See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/267597186

A CFD Analysis of Telecommunication Racks, Including Effects of Air Filter

Locations

Conference Paper · January 2005

DOI: 10.1115/IPACK2005-73008

CITATION READS
1 74

3 authors, including:

Lian-Tuu Yeh Benjamin Chung

thermal consultant University of Akron
53 PUBLICATIONS   518 CITATIONS    118 PUBLICATIONS   904 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Radiation Heat Transfer View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Lian-Tuu Yeh on 04 January 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.


A CFD ANALYSIS OF TELECOMMUNICATION RACKS, INCLUDING EFFECTS OF AIR FILTER
LOCATIONS
L.T. Yeh
Thermal Consultant
5810 Brushy Creek Trail
Dallas TX 75252
jjyeh2@aol.com
Joseph Yeh
Thermal Consultant
5810 Brushy Creek Trail
Dallas TX 75252
jjyeh2@aol.com
ABSTRACT
A CFD thermal and air flow analysis is performed for a
given telecommunication rack. The commercial software,
Flotherm, is employed to perform the system level analysis.
The analysis is made to examine the effects of the air filter
locations at the upstream and downstream of the fans on the
flow distribution within the system. The analysis is then
extended to the case with one-fan failure condition
INTRODUCTION
A telecommunication rack consists of two identical shelves.
Each shelf includes a card cage, a fan pack, an inlet and an exit.
The overall internal dimensions of the shelf are 21.2”, 36.75”
and 19”. There are four compartments inside the card cage.
Each of three identical compartments contains an optical
electronic module (OEM) and its motherboard. The fourth
compartment includes 4 small printed circuit boards.
In this work, a thermal and air flow analysis is performed for
one shelf. Flotherm software is utilized to perform the CFD
analysis in the system level. The purpose of the analysis is to
predict the flow distribution in the system (or shelf). The
calculated air flow to each compartment is then applied to a
detailed thermal analysis of individual optical electronic
modules and the printed circuited boards. The effect of the air
filter locations on the flow distribution is first examined so that
Proceedings of IPACK2005
ASME InterPACK ’05
July 17-22, San Francisco, California, USA
IPACK2005-730008
B.T.F Chung
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Akron
Akron, Ohio 44325
bchung@uakron.edu
the optimum design configuration can be achieved. The
analysis is further extended to the case with one-fan failure
condition.
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The telecommunication rack under consideration consists of
two identical individual shelves and the sketch of the shelf is
presented in Figure 1. Air is drawn into the inlet grille
horizontally. After the entrance, the flow turns a 90-degree
upward through a fan pack and an air filter, and enters the card
cage bounded by the lower and the upper supports. Air is then
converged along the exit duct and finally leaves the system
through an exit grille into the ambient.
The overall internal dimensions of the shelf are 21.23” (width)
x 36.75” (height) x 19” (depth). The compartment height and
width are 21.75” and 6.24”, respectively. Since it is a non-
standard rack, the foot print (21.23” x 19”) does not conform to
the GR63 part of NEBS. Each shelf consists of a card cage, a
fan pack, an inlet and an exit. The card cage, which is bounded
by the lower and the upper supports, includes four
compartments. Each of three individual compartments contains
an optical electronic module (OEM) and its motherboard. The
1 Copyright © 2005 by ASME
fourth compartment includes 4 printed circuited boards
arranged in two columns.
Exit Grille
Upper
Support Upper EMI
Optical Boards
electronic
module
(OEM) Middle Plates 1 &2
Board
Lower LowEMI
Support
Fan Pack/Air Filter
Inlet Grille
Figure 1 Sketch of Rack under Consideration
The total height available for the inlet, the exit and the fan pack
is 10.5”. The fan pack consists of 4 identical fans. The outer
diameter and thickness of the fan are 6.75” and 2”, respectively.
The system pressure drop and the fan performance curves
determine the available air flow to the shelf.
The optical electronic module consists of several optical and
electronic devices. The heat dissipation for each optical
electronic module plus its motherboard is 137 watts. Each
printed circuit board inside the fourth compartment dissipates
25 watts. The total heat dissipation from electronics in the
system is 511 watts. In addition, each fan dissipates 90 watts
when it operates at the nominal voltage of 48V. The initial
analysis is based on the fans operating at 36V. The same type
of the fan is also utilized in other types of the racks that all fans
operate at 48V. Another reason to have the fan operating at
36V is to reduce the flow induced vibration that may cause
misalignment of the optical devices inside the OEMs.
DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
The purpose of the work is to design a shelf that can provide an
adequate air flow to each compartment for the cooling of
electronic and optical devices and to insure the individual
component temperatures not exceeding the required thermal
limits. Since these two shelves under consideration are
identical, the thermal analysis is only performed for one shelf.
The analysis is to study the effect of the air filter locations on
the system flow distribution so that the optimum design
configuration can be obtained. The calculated flow rate to the
individual compartments is then applied to the detailed analysis
of the individual modules and the boards.
For redundancy purpose, it is a common practice for the
telecommunication system to be analyzed under one fan failure
condition. The system under this condition must still function
properly for a certain period of the time so that the repair or
replacement of the fan can be made. The duration allowed for a
failed fan depends on the operation environments and the
locations of the equipment. For example, it will take much
longer to repair/replace the failed fan if the equipment is
located at a somewhat remote area. Therefore, the present
analysis is further extended to examine the case with one fan
failure.
Excluding the fan thickness, the available height for the inlet
and exit is 8.5”. The pressure loss coefficient for the entrance is
generally much higher than that of the exit. Therefore, a larger
inlet section is needed to reduce the system pressure drop. The
height of the inlet and the exit cross sections are then
determined to be 5” and 3.5”, respectively.
Prior to the analysis, the following assumptions are made.
1) Free flow cross section area
- Inlet grille : 80%
- Fan finger guides : 95%
- Lower/Upper supports : 90%
- EMI and middle plates : 70%
- Exit grille : 95%
2) Loss coefficient
- Air filter : 21
- Optical electronic module : 13
3) Ambient at 40º C and sea level
The loss coefficients for the perforate plates and grilles can be
found in Reference 1. The pressure drop across the optical
electronic module was previously calculated. Based on this
calculated pressure drop, the loss coefficient is estimated to be
about 13. The loss coefficient for the air filter used here
represents the clean air filter and this value will be gradually
increased as the filter becomes dirty with the passing time.
The assumption of the ambient at 40 °C under the sea level
condition is just one of possible scenario under consideration.
The air and component temperatures based on this assumption
can also easily be extrapolated for the cases at different ambient
temperatures by increasing or decreasing the calculated
temperature accordingly. For example, if the ambient is at 50
°C, the predicted temperatures are increased by 10 °C. This is
because the effect due to change of the ambient temperature on
the fluid (air) properties is very small.
A Flotherm thermal model as shown in Figure 2 is developed to
represent the physical configuration of the shelf. Details of the
optical electronic module are not included in the current
thermal model. However, the proper pressure loss coefficient
given above is considered in the analysis.
2 Copyright © 2005 by ASME
 FlowvsAir Filter DistancefromFanswith4Fansin
Operation

Exit Grille
850

Total Air Flow, CFM

840
830
820
OEM Boards 810 downstream
Compartments 800 upstream
790
780
770
760
Fans 0 1 2 3 4
Fans
Air Filter Distance FromFans, in
Inlet Grille

Air
Flow

Figure 3 Air Filter Location versus Air Flow – 4 Fan in

Operation
Figure 2 Flotherm Thermal Model

Table 1 Air Flow Rate for 4 Fans in Operation with Air Filter
The first step of the analysis is to optimize the location of the 3 Inch from Fan
air filter. The available space for the air filter is bounded
between the lower support and the top of the inlet as shown in Compartment Up-Stream Filter Down-Stream Filter
Figure 1. The height of this space is 5.5” that includes the fan Flow Rate (CFM) Flow Rate (CFM)
thickness. The air filter can be placed at either upstream or
down stream of the fan pack. The air filter can protect the fans OEM1 253 243
from dust in the former case, while the filter pressurizes the OEM2 208 248
plenum to achieve a better flow distribution to the OEM3 289 223
compartments in the latter case. Boards 78 125

Total 828 839

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Parametric studies are performed to examine the effect of the
location of the air filter on the flow distribution. Figure 3 shows
the results for the case with 4 fans in operation. The difference
in the flow rate between the cases with the air filter being
located at up- and down-stream of the fans is small (less than
11 ft3/min (CFM)) regardless the location of the air filter. For
down stream air filter case, the total system flow rate increases
as the distance from the fan pack increases. However, on the
other hand, an optimum distance of 2” from the fan pack that
generates the maximum system flow rate is achieved for the up-
stream air filter.
The results for the case with one fan failure are presented in
Figure 4. The optimum distance for both cases, (up- and down-
stream air filters) is found to be about 1” from the fan pack.
The difference in the system flow rate appears first to increase
and then to decrease as the distance from fan pack increases.
The air filter location has a great effect on the flow distribution,
especially for the case with one fan failure. This trend is clearly
found in Tables 2. Table 2 lists the flow rates to individual
compartments when the air filter is located at 3” in the up-
stream and down-stream of the fan pack, respectively.

The flow rate distribution to individual compartments with the

air filter located 3” from the fan is given in Table 1. The unit of
“CFM” is commonly used in the industry to express the air
flow rate.

3 Copyright © 2005 by ASME

 FlowvsAir Filter Distance fromFanswith3Fansin
operation
(One Fan Failure) OEM3
560 Little flowto
OEM1
Total Air Flow, CFM

550 OEMs 1&2

540 over failedfan
downstream
530
upstream
520 CTSM/CSCM
OEM2
510
500
0 1 2 3 4
Air Filter
Air Filter Distance fromFans, in

Figure 4 Air Filter Locations versus Air Flow – One Fan

Failure

Figure 5 Flow Distribution for Fan 3 Failure

Table 2 Air Flow Rate for 3 Fans in Operation with Air Filter
3 Inch from Fan
As shown in Figure 3, the system has a highest air flow for 4
Compartment Up-Stream Filter Down-Stream Filter fans in operation when the air filter is located at 3” down-
Flow Rate (CFM) Flow Rate (CFM) stream of the fans. In addition, this case also provides a better
and more uniform flow distribution. Therefore, this
OEM1 37 144 configuration is recommended for the final design. The flow
OEM2 45 126 rate to individual compartments is given in Table 1 for 4 fans
OEM3 335 142 operating at 36V. As can be seen from the table, the flow is
Boards 92 92 relatively uniform to all three OEM compartments. The
uniform velocity to the OEM compartments can also be seen in
Total 509 504 the velocity plot given in Figure 6.

Reversed Flow 270
(Leakage from bad fan)
The failed fan is located just below OEM1 and OEM2.
Therefore, little flow is supplied to these two modules when the
air filter is located upstream of the fans as illustrated in Figure
5. Table 2 indicates that the filter located at the upstream of the
fan provides uneven air flow to the compartments when one fan
fails. On the other hand, the case with the air filter placed in the
down stream of the fans gives a more uniform flow distribution
to all compartments as given in Table 2. This is because the
latter pressurizes the plenum due to a relatively high flow
resistance of the air filter.
The real concern is not at the total system flow rate but the flow
rate to individual modules. As can be seen from the above
table, the flow rate to OEMs 1 and 2 for the case with the up-
stream air filter is much smaller than those with the down-
stream air filter. This may lead to an overheating of the
components inside OEMs 1 and 2.
321 The total flow generated by 4 fans at 36V is 839 CFM.
However, the flow rate is reduced to 504 CFM when one fan
fails, and the reversed flow through the failed fan is 321 CFM
as listed in Table 2. The large flow leakage from a failed fan is
due to a series of high flow resistances such as air filter,
perforate plates in the down stream of the fans. The net effect is
to force the air flowing through the opening of the failed fan
because of less resistance in the path. Figure 7 illustrates the
flow that leaks out from the opening of the failed fan.
Figure 8 shows the increasing air flow along the exit duct. This
is because the exited flow from the compartments is
recombined as it leaves the shelf. It is often thought that adding
a deflector at the dead end in the upper corner of the exit path
may increase the system flow by smoothing the flow path
(eliminating flow re-circulation). Figure 9 shows such
modification with an additional deflector in the exit path.
However, no actual improvement is found from the analysis.
The main reason may be that only a small amount of air from
the compartments flows near the dead end section as illustrated
in Figure 7.

4 Copyright © 2005 by ASME

 Increasing flowalong
exit duct

Figure 8 Flow Distribution Along Exit Duct

Figure 6 Velocity at 6 Inch from Inlet

Air Exit
Air Deflector 4 fans in operation :
838CFM
Same flowrate as case
without deflector
Flow reversed
in failed fan

Failed Fan

Air Inlet

Figure 9 Modified Design with Air Deflector

Figure 7 Flow Reversed in Failed Fan

5 Copyright © 2005 by ASME

 and thus decreases the available air flow to the system. Another
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS concern about the damper is the possibility of failure. The fan
may be blocked if the damper fails to open on the good fans.
The location of the air filter at either up- or down-stream of the
fans appears to have a great impact on the flow distribution in
the shelf. This effect is especially important when one fan fails.
The actual distance of the filter to the fans also has some effects
on the flow distribution but its effect is less significant. The Damper
case with the air filter in the down stream of the fans gives a
more uniform flow to individual compartments, especially for
the case with one fan failure. For this reason, the air filter
located 3” down stream of the fan is selected as the final
design.

The total air flow generated by 4 fans operating at 36V is 839

CFM. The flow rate to the OEM compartments varies from 223
to 248 CFM while only 125 CFM to the boards in the fourth
compartment. However, the flow rate to individual
compartments is reduced by about 40% when one fan fails.
Figure 10 Examples of Fan Damper
The fans are to operate at 36V under the normal conditions in
order to reduce acoustical noise. However, in order to make up
the flow leakage from the failed fan, it is recommended that the REFERENCES
rest of fans should increase the speeds by increasing the
voltages to 48V, or even higher values if allowed. The flow rate 1. Idelchik, I. E., Handbook of Hydraulic Resistance, 3rd
is increased from 504 to 673 CFM when the fan operation Edition, Begell House Inc., New York, 1996.
changes from 36V to 48V. 2. Yeh, Lian-Tuu, and Chu, Richard, C., Thermal
Management of Microelectronic Equipment: Heat
To eliminate or reduce the flow leakage from a failed fan, a Transfer Theory, Analysis Methods, and Design
damper as shown in Figure 10 may be added to each fan. Practices, ASME Press, New York
However, the damper generally increases the flow resistance,

6 Copyright © 2005 by ASME

View publication stats