Case Study: Climate Control and Cooling Tech for a Busy University’s IDF
Overview
At the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), temperatures in rooms housing computer equipment were exceeding allowable levels. This was due to the shortcomings of their Independent Distribution Frame (IDF) room’s cooling system.
The system needed to be updated to provide sufficient cooling power so that equipment could continue operating at a high level and a safe temperature.
Background
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) boasts an impressive 33,906 total students per the school’s website. There are over 3,000 faculty members and 372 total degree programs between Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctoral, and Certificates.
The amount of processing power and activity in this environment is understandably high. In order to keep operations running smoothly, they needed a cooling system they could rely on.
Challenges
The main issue UIC faced was high temperatures in its IDF rooms. ThermFlo evaluated the total cooling capacity of these rooms was 12 tons – and evaluated that the actual cooling capacity they required to maintain a safe temperature was 16 tons.
The primary obstacle in this situation was space. The IDF rooms were landlocked, leaving no additional space to add AC equipment inside, and no adjacent areas to build an additional IDF room.
The final challenge was managing to keep equipment going during the replacement/upgrade process, as well as ensuring that adding additional computer equipment in the future wouldn’t result in more cooling issues.
Results
ThermFlo led a design plan, and once it was approved by the client, we changed out their cooling units. 8 of their 1.5-ton Data Mate (DX) units (62” wide) were exchanged for 8 new Vertiv Data Mate (DX) 3-ton chilled water units (64” wide) in a setup that fits in the old space but provides superior cooling.
We provided this advanced cooling capacity by adding a pair of chilled water pumps and with a 30-ton air cooled chiller. Since there was no additional room inside, we added these units to the roof. They were connected to the glycol risers, converting the system to chilled water risers. This setup also included containment pans beneath the pumps and electrical power wiring.
During the project, we used 8 temporary cooling units during the downtime. We also connected to the base building main chiller loop for emergency redundancy, and we used the existing dry cooler for a winter-side economizer.
Summary
Our design and installation provided adequate cooling for the UIC’s needs – even exceeding cooling capacity, so new computer equipment could be installed in the future with no further temperature issues.
By utilizing a chiller model and positioning equipment on the roof, we were able to achieve the desired result without altering the room or removing any computer equipment. The winter-side economizer will provide seasonal energy savings, resulting in satisfactory performance year-round.