Raised Access Perforated Panels with Adjustable Air Flow Dampers Increase UFAC Efficiency

With convection cooling via raised floors, the still current demands for low operating costs, high flexibility, and redundancy can be met with a proven system for air conditioning in data centers.

In most cases, however, the air escaping from the raised floor is still uncontrolled. Raised floor perforated panels with dampers controlled by sensors with a variable degree of opening are an important component here in order to reduce the energy required for air conditioning.

Raised Floor Air Flow Perforated Panels

In most cases, the raised floor manufacturer also supplies the perforated panels for the air outlet. The customer can usually choose between various degrees of perforation. Some manufacturers also offer throttle plates that are mounted on the underside of the plate and thus enable manual control of the air volume.

Raised Floor Air Flow Dampers

The amount of air actually required depends on the load on the server. In the age of server virtualization and cloud technologies in particular, load fluctuations occur because entire racks are switched on and off. In line with the fluctuating load behavior of the server, flexible solutions are also required for recirculating air conditioning. The challenge is to provide the servers with sufficient and specifically cooled air. Sufficient should mean that the exact amount of air that is currently required by the servers leaves the raised floor. Targeted means that the air exits the raised floor as directly as possible in front of the server rack's air intake. The latter applies in particular where cold and warm corridors are not separated from each other by structural measures. The need-based supply of cold air directly in front of the server intake reduces the mixing of cold and warm air. One can therefore also speak of a virtual containment.

With the airflow adjustable dampers, Huiya offers a versatile solution that, with its dimensions of 600 mm x 600 mm, fits into the grid of commercially available raised floor panels. The degree of opening of the flaps can be regulated as required via the building management system (BMS) or directly from the airflow system own controller via the temperature or pressure differences. If the power supply is interrupted, the raised floor vent dampers are automatically opened by a return spring. The entire unit ends with a flow-optimized Access Floor Damper and is therefore also protected from mechanical loads, for example from lifting vehicles.