Engineering guides for data center piping
Short, practical notes for mechanical engineers, piping designers and buyers writing a data center piping specification. Each guide answers one question and links to the flanges it concerns.
Cooling systems
FWS vs TCS
The two water loops of a liquid-cooled data center and what each means for materials and flanges.
Direct-to-chip cooling
Cold plates, manifolds and CDUs, and which joints in a direct-to-chip system are flanged.
Rear-door heat exchangers
Passive and active doors, dew point, hoses and headers, and the flanged loop behind them.
Immersion cooling
Single-phase and two-phase systems, the fluid and water loops, and gasket compatibility.
TCS flushing and cleaning
Hydro test, cleaning, flushing and filtration targets before a TCS loop goes live.
Choosing flanges and joints
Pressure class selection
Class 150 or 300, PN16 or PN25: static head, pump head, surge and test pressure, with a worked example.
Flange gaskets
EPDM, PTFE and CNAF for water and glycol loops: material, shape, thickness and face finish.
Stainless vs carbon steel
Choosing flange material loop by loop: corrosion, cleanliness, ratings and transitions.
Flat face vs raised face
Mating steel flanges to cast iron chillers, pumps and FRP cooling tower piping.
AWWA vs ASME flanges
Sizes, classes, faces and drilling, and when each standard makes sense on large water mains.
Dissimilar metal isolation
Galvanic corrosion at carbon steel to stainless joints, and how isolation kits stop it.
Codes, surfaces and certificates
ASME B31.9
The building services piping code: scope, limits, testing and what it means for flanges.
Pickling and passivation
ASTM A380 and A967 explained, and why the TCS loop needs treated stainless surfaces.
Reading a mill test report (MTR)
A worked example of our EN 10204 3.1 MTR for a 316L flange, and what to check at receiving.
Terms and abbreviations
CDU, TCS, FWS, PUE, W32, Class 150, PN16, MTC: the data center cooling and flange glossary defines each term in a sentence or two and links to the guide or flange page that covers it.