Simplex’s AirBlock Curtains Increase Data Centers’ Energy Efficiency

Curtain Call
Simplex’s AirBlock Curtains Increase Data Centers’ Energy Efficiency


Cold air enters the cold air aisle and exits the warm air aisle after passing through the server racks.
Rising oil prices and warnings about global warming have led many companies to search for ways to use less energy and bring down the utility bills, and data centers have begun attracting a lot of attention in this area.

Simplex Isolation Systems (800/854-7951; www.simplexstripdoors.com) aims to help data centers increase their energy efficiency with its AirBlock line of vinyl curtains. Founded in 1979, the Fontana, Calif.,-based manufacturer of modular cleanroom systems has been making vinyl curtains for various uses since it opened its doors. Initially, the curtains were used most for controlling temperature in refrigerated units, but over the years, the company has discovered that various industries have need for its curtains.

Simplex In The Data Center

Data centers have begun using Simplex’s curtains, particularly in managing hot and cold aisles, an industry best practice in which the cold-air intakes on server racks all face one way (the cold aisle) and hot-air exhausts face the other way (the hot aisle). But the practice of using curtains to manage those aisles is something of a new endeavor, according to Doug Washburn, an analyst for Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. “Employing air containment tactics, such as curtains or even Plexiglas-type enclosures, to avoid hot air mixing with expensive cold air is an extremely low-cost and low-risk option,” Washburn says. “But overwhelmingly I find that data center managers find this novel and are surprised by its simplicity, which suggests that adoption is very low.”

Washburn expects curtains to become a more commonplace method for managing these hot and cold aisles. There are other higher-end methods for doing so, such as Plexiglas enclosures or heat containment racks, but given the relatively lower cost of curtains, they’re a more likely place for data center managers to start.

AirBlock curtains are made primarily of polyvinyl chloride, although Simplex offers urethane curtains for applications that require nonoutgassing materials. Outgassing, or the release of gases trapped in materials (the smell of a new shower curtain is a good example), can cause contamination in cleanroom environments, and materials that outgas excessively may also become brittle and curl.

Simplex President Duane McKinnon says that the company manufactures its curtains with the purest vinyl available so that the curtains don’t yellow or become brittle. “It’s like getting a really good garden hose that will work for years instead of a $5 garden hose that will get stiff and brittle after only one summer,” McKinnon says.

Simplex also has low- and antistatic curtains. The standard grade of curtain is low-static; static-dissipative curtains are conductive enough to dissipate any static generated in seconds. Because the static-dissipative curtains are 30 to 40% more expensive than the standard grade, McKinnon says that most of his customers only use the more expensive curtains where they’re really necessary. “People tend to use the static-dissipative curtains in door areas and other high-traffic places, while they use the standard grade above the rack,” McKinnon says. The curtains’ low- or antistatic properties are not dependent on sprayed-on materials, meaning their antistatic properties are permanent.

“Static is a concern for data center managers, particularly for older, more sensitive equipment,” Forrester’s Washburn says. “So curtains made out of antistatic materials would be a plus.”

A Variety Of Solutions

Simplex Isolation Systems AirBlock Curtains

Description: AirBlock curtains are polyvinyl chloride curtains that can be used to manage hot and cold aisles by preventing cold air from mixing with hot air in data centers.

Interesting Fact: The word simplex can mean single-sided printing, a triangle in geometry, one-way communication, or an algorithm for linear programming.


(800) 854-7951
www.simplexstripdoors.com

AirBlock curtains are available as strip doors, which are a series of individual, overlapping strips that make up a solid barrier, or as softwalls, which are solid sheet curtains. The curtains come in multiple thicknesses to accommodate a variety of applications. “For example, if it’s an area with forklift traffic, the heavier vinyl with a wider strip makes sense,” McKinnon says. “But in areas where people are moving around with delicate equipment in their hands, they’ll go with a lighter-weight curtain or strip.”

The cost is determined by linear foot, depending on the thickness, length, and low- or antistatic properties of the vinyl. McKinnon estimates that data centers often use an 8-inch wide strip with a thickness of 0.060 mil—equal to about 1/16 of an inch—and a 2-inch overlap on each strip. These strips are usually mounted at the end of hot or cold aisles to prevent the hot and cold air from mixing. “At an 8-foot height, that’s going to run about $50 per linear foot, and that includes the mounting track,” McKinnon says.

AirBlock curtains come in clear, frosted, and colored varieties, and available colors are white, black, blue, grey, red, and yellow. The vinyl is cleanroom-grade, and all seams and attachments are RF (radio frequency)-welded so that the material is not weakened by sewing or subsequent cleaning.

Safe, Attractive & Easy To Install

McKinnon says that unlike some curtains in the industry that are sandwiched between steel with a flat socket for the track, AirBlock curtains are bolted up or hooked on Simplex’s patented aluminum hardware. Installation is easy, he says, and it’s possible to remove the front bar on the hardware, remove or rehang the hooks, and close the bar afterward. McKinnon says that the company deliberately went with aluminum instead of galvanized steel because aesthetics do matter. “Customers don’t like to have a high-tech, modern-looking data center with ugly curtains, and our tracks have the benefit of being much easier to use, as well,” he says.

The curtains also have a T-bar mounting system that’s specifically intended to prevent having to drill into the ceiling to install them. The system has clips that attach easily to a grid ceiling. “That’s particularly attractive when you’ve got a data center with an expensive, fully gasketed ceiling,” McKinnon says.

The track system for AirBlock curtains is programmed to drop the curtains to the floor in case of fire. This prevents the curtains from blocking the fire suppression system in the data center.

by Holly Dolezalek