What Is Liquid-to-Air CDU?_
This CDU type uses a liquid-to-air heat exchanger to reject heat from the coolant loop into the ambient air, often via fans or natural convection. It is common in retrofit or air-cooled facilities where a chilled water loop is not available, or as a supplementary cooling stage. The unit includes pumps, valves, and controls to manage coolant flow and temperature, but relies on the room's air handling for final heat rejection.
Technical Details
The CDU contains a plate-fin or microchannel heat exchanger that transfers heat from the coolant (typically water or a glycol mixture) to air, with fans providing airflow. It operates at a lower efficiency than liquid-to-liquid CDUs due to the air-side thermal resistance, but simplifies facility integration by avoiding a secondary water loop. The unit must be sized to match the rack heat load and room airflow, with typical coolant supply temperatures in the range of 20–30°C depending on the IT equipment specs. Pressure drops across the heat exchanger and piping are managed by the CDU's pump, which is controlled to maintain a set differential pressure.
How Leviathan Systems Works with Liquid-to-Air CDU
In our field work, Liquid-to-Air CDUs are deployed in older data centers or edge sites where a chilled water plant is absent, often paired with rear-door heat exchangers on GPU racks. Our crew installs the CDU near the rack row, connects facility power and network for monitoring, and commissions the coolant loop to ensure proper flow and temperature setpoints.
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