Method and apparatus for cooling

Abstract

A cooling unit includes a first module having a first intake opening and a first exhaust opening formed therein. At least one first air moving device may be configured to draw air along a first flow path from the first intake opening to the first exhaust opening. A first heat exchanger may be positioned in the first flow path. The cooling unit may further include a second module having a second intake opening and a second exhaust opening. At least one second air moving device may be configured to draw air along a second flow path from the second intake opening and direct air to the second exhaust opening. A second heat exchanger may be positioned in the second flow path. A conduit system is in fluid communication with the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger. The conduit system may be configured to deliver coolant from the first heat exchanger of the first module to the second heat exchanger of the second module and from the second heat exchanger of the second module to the first heat exchanger of the first module. Methods of cooling a space with a cooling unit are further disclosed.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION[0001]1. Field of Invention[0002]Embodiments of the invention relate generally to devices and methods for cooling a room, such as a data center, equipment room or wiring closet. Specifically, aspects of the present invention relate to data centers containing racks and enclosures used to house data processing, networking and telecommunications equipment, and more particularly to cooling systems and methods used to cool equipment housed by such racks and enclosures.[0003]2. Discussion of Related Art[0004]Over the years, a number of different standards have been developed to enable equipment manufacturers to design rack mountable equipment that can be mounted in standard racks manufactured by different manufacturers. A standard rack typically includes front mounting rails to which multiple units of electronic equipment, such as servers and CPUs, are mounted and stacked vertically within the rack. An exemplary industry standard rack is approximately six to six-and...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]In a certain embodiment, a tray may be provided to support the at least one air moving device, the tray being releasably secured to the housing. The tray may be disposed on a generally horizontal plane by at least one support rail configured to releasably secure the tray to the housing. The at least one air moving device may include a fan and the tray may be configured to receive at least one fan. A control device may be coupled to the fan. In one embodiment, the fan is a variable speed fan and the control device is configured to detect a

Problems solved by technology

Further, with the ever decreasing size of computer equipment, and in particular, computer servers and blades, the number of electrical devices mounted in each rack has been increasing, raising concerns about adequately cooling the equipment.

Heat produced by rack-mounted equipment can have adverse effects on the performance, reliability and useful life of the equipment components.

In particular, rack-mounted equipment, housed within an enclosure, may be vulnerable to heat build-up and hot spots produced within the confines of the enclosure during operation.

A disadvantage of the CRAC-type air conditioning system is that cool air is mixed with the room temperature air, which is inefficient.

For large data centers requiring CRAC units at or near the middle or center of the data center room, delivery of coolant to the CRAC units must be located within the raised floor since it is undesirable to secure coolant piping to the ceiling of the data center due to risks involved with the possible failure of the piping joints.

Specifically, with traditional CRAC systems, the piping of the units requires significant cutting and hand soldering of pipes.

Leaks are common and leaking water or coolant in a data center may result in risk of damage to equipment housed within the equipment racks.

For at least these reasons, most data center designers and operators are unwilling to consider overhead piping for cooling a data center.

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