Liquid cooling trends in data centres (Turkish translation in the TTMD journal)

Overview

This record concerns the Turkish translation, published in issue 130 (April-June 2021, p. 48) of the journal of the Turkish Society of HVAC and Sanitary Engineers (TTMD), of an ASHRAE Journal column by Donald L. Beaty, David Quirk and Frank T. Morrison. The piece explains why and how data centres move from air to liquid cooling and serves as a teaching resource for novice Turkish-speaking users.

The column starts by reviewing the limits of contained hot and cold aisles. Contained hot-aisle/cold-aisle layout with blanking panels is the baseline air approach, and its limits drive the move to liquid. Liquid cooling is defined as bringing the coolant closer to the heat source. It notes that, at equal volumetric flow, water carries about 3,700 times more heat than air, shrinking transport duct and pipe size and fan and pump energy. Leak concerns historically kept operators from bringing liquid close to electronics.

It reports that ASHRAE defines liquid-cooling classes W1 to W5 for facility water temperature, each with a typical infrastructure scheme. The goals listed include higher rack densities, efficient heat transfer to the facility water system, loop temperatures as high as possible for economiser hours and heat reuse, lower fan energy and better PUE. The forms of liquid cooling are outlined, from in-row and overhead coils to rear-door and on-chip.

As a limit, this is the translation of a column; detailed calculation methods and class-specific temperature values are not in this record. The piece is valuable as an introductory and teaching resource: it uses Turkish terminology (sıvı soğutma, tesis suyu, kapalı koridor) in an established way. For exact temperature ranges and design decisions, the ASHRAE Liquid Cooling Guidelines themselves must be consulted.

Key points

1. By equal volumetric flow, water carries about 3,700 times more heat than air, shrinking duct and pipe size and fan and pump energy.
2. ASHRAE defines liquid-cooling classes W1 to W5 for facility water temperature, each with a typical infrastructure scheme.
3. Goals: higher rack densities, efficient heat transfer to the facility water system, loop temperatures as high as possible for economiser hours and heat reuse, lower fan energy, better PUE.
4. Contained hot-aisle/cold-aisle with blanking panels is the baseline air approach whose limits drive the move to liquid.
5. Leak concerns historically kept operators from bringing liquid close to electronics.
6. Forms of liquid cooling range from in-row and overhead coils to rear-door and on-chip.

Using it in design

• Offer a W-class selector for liquid-cooled systems that sets supply-temperature ranges and links to whether chillers, dry coolers or towers are needed.
• Draw Turkish teaching tooltips from this translation.
• When explaining the case for liquid, use the limits of the air approach as the starting point.

Who should read it

Turkish-speaking designers, operators and students who are new to liquid cooling.

Related standards

• ASHRAE Liquid Cooling Guidelines (W1-W5)

Publication details

Authors

Donald L. Beaty; David Quirk; Frank T. Morrison

Publisher

Türk Tesisat Mühendisleri Derneği (TTMD) - TTMD Dergisi

Year

2021

Document number

TTMD Dergisi Sayı 130 (Nisan-Haziran 2021), s. 48

Document language

English

Source type

Industry body

Access

Free to read

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation