Data Centre air handling units (AHUs) typical features
Data Centre air handling units (AHUs) typical features
Data centre air handling units (AHUs) and conditioning systems are essential to ensure optimal performance and reliability of information and technology equipment (ITE) systems. Requisites for maintaining a proper environment include monitoring and control of maximum and minimum dry-bulb temperature, dew-point temperature, and levels of particulate and gaseous contaminants. Often these requirements, defined by the data center design and engineering team, provide expectations for overall reliability, maintainability, simplicity, temperature and moisture control, and energy efficiency.
Typical features
- Custom product
- Large air volumes
- Mounted on the roof
- Recirculation, mix and fresh air introduction by means of air ducts
- Suitable for DEC and IEC
- Horizontal airflow in the unit
- Very popular for new design data centres
Specifying and designing air handling units (AHUs) must also take an integrated approach since each of the internal components of the AHU (fan, motor, filter, coil, damper, humidifier) has its own individual role. While this may seem obvious, it is important that the same level of care is put into the design and selection for each of these components.
Once the design is finalized, facility engineering personnel must be educated on the air handling system’s maintenance and operations. This will lead to a solid grasp of the technical underpinnings of the air handling and conditioning equipment which is critical when the systems become operational and preparing for subsequent start-up, commissioning, testing, and maintenance. Performance criteria developed during the conceptual engineering phase and then finalized during design include:
- Dry-bulb temperature.
- Moisture level.
- Fan performance.
- Filtration effectiveness.
- Overall control and monitoring of the internal components.
