CFD modeling and thermal test results for telecommunications shelter cooling systems

Telecommunications shelters are used globally for housing and cooling of wireless cell site electronic equipment. Approximately 1.13 million cell sites can be found throughout the world [ref 1]. Most utilize active cooling, primarily air conditioners, to control electronic equipment temperatures. Air conditioned cooling of cell site shelters consumes significant energy and is now a target for energy consumption reduction by many wireless carriers. Because of the large number of cell sites involved and the amount of energy consumed by air conditioners, attractive cost savings and an important reduction in energy consumption can be realized with alternative cooling techniques. These techniques can be improved and optimized through CFD analysis and field trial testing [ref 2]. This paper discusses results of both CFD analysis and field testing of alternative cooling technology for cell site shelters.