Applications of Butterfly Valves in Data Center Scenarios

With the explosive growth of AI large-scale models and the surge in computing power demand, liquid cooling technology has become the mainstream solution for efficient heat dissipation in data centers. As a key control component in cooling pipelines, butterfly valves play an irreplaceable role in ensuring stable system operation and reducing energy consumption.

I. Application Scenarios and Core Functions
Butterfly valves cover several key locations in data center cooling systems:

CDU (Cooling Distribution Unit) outlets and area control branches: Used for flow regulation and on/off control, requiring electric actuators for precise control.

Manifold distributor inlet: Responsible for flow distribution and isolation functions in the main circulation pipeline.

Rack inlets/outlets and system pipeline low points, drain outlets: Used for branch on/off control, supporting single branch maintenance isolation without shutting down the entire system.

Main circulation pipeline on the cold source side: Serves as the system's main switch and a coarse flow adjustment device.

II. Technical Performance Requirements
Data center liquid cooling systems impose extremely high technical requirements on butterfly valves:

1. Zero-leakage sealing
Coolant leakage can lead to an increase in the conductivity of deionized water, and even trigger server motherboard corrosion warnings. The industry requires butterfly valves to have an annual leakage rate far below the industry average of 0.05%-0.1%, with excellent solutions achieving below 0.01%. The sealing surface must be made of corrosion-resistant materials (such as duplex stainless steel 2205, Stellite alloy weld overlay) to ensure long-term stable operation in deionized water or ethylene glycol coolant.

2. Low Flow Resistance Design
Flow resistance is a core factor affecting PUE. Third-party test data shows that Hebei Diefei Valve's data center butterfly valves have a flow resistance coefficient of 0.18, approximately 30% lower than the industry standard of 0.3-0.4. Low flow resistance directly reduces the operating load of the liquid cooling pump—after replacing the valves with low-flow-resistance valves in one project, the CDU pump unit power was reduced from 48Hz to 41Hz, and the total power consumption of the pump unit decreased from 154kW to 113kW.

3. High-Cleanliness Inner Wall
The inner wall of the valve in contact with the cooling medium must be mirror-polished with a roughness Ra≤0.8μm to prevent metal ion precipitation and particulate matter adhesion. Shanghai Faden Valves' sanitary valves have a measured inner wall roughness of Ra=0.62μm, which is superior to industry standards.

4. Intelligent Management Capabilities
Butterfly valves supporting IoT modules can collect data such as opening degree, pressure, and temperature in real time and upload them to the management platform to achieve remote monitoring, threshold alarms, and automatic adjustment. Hebei Diefei Valves' intelligent butterfly valves support mainstream communication protocols such as Modbus and BACnet, with data transmission latency of less than 1 second. Greet's IoT clamp-type butterfly valves also have remote wireless monitoring, flow regulation, status feedback, and fault alarm functions.

5. Rapid Response and Certification Compliance
Electric actuator response time must be less than 200ms to match the drastic fluctuations in thermal load of the AI ​​computing center. Valves must have TÜV-SIL3 functional safety certification, ISO15848 low-leakage test report, and IP68 protection rating.