Flomerics’ Flovent Used for Cooling in Data Center

By DE Editors

APC Uses FLOVENT simulation software to create first real-time data center cooling calculator.

Flomerics (Marlborough, MA) announced that its Flovent computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software was selected by American Power Conversion (APC; West Kingston, RI) to help develop a real-time cooling calculator for data center design, said to be the world’s first.

APC developed mathematical models that predict the capture index based on data center layout without the need for a full 3D airflow simulation.

The calculator computes a cooling performance metric called the capture index that assesses the local airflow around each rack and evaluates cooling performance and the scalability of cooling architecture. As data center cooling becomes more complicated and expensive due to the rapid rise in power densities of modern computing and communications systems, the ability to predict local temperature and airflow near equipment racks becomes critical. Running computer simulations of the airflow and heat transfer throughout the data center can provide a solution, but analyzing the results requires time and expertise.

Through the use of Flomerics’ Flovent CFD software, APC developed a much simpler approach that enables the user to model a wide range of data center configurations and distill the results into simple algorithms that predict cooling performance for typical data center layouts.

For more information about Flovent, visit Flomerics.

Sources:  Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.