This study proposes the container data center with the featured cold aisle containment (CAC) as effective thermal control strategy. In design, the overhead downward flow system is implemented with a heat exchanger arranged right above the data center on the air side and an evaporative water chiller on the water side to form the cooling approach. The cold airflows and hot exhausts of racks are separately transported by the contained cold an. This study proposes the container data center with the featured cold aisle containment (CAC) as effective thermal control strategy. In design, the overhead downward flow system is implemented with a heat exchanger arranged right above the data center on the air side and an evaporative water chiller on the water side to form the cooling approach. The cold airflows and hot exhausts of racks are separately transported by the contained cold and hot aisles to alleviate the problem of cold and hot air mixing. The measurements of air temperature and velocity of racks are used to validate the prediction accuracy of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The performance metrics in terms of the rack cooling index (RCI), return temperature index (RTI), supply heat index (SHI) are used to examine the design effectiveness of the proposed test data center. The simulations are then extended to assess the air distribution and thermal management at varied supply air temperatures and velocities for a large-scale data center to be built in the green energy technology demonstration site of the Shalun smart green energy science city. Overall, the calculated average PUE of 1.38 for the large-scale data center is notably less than the average PUE of 1.59 from the results of 2020 data center industry survey, indicating the potential savings of cooling energy and cost. This paper demonstrates a generalized approach as an easily adaptable, cost-effective solution for data centers to be deployed in tropical and subtropical ar. ••Cooling solution adopts heat exchanger/evaporative water chiller on air/water sides.••Thermal control is enhanced using overhead downward flow with cold aisle containment.••Effects of supply air temperature and velocity on data center performance are studied.••A good power usage efficiency of 1.38 is achieved for planned large-scale data center.Data centerAirflow managementRack cooling indexReturn temperature indexSupply heat indexCFD simulationASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning EngineersC Specific heatCAC Cold aisle containmentCOP Coefficient of performanceCRAC Computer room air-conditionerEWC In recent years, new technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), fifth generation (5G) communication, and internet of things (IoT) have substantially changed the way of people to live, work, connect and learn in every aspect with the rapid development of globalization and informationization. The related information processes are normally fulfilled in a so-called data center, which is a particular facility housing multiple network segments for data computing, processing, storing and sharing sequences. Having great processing capability, the centralized data centers also consume enormous power. For instance, data centers in the United State are anticipated to consume nearly 0.073 PWh in 2020, corresponding to a yearly increase rate of 4% between 2014 and 2020. According to the report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), data centers in US expended approximate 70 TWh electricity in 2016, accounting for 1.8% of the annual electricity generation. Based on the current trend, the power consumption of global data centers is presumed to use about one-fifth of the entire world's electricity by 2025. Among the total energy consumption, the cooling system is conventionally responsible for 40–60% in average to ensure the sustainable and reliable operations of equipment. In consideration of reducing the operating cost, the improvement of cooling efficiency of data center can mitigate power demand.
