The Project
Daikin Applied UK recently supplied 19 off-pressurisation AHUs to a key player in the Data Centre market; working closely with a large-scale mechanical contractor to provide the best possible solutions that met the stringent specification requirements of the hyperscale data centre.
The project was the fourth building of an already successful Data Centre operation in Belgium, with over €600 million of investment in its 900,000 sq. ft facility.
The site itself has sustainability at its core, with all power generated through renewable energy. As such, the Daikin Applied AHUs were selected for their market-leading energy efficiency and compliance with the stringent specification requirements through their bespoke design.
All AHUs were manufactured in-house at our UK AHU factory in Cramlington, Northumberland.
Bespoke AHU Design Solutions
The project included for a mixture of unit designs – from supply only, to supply and extract with heat recovery, and units suitable for internal and external installation, all meeting the latest ERP2018 efficiencies.
For all external AHUs, a corresponding vestibule was provided, with floor cut-outs provided to correspond with client steelwork and site pipe runs.
The final unit arrangements included units installed side-by-side with the maintenance vestibule sandwiched between the two units. In some instances, the final arrangement for the larger units spanned up to 15m in width.
Predominantly, the design of the AHUs included high-efficiency EC fans with open nozzle N+1 redundancy with additional margin on volume, thus future-proofing the design for a failure scenario.
The design also included for 3-way mixing, ePM1 50% efficient filtration to meet Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) needs.
High-specification coils were supplied, suitable for meeting critical temperature set-point requirements. This is a vital aspect of control for any data centre to ensure that design performance is guaranteed, and the integrity of the servers is upheld.
Integral attenuation was also included where required, to meet the low noise rating, with space also provided for humidification to the data hall units.
Though controls were to be facilitated by others, Daikin Applied ensured that all control signals for the fans were wired out to terminal boxes for easier site connection to the main control system.
The mechanical construction of the AHUs themselves was designed to be BS EN 1886 T2/TB2 compliant with D1 deflection and L2 leakage, satisfying the specification requirements.
All framework and panels were selected to be 62mm thick to adhere to the minimum 60mm requirement.
Factory acceptance tests for the range of unit types were conducted prior to shipment, to verify that construction and design met the standards of the project.
With the final site location residing in an area subject to seismic activity, Daikin Applied provided seismic calculations for all units, which were detailed in a report and provided to the contractor prior to handover.
All units were shipped in modular sections to the final site location. Once positioned on site, Daikin Applied engineers attended site to facilitate the join and seal of all sections.
The scope of works was completed with a site leakage test of all AHUs to verify the BS EN 1886 L2 requirement.
Package Solutions
Daikin Applied UK has over 50 years of experience manufacturing applied HVAC products and maintains its market-leading position in the design and manufacture of efficient heating and cooling systems for data centre applications.
Our standard and bespoke products including air handling units, fan walls, chillers and heat pumps offer precise temperature and humidity control with energy efficiency at the forefront of our product design.
All our products consider critical redundancy requirements, whilst ensuring low noise levels, reliability, and low running costs, all of which are achieved without compromising on any performance parameters. All components utilised within our products are of the highest quality from reputable suppliers, resulting in premium HVAC solutions, tailored for data centre applications.
Daikin Applied UK can offer fully packaged solutions, from standard AHUs, DX AHUs with paired reverse cycle condensing units, to fan walls, chillers, and heat pumps.
Daikin is the only manufacturer involved in all facets of air conditioning products, with our own market-leading innovation with compressor and inverter technology.
