Fan Wall Cooling for Data Center Retrofit | CSTHEATEXCHANGER

Retrofitting fan wall cooling into an existing data center means replacing floor-standing CRAH units with a modular wall of EC fans and a large coil, usually while the hall stays live. The two constraints that decide the project are the existing chilled-water loop — its temperature and spare capacity — and the physical route for getting modules in. CSTHEATEXCHANGER builds Fan Wall Units for exactly this case: modules sized to pass through existing doors, coils sized for the chilled-water temperature you already have, and a drawing-approval process that fits the unit to the room rather than the room to the unit.

Our company builds heat exchangers for replacement of existing equipment as well as for new jobs; retrofit is routine for us.

Why operators retrofit fan walls into older halls

What CSTHEATEXCHANGER supplies for a fan wall retrofit

• Fan modules — EC fans in parallel; module count set for the hall's new design airflow with N+1 redundancy.

• Retrofit-sized coil — copper tube / aluminium fin, sized for the existing chilled-water supply temperature so the hall can switch over without changing the plant. If the operator plans to raise water temperature later, we add rows now so the coil still performs then.

• Knock-down casing — panels and modules dimensioned to the actual door, corridor and lift sizes measured on site.

• Connection matching — coil headers positioned to reach the existing chilled-water tap-ins with minimal new pipework.

• Controls — EC speed control with an open-protocol interface to the existing building management system.

• Phased drawing package — a module-by-module installation sequence so CRAH units can be removed one at a time.

How CSTHEATEXCHANGER plans a live-hall fan wall retrofit

1. Survey the existing plant — CRAH count and capacity, chilled-water supply/return temperatures, pump capacity, pipe routes and tap-in positions.

2. Set the new design airflow from current rack loads plus the planned growth that triggered the retrofit.

3. Size the coil for the existing water temperature, with margin for future warm-water operation.

4. Measure the installation route and fix module dimensions.

5. Sequence the changeover — typically install the fan wall against the end wall or in a gallery, commission it, then remove CRAH units progressively, keeping redundancy throughout.

6. Approve drawings before any fabrication.

Fan wall retrofit combined with rear door heat exchangers

Where a retrofit hall has a few very high-density racks that even the new fan wall cannot cool from the room, we add Rear Door Cooling Coils on those racks, fed from the same chilled-water loop. The fan wall carries the general load; the rear doors catch the hot spots at source. Both products are CSTHEATEXCHANGER's own, leak-tested, and built for standard 19-inch racks.