Cooling Pods, Dry Coolers & Heat Rejection
This course covers modular cooling pods, dry coolers, and the outdoor heat-rejection equipment that completes a liquid-cooled data-center thermal chain once heat has been carried out of the rack by a CDU or rear-door heat exchanger. Students learn L2A sidecar CDU pod commissioning, dry-cooler fan and free-cooling economizer control, seasonal changeover between free-cooling and mechanical assist, and outdoor equipment maintenance in weather-exposed conditions. The course extends the CDU and rear-door competencies from Liquid Cooling to the pod and building-perimeter equipment, including glycol freeze-protection concentration verification for climates with sustained sub-freezing temperatures. Students perform pod commissioning, dry-cooler fan and coil inspection, and freeze-protection fluid testing, treating outdoor electrical disconnects and elevated-work access as safety-critical competencies consistent with the electrical and fall-protection frameworks established earlier in the program.
What you'll be able to do
- Diagram the outdoor heat-rejection path from an L2A sidecar CDU or rear-door loop through the dry cooler to ambient air, identifying free-cooling and mechanical-assist operating modes.
- Commission an L2A sidecar CDU pod, verifying flow, pressure, and heat-exchanger approach temperature against manufacturer acceptance criteria. Safety-critical
- Verify glycol freeze-protection concentration in an outdoor dry-cooler loop and adjust to the manufacturer's minimum concentration for the site's design low temperature.
- Lock out an outdoor dry-cooler fan array and electrical disconnect before performing simulated fan or coil maintenance. Safety-critical
- Inspect and clean dry-cooler coils and verify fan operation, including vibration and current-draw checks against manufacturer baseline.
- Use fall-protection equipment correctly when accessing an elevated dry-cooler or rooftop pod platform. Safety-critical
- Determine the correct seasonal changeover point between free-cooling and mechanical-assist mode using outdoor air temperature and facility load data.
- Document a pod commissioning, glycol test, or dry-cooler maintenance event in the outdoor equipment maintenance log.
- Escalate an under-concentration glycol finding, an out-of-tolerance approach temperature, or a fan vibration/current anomaly to the responsible facility engineer. Safety-critical
- Participate in a supervised live-site seasonal changeover observation under an employer field-placement or Campus Node arrangement.
Train the team that runs the factory.
The Institute travels with every SAVRN campus.