Bank Data Center, Hangzhou

This data center, certified as a Class-A facility by China national standards, has a total cooling load of 2,500kW. The data center and its support areas require year-round cooling. The cooling and heating source is provided by an air-cooled direct expansion (DX) cooling-only air conditioning system.

The computer room adopts a hot/cold aisle containment strategy, delivering conditioned air via raised-floor underfloor supply, while hot exhaust air is returned to the precision air conditioning units through the hot aisle ceiling return. The HV/LV distribution rooms, low-voltage and UPS power distribution rooms, and battery rooms are each served by room-level precision air conditioning units, featuring horizontal overhead supply and bottom return airflow.

To meet the stringent sterility and cleanliness requirements of the data center, while also achieving energy efficiency, rapid humidification response, and precise humidity control, electrode humidifiers were selected for the project.

The units are equipped with a rapid dehumidification function. In dehumidification mode, electronic expansion valves (EEVs) enable precise electronic control of refrigerant flow, significantly enhancing system efficiency. The EEVs accurately regulate refrigerant temperature to prevent overheating, while maintaining a high coefficient of performance (COP) even under low ambient temperatures. The EEVs also support a dehumidification-free function, which maintains continuous and balanced indoor airflow without reducing air volume, preventing abrupt temperature fluctuations and achieving energy savings without compromising comfort.

The units are fitted with electric heating capability, featuring multi-stage electronic reheating coils with low surface temperature, high heat transfer efficiency, and excellent reliability. The design effectively prevents ionization and generates no ozone, ensuring clean and safe supply air.

This is a newly constructed data center built within an existing building structure, where space constraints preclude the installation of water-cooled systems, cooling towers, or natural cooling modules. To address these limitations, all air-cooled precision air conditioning units are equipped with variable frequency drives, enabling precise capacity modulation based on real-time load conditions.

In comparable data centers of similar scale and cooling architecture, conventional fixed-speed air-cooled DX systems typically operate with PUE values ranging from 1.5 to 1.7, with some facilities exceeding 1.8. Through the combined application of variable frequency drives, hot/cold aisle containment, and optimized control strategies, the system achieves a design PUE of approximately 1.40 - significantly outperforming the typical performance of similar air-cooled DX systems and meeting the Grade 3 energy efficiency standard (PUE ≤ 1.50) as defined in GB 40879-2021. The system has been operating stably since commissioning, providing reliable, year-round cooling for this Class-A financial data center with optimized energy performance.