Air handling unit intake air preheat system and method

摘要

A preheat damper preheats ambient air being directed to an air handling unit of a data center to mitigate ice accumulation caused by the ambient air. The ambient air can be preheated upstream of a mist eliminator, which removes moisture from the ambient air upstream of the air handling unit, to mitigate ice accumulation in the mist eliminator. The preheat damper directs exhaust air from an exhaust air plenum. The preheat damper can be adjusted based on the ambient temperature, and can be upstream of a return damper which directs exhaust air from the exhaust air plenum based on characteristics of the cooling air supplied to cool data center equipment. The return damper can be adjusted in counter-opposition with one or more intake dampers to maintain cooling air characteristics, and concurrently with the preheat damper to direct ambient air to the air handling unit through the exhaust air plenum.