Hi Everyone,
Let's discuss about Loud Fan Noise and how it can be reduced.
Fans in Telecom Equipment?
The world-wide growth of internet usage has resulted in massive telecom infrastructure deployments by various ISPs. This equipment is either deployed in the Central Office (CO) or at the access side, near the customer premises. In both cases, telecom equipment heats up due to increased data throughput or normal working of equipment’s Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). To deal with this heat up issue, heat sinkers and fans are used in the servers, routers, control units and other telecom or IT equipment to ensure high cooling performance and reliable operations of the equipment. Keeping the equipment cool is one key challenge that is faced by ISPs for fully functioning of the equipment.
Key Standards of Cooling Fans:
To ensure that equipment remain cool for their proper functioning, fans are connected in a way to provide a reliable and highly available cooling mechanism. For this purpose, some basic standards have been developed. Firstly, fans are designed and placed in a way to maximize the air volume and ensure maximum air flow through the equipment. As the telecom equipment is further divided in different units that perform different functions, air is needed to flow through each unit to dissipate the heat generated by that very unit.
Secondly, rpm rates of fans are kept in consideration while using it for cooling purposes. Most of the times, rpm rates are kept lower to achieve lower noise and speed can be controlled in case of heating up instance arises. Thirdly, fans work on an intelligent algorithm instead of continuous working on same speed. Various heat sensors are used externally on the equipment which trigger and control the speed as per pre-defined programming algorithm. Fourthly, splash proofing is required for the cases where equipment is deployed outdoors and it is exposed to natural weather changes. So in case of rain, fans must ensure splash proofing to save the equipment from direct exposure to the water. Last but not the least, fans in the equipment must achieve low working noise without compromising their working efficiency.
Loud Noise of Fans & Noise Reduction Technologies:
As most of the telecom or IT equipment is deployed in the offices that are located in urban areas, it is imperative for this equipment to produce lowest possible noise to curb the noise pollution. The noise of the fans changes with manufacturer as well as operating range. In axial fans case, when the load on the fans crosses its functional rating, it produces noise. Another reason of high fan noise could be placing the fan too close to the equipment such that the air flow volume becomes limited. In addition, blade thickness, environmental conditions and volume of the equipment also major factors that determine how much noise a fan shall produce.
To reduce the loud fan noise, various techniques are followed in deployment of fans and overall structure of equipment components. For instance, cabinet is designed in a way that allows maximum air flow and cavities in the cabinet do not complement the fan noise. Moreover, placing the fan at a standard distance from the equipment and filling the inner and outer side panels with noise absorbent materials also reduce the noise to a great extent. Furthermore, modifications are done in the blade shape, its thickness and the tip to reduce the turbulence that produces the noise. Last but not the least for data centers and other centrally placed equipment centers, where hundreds of fans are cooling down telecom or IT infrastructure, different absorbent materials can be used between roof and ceiling to reduce the noise by preventing these cavities to act as noise resonators.
Thank You for reading.
