A heat exchange device and method for data center

Abstract

The present invention discloses a heat exchange device and method for a data center, the device comprises a sealed shell, and an inter-row air conditioner stacked inside the sealed shell, servers are stacked on the left and right sides of the inter-row air conditioner respectively, a first gas storage tank, a second gas storage tank and an air pump are arranged outside the sealed shell, the valve seats of the first gas storage tank and the second gas storage tank enter the inside of the sealed shell through a first air inlet pipe and a second air inlet pipe respectively, and the air pump enters the inside of the sealed shell through the air pump pipe. The beneficial effect of the present invention is that the first gas storage tank and the second gas storage tank are arranged outside the sealed shell, helium and auxiliary gas are injected into the sealed shell, and the gas in the sealed shell is circulated internally by the inter-row air conditioner, the mixed gas can multiply the convective heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchange device, and the heat exchange efficiency is significantly higher than the existing air heat dissipation, thereby reducing the occurrence of local hot spots and indirectly reducing the operating burden of the cooling system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of computer room refrigeration, and in particular to a heat exchange device and method for a data center. Background Art

[0002] Existing data center rooms generally have problems such as low heat exchange efficiency, poor airflow organization, and local hot spots. The reason is that data center rooms use air cooling to dissipate heat, which is limited by the physical properties of air itself, resulting in an insurmountable upper limit for the convective heat transfer coefficient, resulting in low heat exchange efficiency. In order to solve the problem of local hot spots in the room, the cooling system can only increase the operating load of the cooling equipment, which is not very energy-saving. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the above problems, the present invention proposes a heat exchange device and method for a data center, which mainly solves the problem of local hot spots caused by low heat exchange efficiency of air cooling used in existing data centers.

[0004] To solve the above technical problems, the first aspect of the present invention discloses a heat exchange device for a data center, comprising a sealed shell, and row air conditioners stacked inside the sealed shell, servers are stacked on the left and right sides of the row air conditioners, respectively, a first gas storage tank, a second gas storage tank and an exhaust pump are arranged on the outside of the sealed shell, valve seats of the first gas storage tank and the second gas storage tank enter the interior of the sealed shell through a first air inlet pipe and a second air inlet pipe respectively, helium is stored in the first gas storage tank, one of the auxiliary gases selected from carbon dioxide, oxygen or nitrogen is stored in the second gas storage tank, and the exhaust pump enters the interior of the sealed shell through the exhaust pipe.

[0005] In some embodiments, a first valve and a second valve are disposed on the first intake pipe and the second intake pipe, respectively.

[0006] In some embodiments, a third valve is provided on the air extraction pipe.

[0007] In some embodiments, a helium concentration sensor and an auxiliary gas concentration sensor are further installed inside the sealed housing, and the auxiliary gas concentration sensor is used to detect the concentration of the auxiliary gas stored in the second gas storage tank.

[0008] In some embodiments, one side of the server is adjacent to one side of the inter-row air conditioner, and the other side of the server is adjacent to the inner wall of the sealed housing.

[0009] In some embodiments, the first air inlet pipe and the second air inlet pipe are disposed in a top region of the sealed housing, and the air extraction pipe is disposed in a bottom region of the sealed housing.

[0010] In some embodiments, a gas mixing container is further included, the first air inlet pipe and the second air inlet pipe are connected to the air inlet of the gas mixing container, and the air outlet of the gas mixing container enters the interior of the sealed shell through a pipeline.

[0011] The second aspect of the present invention discloses a control method for the above-mentioned heat exchange device, including an air extraction mode, an air filling mode and an operation mode;

[0012] The air extraction mode includes: closing the first valve and the second valve, opening the third valve and the air extraction pump, and the air extraction pump is turned off after running for a preset time T;

[0013] The inflation mode includes: closing the third valve and the air pump, detecting the real-time helium concentration M and the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N respectively obtained by the helium concentration sensor and the auxiliary gas concentration sensor in real time, adjusting the flow rates of the first valve and the second valve according to a preset target mixed concentration ratio, the target mixed concentration ratio including a target helium concentration A and a target auxiliary gas concentration B, and closing the first valve and the second valve until the real-time helium concentration M and the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N reach the target helium concentration A and the target auxiliary gas concentration B respectively;

[0014] The operation mode includes: starting the inter-row air conditioner, starting the first valve when the real-time helium concentration M is less than the target helium concentration A, and closing the first valve until the real-time helium concentration M reaches the target helium concentration A, and starting the second valve when the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N is less than the target auxiliary gas concentration B, and closing the second valve until the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N reaches the target auxiliary gas concentration B.

[0015] In some embodiments, the preset time T is determined based on the flow rate of the vacuum pump and the volume of the sealed housing, and the preset time T is 0 to 0.5 hours.

[0016] In some embodiments, the target mixed concentration ratio is 1-9.

[0017] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: a first gas storage tank and a second gas storage tank are arranged outside the sealed shell, helium and auxiliary gas are injected into the sealed shell, and the gas in the sealed shell is circulated internally by using the inter-row air conditioner, the mixed gas can multiply the convective heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchange device, and the heat exchange efficiency is significantly higher than the existing air heat dissipation, thereby reducing the occurrence of local hot spots and indirectly alleviating the operating burden of the cooling system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1This is a schematic structural diagram of a heat exchange device for a data center disclosed in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0019] Among them: 1-sealed shell, 2-row air conditioner, 3-server, 4-first gas storage tank, 5-second gas storage tank, 6-exhaust pump, 7-first air inlet pipe, 8-second air inlet pipe, 9-exhaust pipe, 10-helium concentration sensor, 11-auxiliary gas concentration sensor, 701-first valve, 801-second valve, 901-third valve. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer and more specific, the content of the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, rather than to limit the present invention. It should also be noted that, for the convenience of description, only the parts related to the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, rather than all the contents.

[0021] Embodiment 1

[0022] This embodiment proposes a heat exchange device for a data center, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes a sealed shell 1, and an inter-row air conditioner 2 stacked inside the sealed shell 1, servers 3 are stacked on the left and right sides of the inter-row air conditioner 2, and a first gas storage tank 4, a second gas storage tank 5 and an exhaust pump 6 are arranged on the outside of the sealed shell 1. The valve seats of the first gas storage tank 4 and the second gas storage tank 5 enter the interior of the sealed shell 1 through the first air inlet pipe 7 and the second air inlet pipe 8 respectively. The first gas storage tank stores helium, and the second gas storage tank stores one of the auxiliary gases selected from carbon dioxide, oxygen or nitrogen. The exhaust pump 6 enters the interior of the sealed shell 1 through the exhaust pipe 9.

[0023] In this embodiment, a first gas storage tank 4 and a second gas storage tank 5 are provided outside the sealed shell 1. By injecting helium and auxiliary gas into the sealed shell 1 and utilizing the inter-row air conditioner 2 to circulate the gas in the sealed shell 1, the mixed gas can multiply the convective heat transfer coefficient of the heat exchange device, and the heat exchange efficiency is significantly higher than the existing air heat dissipation, thereby reducing the occurrence of local hot spots.

[0024] More preferably, the first air inlet pipe 7 and the second air inlet pipe 8 are provided with a first valve 701 and a second valve 801 respectively, and the flow rates of helium and auxiliary gas entering the sealed housing 1 are controlled by the first valve 701 and the second valve 801 respectively.

[0025] More preferably, a third valve 901 is provided on the air extraction pipe 9 , and the third valve 901 is used to control the on-off of the air extraction pipe 9 to prevent the air extraction pump 6 from passively leaking the mixed gas inside the sealed housing 1 .

[0026] More preferably, a helium concentration sensor 10 and an auxiliary gas concentration sensor 11 are also installed inside the sealed shell 1. The auxiliary gas concentration sensor 11 is used to detect the concentration of the auxiliary gas stored in the second gas storage tank, that is, the auxiliary gas concentration sensor 11 can be a special sensor for detecting carbon dioxide, oxygen or nitrogen, which can detect the concentration of helium and auxiliary gas in the sealed shell 1 in real time, and is used for dynamic feedback control to restart the first valve 701 and the second valve 801 to replenish helium or auxiliary gas to the sealed shell 1.

[0027] There is at least one inter-row air conditioner 2 and at least two servers 3. To further enhance the heat exchange effect, one side of the server 3 is close to one side of the inter-row air conditioner 2, and the other side of the server 3 is close to the inner wall of the sealed shell 1. In this solution, at least one side of the server 3 is in contact with the side of the inter-row air conditioner 2, so as to directly dissipate heat as close to the heat source as possible.

[0028] Since the molar density of the mixed gas filled according to the preset concentration ratio is less than the molar density of air, the first air inlet pipe 7 and the second air inlet pipe 8 need to be arranged in the top area of ​​the sealed shell 1, and the exhaust pipe 9 is arranged in the bottom area of ​​the sealed shell 1. The installation positions of the first air inlet pipe 7 and the second air inlet pipe 8 should be relatively far away from the installation position of the exhaust pipe 9.

[0029] Embodiment 2

[0030] On the basis of the first embodiment, this embodiment further includes a gas mixing container (not shown in the figure), the first air inlet pipe 7 and the second air inlet pipe 8 are connected to the air inlet of the gas mixing container, and the air outlet of the gas mixing container enters the interior of the sealed housing 1 through a pipeline. In this embodiment, the two separate first air inlet pipes 7 and the second air inlet pipes 8 are first mixed in a gas mixing container to achieve a target ratio, and then the mixed gas is sent to the interior of the sealed space together.

[0031] Furthermore, a valve is installed at the gas outlet of the gas mixing container to control the mixed gas to enter the sealed shell 1.

[0032] Embodiment 3

[0033] A control method, used for the heat exchange device of embodiment 1 or 2, including an air extraction mode, an air charging mode and an operation mode;

[0034] The air extraction mode includes: closing the first valve 701 and the second valve 801, opening the third valve 901 and the air extraction pump 6, and the air extraction pump 6 is turned off after running for a preset time T. After the air extraction, the inside of the sealed housing 1 is in a vacuum state to prevent the original air in the sealed housing 1 from mixing with the helium and auxiliary gas that are later inflated. The preset time T is determined by the flow rate of the air extraction pump 9 and the volume of the sealed housing 1, and the preset time T is 0 to 0.5 hours.

[0035] The inflation mode includes: closing the third valve 901 and the vacuum pump 6, detecting the real-time helium concentration M and the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N respectively obtained by the helium concentration sensor 10 and the auxiliary gas concentration sensor 11 in real time, adjusting the flow of the first valve 701 and the second valve 801 according to a preset target mixed concentration ratio, the target mixed concentration ratio includes a target helium concentration A and a target auxiliary gas concentration B, and until the real-time helium concentration M and the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N reach the target helium concentration A and the target auxiliary gas concentration B respectively, the first valve 701 and the second valve 801 are closed.

[0036] The operation mode includes: starting the inter-row air conditioner 2, starting the first valve 701 when the real-time helium concentration M is less than the target helium concentration A, and closing the first valve 701 until the real-time helium concentration M reaches the target helium concentration A, and starting the second valve 801 when the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N is less than the target auxiliary gas concentration B, and closing the second valve 801 until the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N reaches the target auxiliary gas concentration B.

[0037] Furthermore, the above target mixed concentration ratio is 1-9.

[0038] Helium is a chemically inert gas that is difficult to react with other substances under normal conditions. It is highly safe, non-toxic, non-polluting, and harmless to the human body. Usually, no special recycling or treatment is required. Helium will rise to the sky, pass through the atmosphere, and escape into space. Data shows that the mixed gas formed by helium and carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen or air can overcome the physical limits of a single gas, multiply the convection heat transfer coefficient of a single gas, and indirectly reduce the operating burden of the cooling system.

[0039] The following gives the multiples of the improvement of the convective heat transfer coefficient of the mixed gas of helium and carbon dioxide in different volume ratios under normal pressure compared with the air under the same state. As shown in Table 1, the target mixed concentration ratio range is 1 to 9, preferably 4, that is, a concentration ratio of 8:2.

[0040] Table 1 The heat transfer efficiency of helium and carbon dioxide at different volume ratios relative to air is improved by multiples

[0041] Mixed gas volume ratio Increase multiple Helium: Carbon dioxide = 10:0 1.8589 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 9:1 2.4397 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 8:2 2.6182 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 7:3 2.6082 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 6:4 2.4887 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 5:5 2.2989 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 4:6 2.0610 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 3:7 1.7888 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 2:8 1.4912 Helium: Carbon dioxide = 1:9 1.1738

[0042] The present invention provides a heat exchange device and method for a data center. The heat exchange working medium inside the sealed shell 1 is a mixed gas of helium and carbon dioxide in a volume ratio of 4:1 under normal pressure. Driven by the fan of the inter-row air conditioner 2 inside the sealed shell 1, normal-pressure convective heat exchange is achieved in the closed space inside the cabinet. The convective heat transfer coefficient of the mixed gas can reach 2.6 times the convective heat transfer coefficient of air under the same conditions, which significantly improves the efficiency of air-cooled heat exchange in the computer room of the data center, solves the bottleneck problem of slow heat transfer of servers in the air-cooled computer room, breaks through the terminal heat exchange upper limit of the air-cooled computer room, and promotes the energy-saving technology of the data center to a new level.

[0043] Furthermore, as shown in Table 2, the target mixed concentration ratio between helium and oxygen is 4, that is, a concentration ratio of 8:2. As shown in Table 3, the target mixed concentration ratio between helium and oxygen is also 4, that is, a concentration ratio of 8:2.

[0044] Table 2 The heat transfer efficiency of helium and oxygen at different volume ratios relative to air is improved by multiples

[0045]

[0046]

[0047] Table 3 The heat transfer efficiency of helium and nitrogen at different volume ratios relative to air is improved by multiples

[0048] Mixed gas volume ratio Increase multiple Helium: Nitrogen = 10:0 1.8589 Helium: Nitrogen = 9:1 2.1698 Helium: Nitrogen = 8:2 2.2612 Helium: Nitrogen = 7:3 2.2377 Helium: Nitrogen = 6:4 2.1451 Helium: Nitrogen = 5:5 2.0075 Helium: Nitrogen = 4:6 1.8388 Helium: Nitrogen = 3:7 1.6478 Helium: Nitrogen = 2:8 1.4399 Helium: Nitrogen = 1:9 1.2182

[0049] The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical concept and features of the present invention, and their purpose is to enable ordinary technicians in the field to understand the content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and they cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any equivalent changes or modifications made based on the essence of the content of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method, characterized in that: Used for a heat exchange device, the heat exchange device includes a sealed shell, and an inter-row air conditioner stacked inside the sealed shell, servers are stacked on the left and right sides of the inter-row air conditioner respectively, a first gas storage tank, a second gas storage tank and an air pump are arranged outside the sealed shell, the valve seats of the first gas storage tank and the second gas storage tank enter the interior of the sealed shell through a first air inlet pipe and a second air inlet pipe respectively, the first gas storage tank stores helium, the second gas storage tank stores one of the auxiliary gases of carbon dioxide, oxygen or nitrogen, the air pump enters the interior of the sealed shell through the air suction pipe; the first air inlet pipe and the second air inlet pipe are respectively provided with a first valve and a second valve; the air suction pipe is provided with a third valve; a helium concentration sensor and an auxiliary gas concentration sensor are also installed inside the sealed shell, and the auxiliary gas concentration sensor is used to detect the concentration of the auxiliary gas stored in the second gas storage tank; The control method includes a pumping mode, a charging mode and an operating mode; The air extraction mode includes: closing the first valve and the second valve, opening the third valve and the air extraction pump, and the air extraction pump is turned off after running for a preset time T; The inflation mode includes: closing the third valve and the air pump, detecting the real-time helium concentration M and the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N respectively obtained by the helium concentration sensor and the auxiliary gas concentration sensor in real time, adjusting the flow rates of the first valve and the second valve according to a preset target mixed concentration ratio, the target mixed concentration ratio including a target helium concentration A and a target auxiliary gas concentration B, and closing the first valve and the second valve until the real-time helium concentration M and the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N reach the target helium concentration A and the target auxiliary gas concentration B respectively; The operation mode includes: starting the inter-row air conditioner, starting the first valve when the real-time helium concentration M is less than the target helium concentration A, and closing the first valve until the real-time helium concentration M reaches the target helium concentration A, and starting the second valve when the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N is less than the target auxiliary gas concentration B, and closing the second valve until the real-time auxiliary gas concentration N reaches the target auxiliary gas concentration B.

2. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The preset time T is determined according to the flow rate of the vacuum pump and the volume of the sealed housing, and the preset time T is 0 to 0.5 hours.

3. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The target mixed concentration ratio is 1-9.

4. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: One side of the server is close to one side of the inter-row air conditioner, and the other side of the server is close to the inner wall of the sealed shell.

5. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first air inlet pipe and the second air inlet pipe are arranged in the top area of ​​the sealed housing, and the air extraction pipe is arranged in the bottom area of ​​the sealed housing.

6. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a gas mixing container, the first air inlet pipe and the second air inlet pipe are connected to the air inlet of the gas mixing container, and the air outlet of the gas mixing container enters the interior of the sealed shell through a pipeline.

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