50% Less Heat. No Increase in Energy Use. Power Density Potential More than Twice the Industry Standard.
Silver Linings Rafts have superior heat removal capabilities because they were designed, not by an IT equipment manufacturer, container manufacturer or data center development company, but by a firm whose engineers are experts in thermal management and air handling systems. Experienced professionals with an in-depth understanding of thermal dynamics and its industrial applications. Designers who daily resolve heat dissipation challenges that dwarf those posed by stacks of servers inside a containerized data center.
IEA, Inc, the designer and manufacturer of Silver Linings Rafts has been a leader in providing customized cooling equipment for industrial-grade engines since 1985, serving customers such as Caterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel and Katolight with heat transfer products that combine performance and design elegance with value.
Silver Linings Rafts are a result of using such extensive knowledge and experience to solve the unique power and cooling challenges presented by containerized or modular data center structures.
Effectively Cooling Modular/Containerized Data Centers
The biggest challenge in cooling servers housed in modular or containerized data center structures is assuring that all units in a rack are cooled proportionately to the heat they produce. Since most traditional methods introduce cool air at the bottom of a rack and exhaust it out the top, servers in the upper layers are forced to operate in considerably hotter conditions than those at the bottom. Some such systems even recommend rotating servers top to bottom to equalize the damaging effects.
In systems that simply provide air to the middle of a rack, the problem is compounded, in that equipment located in both the lower and upper corners of a stack can experience those same higher temperatures.
Smart Air Flow
Silver Linings Rafts solve this problem through the design of their air flow system. Rather than just a few large fans pushing air, a Silver Linings Raft uses a grid of smaller, high efficiency, variable speed, low energy-use units strategically placed to ensure complete coverage of all equipment in the rack and a more uniform heat dissipation.
In addition, each fan responds automatically to both temperature changes in and airflow resistance of specific pieces of equipment within the rack. Should areas of a rack be empty, the fans assigned to cool that area will never turn on. In other words, the fans operate only when and only to the degree needed, keeping energy use as low as possible.
Augmented Convective Cooling
While traditional cooling systems rely on natural convection to circulate hot air up and away from the racks, Silver Linings Rafts utilize fan-equipped return ducts that draw the heat laden exhaust air evenly away from the equipment, then up, over and back down through the heat exchanger core. This patented “push-pull” design, known as “augmented convective cooling” in Silver Linings parlance, ensures more cooling air reaches more IT equipment in a more even, consistent and reliable way, ensuring the most complete, yet lowest cost, IT equipment cooling.
Heat-Scrubbing Air
But improving airflow alone is not sufficient to generate the kind of IT equipment cooling efficiencies provided by Silver Linings Rafts. The additional increases are created by modifying the airflow pattern itself.
The Challenge: A column of hot air moving smoothly by the fins of a heat exchanger core will have only a portion of its retained heat removed by those fins, because only a portion of the air actually touches the fins. To increase the cooling capacity of the core, the column of air must be made to move in irregular patterns past the fins (i.e. tumble), increasing the amount of surface-to-surface contact for any given period of time.
The patented component design of Silver Linings Rafts’ heat exchanger cores creates enough turbulence in the hot air stream to significantly increase heat removal; up to 50% more than the same amount of “smooth” air. Yet it costs no more to push/pull the Rafts’ scrubbing air through the rack. Energy costs are reduced, while PUEs get as close to perfect as physics will allow.
150% Upside Potential
Silver Linings Rafts even solve the problem of cooling data centers whose power density is certain to expand, significantly increasing the return on investment in modular or containerized data center structures.
On average, a Standard Silver Linings Raft data center can properly cool up to 150% more wattage/square foot than was originally specified. Such unique expandability greatly extends the life of the investment and increases flexibility when dealing with equipment upgrades.
But even providing the most effective and dependable containerized IT equipment cooling solution is just one of many reasons Silver Linings Rafts are the best choice for any investment in a new or expanded data center. Among the many others benefits are:
- Lowest initial investment in modular or containerized data center
- Continued low investment to accommodate on-going power density growth
- No restrictions on brands or type of equipment housed in a modular data center
- No need to obsolete existing Silver Linings Rafts when further expansion is needed
- No need to build-out or renovate buildings in order to house a modular data center
- Fastest delivery of containerized data centers available
- Lowest energy consumption when compared to alternative modular data centers
- Increased service efficiency and resulting lower maintenance costs
- No loss of business efficiency or competitive edge due to inability to fund expansion of computing capacity.
