Data center: controlling the noise of emergency engines at the heart of France’s largest digital infrastructure
Data centers are critical infrastructures housing sensitive data. Their high energy density generates heat and noise pollution. For high-capacity sites, noise control is essential for regulatory compliance, environmental acceptability and equipment reliability, especially for backup power systems.
- Introduction: the acoustic challenge of XXL data centers
- Data centers and industrial noise: a critical issue
- The Digital Realty project: an extraordinary infrastructure
- Groupe BOËT SM EVO silencers: performance and reliability
- Acoustic and aeraulic engineering for energy continuity
- Conclusion: silence, a pillar of digital infrastructures
Data centers and industrial noise: a critical issue
Data center back-up systems are based on high-powered generators, capable of taking over instantly in the event of a power cut. These thermal engines generate very high noise levels, particularly in the exhaust.
Without appropriate acoustic treatment, these emissions can lead to:
– regulatory exceedances for neighbors;
– excessive exposure for operating teams;
– site layout constraints limiting the site’s scalability.
Noise reduction must therefore be achieved without degrading aeraulic performance, in order to preserve engine efficiency, start-up reliability and service continuity.
The Digital Realty project: an extraordinary infrastructure
Just outside Paris, the Digital Realty data center is the largest in France, with a surface area of 40,000 m² dedicated to server hosting. This XXL infrastructure concentrates thousands of items of IT equipment, requiring cooling and back-up power systems on an industrial scale.
This emblematic site was recently the subject of a TF1 report, highlighting the technical and energy challenges associated with this type of strategic infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, Groupe Boët was asked to contribute to controlling noise from the emergency engines, a key factor in the site’s overall performance.
Groupe BOËT SM EVO silencers: performance and reliability
To meet the project’s acoustic requirements, Groupe Boët supplied 72 SM40 DN500 engine exhaust silencers , integrated into the data center’s emergency power generators.
High, measurablen acoustic attenuation
SM EVO 2 silencers reduce exhaust noise by up to 40 dB(A). This high level of performance is essential to guarantee regulatory compliance on site, while limiting the noise impact on the immediate environment.
Design optimized for engine performance
In addition to acoustic attenuation, SM EVO 2 silencers are designed to limit pressure losses, a critical parameter for the correct operation of emergency motors. This aeraulic optimization preserves engine efficiency, start-up reliability and equipment longevity.
Compact, robust and customizable, the silencers can be easily integrated into the constrained technical environments typical of large-capacity data centers.
Acoustic and aeraulic engineering for energy continuity
The development and integration of SM EVO silencers is based on advanced acoustic and aeraulic engineering, mastered by Groupe BOËT teams. Each project is the subject of a detailed analysis of constraints:
– permissible sound levels;
– maximum air flow rates and back pressures;
– operating and maintenance conditions;
– durability and safety requirements.
This global approach enables us to design tailor-made solutions for critical infrastructures such as data centers, where energy continuity and operational reliability are non-negotiable.
In these digital fortresses, silence can’t be improvised: it has to be designed, calculated and manufactured with precision.
Silence, a pillar of digital infrastructures
The Digital Realty data center project perfectly illustrates the strategic role of acoustics in large-scale digital infrastructures. Thanks to the installation of SM EVO 2 exhaust silencersexhaust silencers, the Groupe BOËT has helped to reconcile energy performance, acoustic compliance and industrial sustainability.
This expertise is an integral part of our support for players in the energy and technology transition, providing reliable, measurable acoustic solutions adapted to the most demanding environments.
To find out more about Groupe BOËT’s industrial acoustic solutions, please go to www.groupe-boet.com.