Numerical study of thermal management of data centre using porous medium approach

In this paper, the numerical study of thermal performance of a data centre using porous medium approach to model a rack server considering the cooling fans mounted on the rear side of the servers as momentum source terms is presented. Fluid flow and heat transfer in the data centre room are predicted and evaluated to understand the effects of hot-air recirculation and cold air bypass on the temperature distribution using thermal performance parameters, such as supply/return heat index (SHI/RHI), return temperature index (RTI) and rack cooling index (RCI). The results reveal that the outlet vent placed at the bottom of the wall facing the hot aisle is the best configuration to reduce the maximum temperature observed inside the racks. The homogeneous volumetric heat generation insignificantly affects the values of SHI/RHI and RTI, when the porosities of the racks are same. It is found that a certain arrangement of racks with variable porosity results in better cooling effects.