design & facilities management
To reduce water damage, leak detection sensors should be installed
around the perimeter of the room approximately 3ft from the outer walls.
twice over – and are predicted to
reach 140 billion kilowatt-hours
by 2020. Using outside ambient
air instead of mechanical cooling,
operators can significantly reduce
their energy bills.
Although cold climates offer
natural cooling opportunities, there
are trade-offs to locating data
centres in cold weather regions. With
average temperatures of -20˚C in
winter, frost and snow can become a
real hazard to air conditioning units,
cooling towers and generators. For
example, it is difficult to heat the
air from the outside in extremely
low temperatures, resulting in
facilities operating outside of the
recommended temperature ranges.
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Outdoor equipment, such as
drainage pipes, HVAC coils and fuel
systems are also vulnerable. If HVAC
units are not sealed correctly, they
can easily allow snow to enter the
facility, while frozen units can begin
to leak water once the thaw begins.
At the same time, external pipes and
poorly insulated internal water lines
can burst when exposed to sub-zero
temperatures, leading to considerable
damage and disruption.
Ensuring reliable protection
Although data centre outages can
be unpredictable, there are certain
precaution methods that can be taken
by operators to minimise those risks.
For example, to reduce water damage,
leak detection sensors should be
installed around the perimeter of
the room approximately 3ft from the
outer walls. If there is a raised floor,
the sensor should be placed under
it as liquids always seek the lowest
point. Two types of sensors can be
commonly found for water based
leaks: spot and water snake cable
based sensors. Spot sensors will
trigger an alert when water reaches
the unit. Water rope or water snake
cable sensors use a conductive cable
whereby contact at any point causes
the alert. The latter is recommended
due to its higher range and accuracy.
For fuel based leaks, sensors need
to be deployed around the generator
pad, under day tanks, in double wall
pipes or trenches connecting the
supply to minimise risks. The product
in place must be able to react to the
presence of diesel in a few seconds
and detect a puddle of fuel spreading
across a flat surface, or a layer of
diesel floating on water. For better
efficiency, the sensor cable should
monitor large amounts of piping with
accuracy and consistent precision.
For data centres in cold
climates, a high performance frost
protection system can be installed
to prevent damage to the building
and its contents. Self-regulating
heat tracing cables can be easily
mounted directly onto pipes, drains,
gutters or around HVAC units and
generators to protect from frost and
ensure that a continuous drain path is
maintained. They automatically adjust
their heat output to the surrounding
temperature for optimum energy
efficiency and are highly resistant to
extreme environments. In addition,
advanced control systems ensure that
the system is only operating when it
freezes, further contributing to data
centre energy saving initiatives.