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Project Summary: This clinic focused on developing a sustainable way to capture and reuse waste heat from a new server room in Rowan Hall. The servers were expected to generate about 20 kW of heat, which is normally wasted and requires additional cooling.
Project Summary: This clinic focused on developing a sustainable way to capture and reuse waste heat from a new server room in Rowan Hall. The servers were expected to generate about 20 kW of heat, which is normally wasted and requires additional cooling.
The goal for this semester, since this is a newer clinic, was to model the room with the server racks installed to understand how the airflow and heat from the servers would behave.
The goal for this semester, since this is a newer clinic, was to model the room with the server racks installed to understand how the airflow and heat from the servers would behave.
Future semesters will focus on designing a system to capture this wasted heat and support Rowan’s sustainability goals. I worked with one other team member to build the SolidWorks Flow Simulations and model the room to evaluate thermal behavior under different rack and airflow configurations.
Future semesters will focus on designing a system to capture this wasted heat and support Rowan’s sustainability goals. I worked with one other team member to build the SolidWorks Flow Simulations and model the room to evaluate thermal behavior under different rack and airflow configurations.
How
Researched existing systems by reviewing HVAC schematics and touring IDF rooms across campus to understand server room ventilation.
Built simplified CAD models of the server room and racks in SolidWorks, assigning realistic materials and thermal loads.
Ran CFD simulations to analyze airflow and temperature with and without AC, testing five rack configurations.
Analyzed results and found the best placement was aligning racks directly with AC units, producing the lowest peak temperatures and balanced flow.
Research
Research
Pictures of Rowan Hall 1st Floor IDF Room while the team got a tour of the different server rack rooms on campus
We were provided with the mechanical floor plans for Rowan Hall to help us better understand what is going on in the room.
Server Room Model
Server Room Model
Flow Simulation Room Temperature Comparison
Flow Simulation Room Temperature Comparison
The cut plots above allowed for us to
Solidworks Flow Simulation
Solidworks Flow Simulation
Animation shows the room without any sort of air conditioning and just relying on the return diffuser in the top right.
Animation shows the server room with the split system indoor units running and providing the room with cool air.
Rack Configurations for Simulation
Rack Configurations for Simulation
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