Recently, one of our customers planning to install one of our cabinets in a new data center asked whether Air Dam Kits are necessary as part of their overall cooling strategy. It’s a great question, and one that many data center managers are likely to consider when designing an efficient airflow management system.
To help clarify, let’s break down what an air dam kit is and how it plays an essential role in optimizing your data center's cooling performance.
What is an Air Dam Kit?
An air dam kit blocks unwanted airflow around the top, bottom and sides of equipment sides of your equipment inside the cabinet. In essence, it ensures that cold air entering the cabinet through the front door is properly directed to the equipment, while preventing the mixing of hot and cold air within the cabinet itself.
In the case of CPI’s ZetaFrame® Cabinet System, the air dam kit:
Why Air Dam Kits are Critical in Preventing Cooling Loss
When you use a 1-inch rail setback, a common configuration in many data centers, it’s important to consider the space left around the perimeter of your equipment mounting area. This open area totals approximately 165 square inches—equivalent to about 5 ¼ RMUs (rack mount units) of unfilled space.
Just as you wouldn’t leave open rack spaces unfilled without blanking panels (to prevent airflow loss), the same principle applies to the gaps around your equipment. Without an Air Dam Kit, these gaps allow hot air to bypass critical cooling areas, leading to a loss of efficiency and an increase in operating temperatures.
By installing an air dam kit, you effectively seal off these perimeter gaps, ensuring that cool air is channeled directly through your equipment as intended. This not only maximizes cooling efficiency but also helps prevent hot spots, reducing the strain on your cooling systems and improving overall energy efficiency. In today's high-density data center environments, every bit of airflow management counts, and Air Dam Kits provide a simple, yet essential, solution.
Visualizing the Impact of Air Leakage
The thermal image below illustrates how hot air can leak between servers and cabinets pushed together when these gaps are left unsealed. Even small gaps—such as the 1-inch space between your equipment mounting rails and the cabinet frame—can contribute to significant recirculation of hot air. This is especially true in setups without ducted exhaust solutions.
How Does an Air Dam Kit Improve Cooling Efficiency?
In typical data center configurations, such as those using in-row air conditioning, the static pressure behind the cabinets is often higher than the static pressure in front of them. This pressure difference causes hot air to recirculate into the cold aisle, affecting the temperature of the cool air flowing into your servers.
By using an air dam kit, these gaps are sealed, preventing unwanted hot air recirculation. When the pressure behind the servers is lower than the pressure in front, the gaps can also allow bypass air to escape. By sealing these openings, Air Dam Kits help maintain the proper pressure and airflow balance within the cabinet. This ensures maximum cooling efficiency, reduces energy costs, and protects your equipment from the risks of overheating.
Don’t let unseen gaps compromise your data center’s efficiency.
If you have questions about airflow management, reach out to us for guidance on the best solutions for your unique environment.
Or get a free CFD analysis to validate and justify changes to your cooling set up.