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This article was published in ASHRAE Journal, April 2013. Copyright 2013 ASHRAE. Posted at www.ashrae.org. This article may not be copied and/or distributed
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Standard 127-2012
ver the past 25 years, but particularly in the past 10, there has
been a significant evolution in environmental conditions for data
of Testing for Rating Computer and Data Processing Room Unitary Air
Conditioners, to see how design conditions have changed between the
initial version of Standard 127 (in 1988), and the version that was
recently released, Standard 127-2012.
The types of units covered by this
standard usually are: computer room
air conditioner (CRAC), which uses
dedicated compressors and refrigerant
cooling coils rather than chilled-water
coils; or computer room air handler
(CRAH), which uses chilled-water coils
for cooling rather than dedicated compressors. Ratings for both types of units
are covered in this standard.
Some baby steps between 1988 and 2007
have turned into giant strides between the
2007 and 2012 revisions of this standard,
and will be highlighted in this column.
ASHRAE Journal
Changes in 2007
The design conditions for data centers
in the 1999 ASHRAE HandbookHVAC
Applications, Chapter 16, Data Processing and Electronic Office Areas, listed
the recommended temperature at 70F to
74F (21.1C to 23.3C), and the recommended humidity range at 45% to 55%
RH. When ASHRAE Standard 127 was
reissued in 2001, it aligned reasonably
well with the HandbookHVAC Applications, and the rating point for air entering
and surrounding the indoor portion of the
unit was set at 71.6F (22C) dry bulb
and 60.8F (16C) wet bulb, corresponding to 54% relative humidity.
Probably not without coincidence,
this design point also falls within the
range of ASHRAE Standard 55, Thermal
Environmental Conditions for Human
Occupancy, allowing for both adequate
cooling of the data center spaces and for
human comfort, since legacy data centers
had more human occupancy than todays
data centers.
The 2007 version of Standard 127 still
listed a single return air design point, but
a s h r a e . o r g
April 2013
DATA CENTERS
the dry-bulb temperature was slightly
higher, and the entering dew-point temperature was slightly lower, reflecting the
fact that since all of the heat released by
ITE is sensible, CRAC and CRAH unit
ratings should be increasingly weighed
toward sensible cooling loads (i.e., a
higher sensible heat ratio).
The 2007 rated return air design condition 75F (23.9C) dry bulb and 45%
RH8 still fell within the zone typically
considered comfortable by ASHRAE
Standard 55.
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A S H R A E J o u r n a l
April 2013
As data center techs have known for some time, the t-shirt
has replaced the sweater as the most comfortable clothing for
working in most of todays modern data centers.
ASHRAE Journal
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DATA CENTERS
A S H R A E J o u r n a l
April 2013
104F and 113F (45C and 40C),2 and
these equipment classes are marketed by
several ITE manufacturers. Future revisions to Standard 127 will likely have
to address accepting even higher return
air temperatures from these new ITE
Classes, (which were announced after
Standard 127-2012 was substantially
complete).
CRAC unit manufacturers are finding it difficult to develop heat transfer
equipment that provides for good performance with 40% propylene glycol
at 35F (Test D for glycol cooled units
in Standard 127-2012). The term molasses is frequently used to describe
fluid flow with glycol at this condition.
Manufacturers will likely be weighing in
on this issue as the next set of revisions
is considered.
There are a number of relatively new
types of data center cooling equipment
for which rating standards have not yet
been developed. Future revisions of the
standard may want to consider whether
and how to incorporate these newcomers
to the field of IT cooling.
A new standards committee, SPC
90.4P, has been formed to develop an
energy standard specifically for data
centers.
It would serve the industry well to
provide standard methods of testing for
rating equipment to these higher temperatures, to rate these new types of data
center cooling equipment, and to align
with any new requirements promulgated
by the SPC 90.4P committee.
Due to the recent rate-of-change in
design conditions acceptable for ITE, the
bigger question may be: should Standard
127 to be transformed into a continuous
maintenance standard?
References
1. ASHRAE. 2012. Datacom Equipment
Power Trends and Cooling Applications,
Second Edition.
2. ASHRAE. 2012. Thermal Guidelines
for Data Processing Environments, Third
Edition.
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