Hot/Cold Aisle Containment
The High Cost of Cooling
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Gartner reports that a Pacific Gas and Electric
study estimates that containment could save
20 percent in chiller operating costs.
Study by Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory found that the electricity used for
cold supply air could be reduced 75 percent
by implementing cold aisle containment
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Utilizes physical barriers (curtains or panels)
at the front, back, and top of the aisles
Stops the mixing of hot and cold air
Next logical step after hot/cold aisles
Used by Sun, NetApp, Yahoo
Until recently fire suppression has been a big
issue for total containment
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Increases life of IT equipment
Stops CRAC short-cycling
Allows cooling system to be set to a higher
temperature
Decreases energy costs
Improves efficiency
Two Types of Aisle
Containment
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Partial Containment (cold aisles)
 Mostly used with standard CRAC
configuration
Full Containment (cold or hot aisle)
 Used with ceiling and ducted return
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Typically used to stop short-cycling
Improve CRAC efficiency
Very effective for areas where CRAC units are
close to the cold aisles
Proven effectiveness
Several installation in Singapore
Simple installation
Hot air wraps around ends of cold
aisles and warms up all of the cold
aisle.
Hot air at exhaust areas and at
opposite end of room are very
hot.
With partial cold aisle
containment the air in the cold
aisle is a minimum of 2 degrees
colder.
The exhaust air is colder due to
the lowering of the inlet
temperatures.
Bank in Singapore installed air curtains
Before
 Cold aisles were very close to CRAC units
 Excessive short-cycling
 19° CRAC inlet temperature
After
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25° CRAC inlet temperature
Eliminated CRAC short-cycling
Increased CRAC set-points to 23°
Improved efficiency
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Containment connected directly to racks or
hung from ceiling, cable racks, etc.
Simple and low cost solution for end of aisle
containment
Features
◦ NFPA fire retardant vinyl (test reports available)
◦ Vinyl - Static-dissipative (MSDS available)
◦ Cleanroom approved
Aisle Containment Solution
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For both standard CRAC configuration and
ceiling return
Excellent for high air flow and high density
areas
No issues with fire suppression in both
sprinkler or gas suppression
Proven effectiveness
Low cost
Microsoft, Dell solution, Google Taiwan
underway
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Link drops at 57° C
UL Approved
NFPA approved
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Utilize Bi-Metal configuration
Resettable
Three types of operation
◦ Heat
◦ Manually
◦ Electrically
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Link drops at 165° F
UL 33 Approved
Suitable for smoke/ gas fire suppression system
Corrosion resistant stainless steel, plated or
encased parts
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Material: Brush Aluminum
Rapid, hassle free installation
◦ 50% faster than competing solutions.
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Customised
◦ Size
◦ Material
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ESD Safe Seiden Crystal Anti-Static PVC
Anti-Static property and fire retardency
Transparent
Easily attached with T-bar brackets to ceilings
Meets ASTM E-84: NFPA Class A & UBC Class 1
Flame Spread and Smoke Density Standards
◦ NFPA 701 compliant
◦ Available Colors
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 Clear
 Black
 Yellow
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End of cold aisle; phase 1
2 foot panels above racks; phase 2
Dramatic improvement in cold aisle
Even distribution of cold air throughout aisle
End of aisle installed
2 foot diverters
installed on top of
cabinets
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2 degree drop in temperature when the ends
of the aisles were contained
Additional 2.5 degree drop when air diverters
were installed on top of cabinets
Temperature dropped to 16.2 degrees and
was consistent along the 40 foot aisle
Study proves that air diverters on top of
cabinets are effective
Diverters force hot air (from hot aisle) up
toward ceiling
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Aisle containment is a viable energy saving
solution
Savings as high as 40% or more in cooling
costs
Widely supported and endorsed by DC
designers
Thank you!