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Hyperscale data centres are large business-critical facilities that process significant volumes of data, compute and storage services. The deployment of advanced cooling solutions is critical to maintain optimal operating temperatures and reduce energy consumption.
CRAH units are a go-to solution for circulating cool air through the server racks, and Lennox EMEA has taken a new approach to the application of the technology.
Engineering-led design
The new CRAH - ApX Series chilled-water data centre unit offers cooling capacity from 20 kW to 500 kW in both single and “back-to-back” arrangements. Featuring industry recognised controls and latest generation components, the modular design ensures seamless integration into various data centre layouts, including raised floor and hard floor configurations. Options are available for 24 different size units.
“Our CRAH - ApX Series takes a different design path to that of conventional solutions,” explains Matt Evans, CEO. “It offers a number of robustly engineered standard case sizes, an approach that allows us to tailor the design. Internally, components such as the size and type of fans, the design of heat exchangers, optimally configured piping layouts, valves, and specific control requirements, can all be designed to suit the individual data centre. This flexibility and adaptability delivers a more tailored way of meeting precise application requirements, rather than simply offering the nearest-fit solution.”
Lennox EMEA knows from experience that the power requirements of each data centre rack vary enormously from site to site. As a result, the need for a more engineering-led, granular and versatile level of cooling design is evident.
Maximum performance
Energy efficiency is a cross-component theme with the CRAH - ApX Series. For instance, the advanced Lennox EMEA branded heat exchanger design ensures optimal performance by tailoring coil geometry, circuiting, fin type, material and pitch.
Notably, Lennox EMEA has advanced capability of manufacturing heat exchangers, borne out from decades of market leading HVAC products, not only optimising lead times but also reducing the carbon footprint and costs associated with transport.
EC fan technology is utilised across the product-set with a range of sizes and options including integrated Active Power Factor Correction (APFC) for control of overall Total Harmonic Distortion (THDi).
Take control of cooling
With the option of a standard or advanced touchscreen control system, the CRAH - ApX Series provides wholistic monitoring, performance management, and integration with data centre infrastructure solutions.
The range comes equipped with industry standard networking protocols to control, monitor, and report operations such as fan speed, cooling performance, and alarms in real time. Integrated fail-safe mechanisms enable uninterrupted operation in the event of power failures, meeting the critical uptime requirements of data centres. The CRAH - ApX Series includes automatic transfer switches and ultra-capacitor back-up, enabling immediate fan restart following power restoration.
Integrated unit-to-unit network communication is featured as standard allowing for advanced control functionality including teamwork modes, standby rotation, cascade operation, auto restart delay and rotating master function, all without the need of a dedicated sequencing panel.
Programme of products
“The new CRAH - ApX Series further strengthens our commitment to delivering market-leading cooling solutions that support the operational demands of hyperscale and co-location data centres. It is the first in a programme of products designed specifically for next generation facilities,” says Matt Evans.
Backed by a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals, Lennox EMEA already provides a comprehensive range of scalable, high-efficiency cooling systems for high-performance data centre environments. The addition of this new high-performance CRAH, along with the forthcoming CDU and FWU adds to an already strong portfolio which includes close control units (CCUs), computer room air handler (CRAH) units, fan wall units (FWU), coolant distribution units (CDUs), chillers and dry coolers, all backed by extensive aftersales support.
