Cooling Towers in a Spanish Data Processing Center

1. Context of installation

Cooling in a data center is key to its operation and to not compromising its reliability. CPDs are complex facilities classified according to their standards in terms of reliability and response to unforeseen circumstances. They demand the highest technologies for operation. They tend to be increasingly large and their energy consumption is high and costly.

The heat produced by the equipment in such a center is one of the main problems to deal with because excess heat endangers its operation and impacts negatively on the performance of the equipment, shortening its lifetime.

2. The challenge

Dissipating excess heat through efficient cooling systems is vital. Equally, the challenge of energy saving is an objective to be achieved and the technical solution provided in this project is evaporative cooling. A technology that allows cooling and refrigeration with the lowest cost and environmental impact compared to other cooling systems.

3. Solution

For the cooling of this data processing center in Catalonia, Torraval Cooling supplied 16 open-circuit forced draught cooling towers of the CTFP series.

It is a tower whose most common environment is industrial, but in this project, its morphology and design (with the mechanical equipment and the fan at the foot of the equipment) played in favor of the noise treatment for induced draught cooling towers (with the motor on top). They were placed on the roof of a building in the city center.

This particular design was sought and combined with a distribution of towers in 2 rows facing each other to achieve natural acoustic shielding and full use of the available roof space.

The scope of the project is the supply of:

• 16 CTFP 2436 (CB) 15 kW cooling towers with laminar filling,
• 4 cat stairs,
• 16 maintenance walkways,
• 2 walkways between the 2 groups of towers.

All this is to ensure total accessibility for observation, maintenance, and repair work on the equipment.

Ask for Information

4. Noise and its treatment

From the outset, it was understood that, given the context and the scale of the project, the treatment of the noise impact deserved a separate chapter. During the study and tender phase, noise and its treatment were very much present. Sound-absorbing materials and the installation of acoustic panels were requested and proposed, but in the engineering phase, and given the uncertainty offered by the theoretical study, it was decided to wait to observe the acoustic behavior of the real model in operation, to quantify the noise with numbers and isophonic curves and thus optimize the solution to be applied as much as possible.

5. Tailor-made solutions

To achieve maximum efficiency, the system as a whole was raised in height to achieve a correct air renewal at the fan level of each cooling tower.

The system is also prepared to work with frequency variators which, connected to a PLC, allow for stop/start management, homogenizing the wear and tear of all mechanical elements equally.

For better integration into the urban landscape, the CTFP 2436 model was customized using a RAL 9010 resin.

6. Advantages

• Cooling of a data center at the lowest possible energy cost.
• The design aimed at noise reduction.
• Design of the installation making maximum use of the available space.
• Handrails, access ladders, and maintenance platforms for total access during maintenance maneuvers.
• Customization to adapt the installation to the urban environment.

Ask for Information

Article previously published on TORRAVAL Cooling’s blog.