FREED UP 25,000 CFM OR 60 TONS OF COOLING CAPACITY
Key Results
Mapped airflow patterns in a 40,000 square foot Colocation facility
Freed up excess cooling capacity
Resolved dispute between Tenant and Client on cooling
The Problem:
In 2018, a major Colocation provider (the Client) was having a problem with a tenant that was running their server fans continuously in a shared multi-tenant space. The Client was concerned that the Tenant was taking more cold air than necessary, affecting nearby tenants. The Client wanted to resolve the issue by measuring airflow. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the Tenant was not convinced they were creating a problem by running the fans continuously.
The Solution:
Purkay Labs used their hardware and software as a part of the Dynamic Heat Map Service to map the airflow. They took measurements across the return plenum to record the heat distribution across the room. The variance in the temperature in the Dynamic Heat Map (bottom left) generated by Purkay Labs indicated the presence of horizontal bypass, where cold air is moving from one cage to the next, instead of moving vertically to the return air plenum. This occurs when there is not enough airflow being delivered to one cage.
The Results:
Using the Purkay Labs Report, the Client was able to confirm to their Tenant that they were providing sufficient airflow, and that the Tenant could safely stop running their fans 24/7. The Client was able to cut 25,000 of CFM. This freed up capacity for other tenants in the shared facility. In December 2018, the Client re-ran the same test, using their own AUDIT-BUDDY™ systems and sent the data to Purkay Labs for analysis. The heat maps generated from this data (bottom right) confirmed that reducing the fan speed reduced the amount of horizontal bypass.
About the Dynamic Heat Map Service
The Dynamic Heat Map Service allows users to create real-time, dynamic maps of the changing heat distribution across a room, or vertical space. This package allows users to see the overall cooling performance and variations across an entire room simultaneously in an easy to digest manner.
