Integrated intelligent flow control device and method thereof

Abstract

The application relates to an integrated intelligent flow control device and a method thereof, the device comprising an assembled shell, wherein a flow channel and a single-chip microcomputer are arranged in the assembled shell, the single-chip microcomputer is connected with a temperature sensor, a flow sensor and a steering engine, the steering engine is connected with a mechanical throttle valve, the temperature sensor is used for real-time feedback detection of the temperature of a target, the flow sensor is used for real-time feedback of the flow in the flow channel, the single-chip microcomputer is used for power supply of the steering engine and control of the rotating angle of the steering engine, and the steering engine is used for driving change of the working state of the mechanical throttle valve and then adjustment of the working medium flow in the flow channel. Compared with the prior art, the application integrates measuring, data transmission, control and driving elements, has high integration degree, reduces the size of the controller through reasonable arrangement of the elements, is small and light, is flexible in installation and use, meets the current demand for small size, intelligence and high integration degree of the flow controller, has simple and reliable structure, has low requirement for external flow working medium, and can be used in large scale.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of flow control, in particular to an integrated intelligent flow control device and method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the high integration of electronic information system equipment and the emphasis on green energy-saving technology, most newly built data centers abandon the traditional air-cooled cooling and instead use water-cooled cooling to cool the equipment inside. Compared with traditional air-cooled cooling, water-cooled cooling requires less energy and has stronger cooling capacity per unit area and unit volume. Therefore, data centers using water-cooled cooling can use larger heat-generating chips while adopting a more compact structure design, and can also ensure that the chips will not be overheated to cause frequency reduction or even damage. Therefore, for the above-mentioned water-cooled cooling system, there is an urgent need for a flow controller that can finely control the flow of single-path working medium under strict size requirements and has a simple structure to adapt to different working media and different inlet pressures.

[0003] However, the traditional flow controller cannot finely control the flow of single-path flow, which will cause uneven flow in the use process. To solve this problem, the performance redundancy is often required to be too high during the selection of the water supply pump, which will inevitably increase the energy consumption during the use of the equipment and the one-time cost during the construction. For example, in the controller using an electric proportional valve to control the flow, because the electric proportional valve integrates a mechanical throttle valve and a rudder, the size of a single component is too large, which leads to the inability to be flattened and thus cannot be installed in a space with strict size requirements. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide an integrated intelligent flow control device and method thereof, which can adapt to the flow control requirements of multiple scenes, especially for liquid cooling flow control in small size space and single node liquid cooling flow control in data center.

[0005] The purpose of the present application can be achieved by the following technical scheme: an integrated intelligent flow control device, comprising an assembled shell, a flow channel and a single-chip microcomputer are installed in the assembled shell, the single-chip microcomputer is connected with a temperature sensor, a flow sensor and a rudder, the rudder is connected with a mechanical throttle valve, the temperature sensor is used for real-time feedback detection of the temperature of the target, the flow sensor is used for real-time feedback of the flow in the flow channel, the single-chip microcomputer is used for power supply for the rudder and control of the rotation angle of the rudder, and the rudder is used for driving to change the working state of the mechanical throttle valve and thus adjust the flow of the working medium in the flow channel.

[0006] Further, the flow channel comprises an incoming flow channel and an outgoing flow channel, the incoming flow channel is provided with an incoming flow channel outlet and an incoming flow channel inlet, and the outgoing flow channel is provided with an outgoing flow channel inlet and an outgoing flow channel outlet.

[0007] Further, the flow sensor and the mechanical throttle valve are both mounted on the incoming flow channel.

[0008] Further, the rudder and the mechanical throttle valve are connected through gear transmission or belt transmission.

[0009] Further, the temperature sensor is specifically a patch sensor.

[0010] Further, the flow sensor is specifically a Hall sensor.

[0011] Further, the mechanical throttle valve adopts a needle type scale flow valve, the liquid flow in the valve and the twist angle of the scale knob present a linear corresponding relationship, and the liquid flow can be precisely adjusted in a small amount.

[0012] Further, the rudder adopts a high torque rudder, the scale knob of the mechanical throttle valve can be rotated at a fixed angle through a transmission device, the twist speed is fast, and the flow can be quickly adjusted.

[0013] Further, the single-chip microcomputer adopts an arduino circuit integrated board, has the functions of data communication and control level output, receives the target device temperature and flow signal captured by the temperature sensor and the flow sensor, and drives the rudder to adjust the mechanical throttle valve according to the mode and parameters set by the user through internal program control level output or through external direct input instruction and active control level output.

[0014] Further, the input and output ports of the single-chip microcomputer are integrated as an RJ45 interface input and output.

[0015] An integrated intelligent flow control method comprises four working modes of refrigeration feedback, heating feedback, flow feedback and active control, the refrigeration feedback mode is to use the working medium to take away the heat generated by the target device, to control the flow change through the feedback of the difference between the real-time temperature of the device and the target temperature of the device, and specifically comprises:

[0016] setting the target temperature T of the device 目标 , setting the allowed difference K between the real-time temperature of the device and the target temperature T , calling the default value if K is not set T .

[0017] when T 设备 -T 目标 > K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to increase the working medium flow and reduce the real-time temperature of the device.

[0018] When T 设备 -T 目标 <-K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to reduce the working medium flow and increase the real-time temperature of the device;

[0019] When -K T <T 设备 -T 目标 <K T , the current mechanical throttle valve opening is maintained;

[0020] The heating feedback mode is a scenario of heating or keeping the device warm by the working medium, and the flow is controlled by the feedback of the difference between the real-time temperature of the device and the target temperature of the device, specifically including:

[0021] Setting the target temperature T 目标 of the device, setting the allowed difference K T between the real-time temperature of the device and the target temperature, if K T is not set, the default value is called;

[0022] When T 设备 -T 目标 >K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to reduce the working medium flow and decrease the real-time temperature of the device;

[0023] When T 设备 -T 目标 <-K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to increase the working medium flow and increase the real-time temperature of the device;

[0024] When -K T <T 设备 -T 目标 <K T , the current mechanical throttle valve opening is maintained;

[0025] The flow feedback mode is to obtain the target flow, and the flow is controlled by the feedback of the difference between the working medium flow and the target flow, specifically including:

[0026] Setting the target flow Q 目标 of the working medium, setting the allowed difference K Q between the real-time flow of the working medium and the target flow, if K Q is not set, the default value is called;

[0027] When Q 流道 -Q 目标 >K Q , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to reduce the real-time flow of the working medium;

[0028] When Q 流道 -Q目标 <-K Q If K < K0, then adjust the mechanical throttle valve to increase the real-time flow of the working medium;

[0029] If K > K0, then adjust the mechanical throttle valve to decrease the real-time flow of the working medium; Q <Q 设备 -Q 目标 <K Q If K < K0, then keep the current mechanical throttle valve opening;

[0030] The active control mode is to input external instructions to the single-chip microcomputer through an external IO interface, control the steering engine to drive the mechanical throttle valve to control the flow change, and specifically includes: directly adjusting the flow; setting the response mode of the flow changing with the real-time temperature of the equipment, the real-time temperature of the equipment, or the change of the flow with time, etc., so as to achieve the purpose of actively and intelligently controlling the flow.

[0031] Compared with the prior art, the flow controller is characterized in that: a flow channel, a temperature sensor, a flow sensor, a mechanical throttle valve, a steering engine, and a single-chip microcomputer are installed in an assembled shell, the temperature sensor and the flow sensor are connected with the single-chip microcomputer, the temperature sensor is used to feed back the temperature of a target in real time, and the flow sensor is used to feed back the flow in the flow channel in real time; the single-chip microcomputer is connected with the steering engine to supply power to the steering engine and control the rotation angle of the steering engine; the steering engine is connected with the mechanical throttle valve, and the flow of the working medium in the flow channel is adjusted by controlling the rotation of the mechanical throttle valve. The flow controller integrates measurement, data transmission, control, and driving elements, has high integration, and has reasonable arrangement of elements to reduce the size of the controller, is small and light, is flexible to install and use, meets the current demand for small size, intelligence, and high integration of the flow controller, has simple and reliable structure, has low requirement for the incoming flow of the working medium, and can be used in large scale in parallel.

[0032] The flow controller is designed to have four modes of refrigeration feedback, heating feedback, flow feedback, and active control, intelligently controls the flow to make the state parameters such as the temperature and the flow of a target equipment reach target values, and can achieve the purpose of accurate flow control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure (assembled shell) of the flow controller.

[0034] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the internal structure (gear transmission) of the flow controller.

[0035] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the internal structure (belt transmission) of the flow controller.

[0036] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the mechanical throttle valve.

[0037] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the flow sensor.

[0038] Figure 6 Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the steering engine structure in the present application;

[0039] The figure mark description: 1, assembly shell, 2, flow channel inlet, 3, flow channel outlet, 4, mechanical throttle, 5, flow sensor, 6, flow channel inlet, 7, temperature sensor, 8, RJ45 interface, 9, external power supply interface, 10, single-chip microcomputer, 11, flow channel outlet, 12, steering engine, 13, flow channel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The present application will be described in detail below in combination with the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0041] Embodiment

[0042] Reference Figures 1-6 A small integrated intelligent flow control device mainly includes: an assembly shell 1, the assembly shell 1 is fixed with a flow channel 13, a flow sensor 5, a temperature sensor 7, a mechanical throttle 4, a steering engine 12, and a single-chip microcomputer 10; wherein the temperature sensor 7 and the flow sensor 5 are connected with the single-chip microcomputer 10, the temperature sensor 7 can feed back the temperature of the detection target in real time, and the flow sensor 5 can feed back the flow in the flow channel 13 in real time; the single-chip microcomputer 10 is connected with the steering engine 12 to supply power for the steering engine 12 and control the rotation angle of the steering engine 12; the steering engine 12 is connected with the mechanical throttle 4 to adjust the working medium flow in the flow channel 13 by controlling the rotation.

[0043] In this embodiment, the assembly shell 1 is provided with a flow channel inlet 6, a flow channel outlet 3, a flow channel inlet 2, and a flow channel outlet 11, and the above flow channel inlets and outlets are connected with the flow channel 13.

[0044] The assembly shell 1 and the internally provided mechanical throttle 4, flow sensor 5, single-chip microcomputer 10, steering engine 12, and flow channel 13 are all fixed by welding. The mechanical throttle 4 and the steering engine 12 are connected by gear transmission (as shown in Figure 2 or belt transmission (as shown in Figure 3The mechanical throttle valve 4 is small in size, convenient to install, and has a scale adjustment accuracy of less than ±1%, so that fine flow control can be achieved. By switching the valve diameter, a large flow adjustment range can be obtained, which is suitable for liquid cooling flow control requirements. In this embodiment, the mechanical throttle valve 4 is a large-diameter needle type scale flow valve, with a height of 15 mm, a length of 35 mm, and a width of 26 mm. The valve does not need to be electrically driven, and the liquid flow in the valve has a linear correspondence with the twist angle of the scale knob, so that the liquid flow can be precisely adjusted in a small amount, and the adjustment range is 0-30 L / min. The steering engine 12 is a high-torque 12g steering engine with a rated voltage of 5-8.4V and a torque of 2.25-5 kg·cm. The engagement between the steering engine and the mechanical throttle valve rod can be achieved by a gear (a gear sleeve can be added to the throttle valve rod as needed) or a belt, so as to drive the rotation of the throttle valve rod and adjust the flow of the working medium.

[0045] In addition, the flow sensor 5 is a 4-part Hall sensor with a pipe diameter of 13 mm and a length of less than 50 mm, and is installed at a flow channel node. The rated voltage is 4.5V, the measurement range is 0-30 L / min, the measurement accuracy is less than ±0.5%, and the response time is less than 2s.

[0046] The temperature sensor 7 is a patch sensor attached to the target device, with a measurement range of -60-180℃, a measurement accuracy of less than ±0.5%, and a response time of less than 10ms.

[0047] In this technical solution, the single-chip microcomputer 10 has the functions of data communication and control level output, receives the temperature and flow signals of the target device captured by the temperature sensor and the flow sensor, and drives the steering engine to adjust the mechanical throttle valve according to the mode and parameters set by the user through internal program control level output. The input and output ports of the single-chip microcomputer 10 are integrated into the RJ45 interface 8 input and output.

[0048] The intelligent control of the flow in this technical solution has four modes: refrigeration feedback, heating feedback, flow feedback, and active control mode.

[0049] 1. When the refrigeration feedback mode is used

[0050] The target temperature T of the device is set 目标 The allowed difference K between the real-time temperature of the device and the target temperature is set T If K is not set T , the default value is used;

[0051] When T 设备 -T 目标 >K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to increase the flow of the working medium, and the real-time temperature of the device is reduced;

[0052] When T 设备 -T目标 <-K T Then adjust mechanical throttle to reduce working medium flow and increase real-time temperature of equipment.

[0053] When -K T <T 设备 -T 目标 <K T Then keep current mechanical throttle opening.

[0054] 2. When using heating feedback mode

[0055] Set target temperature T of equipment 目标 Set allowed difference K between real-time temperature and target temperature of equipment T If K is not set, use default value T ;

[0056] When T 设备 -T 目标 >K T Then adjust mechanical throttle to reduce working medium flow and decrease real-time temperature of equipment.

[0057] When T 设备 -T 目标 <-K T Then adjust mechanical throttle to increase working medium flow and increase real-time temperature of equipment.

[0058] When -K T <T 设备 -T 目标 <K T Then keep current mechanical throttle opening.

[0059] 3. When using flow feedback mode

[0060] Set target flow Q of working medium 目标 Set allowed difference K between real-time flow and target flow of working medium Q If K is not set, use default value Q ;

[0061] When Q 流道 -Q 目标 >K Q Then adjust mechanical throttle to reduce real-time flow of working medium.

[0062] When Q 流道 -Q 目标 <-K Q Then adjust mechanical throttle to increase real-time flow of working medium.

[0063] When -K Q <Q 设备 -Q 目标 <KQ If not, keep the current mechanical throttle valve opening.

[0064] 4. When using the active control mode

[0065] External instructions are input to the single-chip microcomputer through the external IO interface to control the steering gear to drive the mechanical throttle valve to control the flow change, specifically including: directly adjusting the flow; setting the response mode of the flow changing with the real-time temperature of the equipment, the real-time temperature of the equipment, or the flow changing with time, etc., to achieve the purpose of actively and intelligently controlling the flow.

[0066] In summary, the technical scheme integrates measurement elements such as temperature sensors and flow sensors, data transmission and control elements such as single-chip microcomputers, and driving elements such as steering gears, realizes intelligent adjustment of the mechanical throttle valve to the flow, and has high integration. The device is small and light, and the size of the controller is reduced after reasonable arrangement of the elements, and can be installed in a liquid cooling flow control scene with high size requirements; it is flexible to install and use, can be arranged in parallel, and is suitable for liquid cooling shunt scenes in large data centers. The technical scheme relies on four modes of refrigeration feedback, heating feedback, flow feedback, and active control, intelligently controls the flow, and makes the target equipment temperature and flow state parameters reach the target value.

Claims

1. An integrated intelligent flow control method applied to an integrated intelligent flow control device, characterized in that, The control device comprises an assembled shell (1), a flow channel (13) and a single-chip microcomputer (10) are installed in the assembled shell (1), the single-chip microcomputer (10) is connected with a temperature sensor (7), a flow sensor (5) and a rudder (12), the rudder (12) is connected with a mechanical throttle valve (4), the temperature sensor (7) is used for real-time feedback detection of the temperature of a target, the flow sensor (5) is used for real-time feedback of the flow in the flow channel (13), the single-chip microcomputer (10) is used for power supply and control of the rotation angle of the rudder (12), the rudder (12) is used for driving to change the working state of the mechanical throttle valve (4) and further adjust the working medium flow in the flow channel (13), the flow channel (13) comprises an incoming flow channel and an outgoing flow channel, the incoming flow channel is provided with an incoming flow channel outlet (3) and an incoming flow channel inlet (6), the outgoing flow channel is provided with an outgoing flow channel inlet (2) and an outgoing flow channel outlet (11), the flow sensor (5) and the mechanical throttle valve (4) are both installed on the incoming flow channel, the temperature sensor (7) is a patch sensor and is attached to a target device, the flow sensor (5) is a Hall sensor, the mechanical throttle valve (4) adopts a needle type scale flow valve, the liquid flow in the valve and the twist angle of the scale knob present a linear corresponding relationship, and the liquid flow can be precisely adjusted in a small amount. The control method comprises four working modes of refrigeration feedback, heating feedback, flow feedback and active control, the refrigeration feedback mode is to use the working medium to take away the heat generated by the target device, to control the flow change through the feedback of the difference between the real-time temperature of the device and the target temperature of the device, and specifically comprises: Setting the device target temperature T 目标 , setting the allowed difference K between the device real-time temperature and the target temperature T , if K is not set T , then call the default value; When T 设备 -T 目标 > K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to increase the working medium flow and reduce the real-time temperature of the equipment. When T 设备 -T 目标 <-K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to reduce the working fluid flow and increase the real-time temperature of the device. When -K T <T 设备 -T 目标 <K T then the current mechanical throttle opening is maintained; The heating feedback mode is to use the working medium to heat or heat preservation of the device, to control the flow change through the feedback of the difference between the real-time temperature of the device and the target temperature of the device, and specifically comprises: Setting the device target temperature T 目标 Setting the allowed difference K between the device real-time temperature and the target temperature T If K is not set T then the default value is called When T 设备 -T 目标 > K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to reduce the working medium flow and reduce the real-time temperature of the equipment. When T 设备 -T 目标 <-K T , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to increase the working fluid flow and raise the real-time temperature of the equipment. When -K T <T 设备 -T 目标 <K T then the current mechanical throttle valve opening is maintained; The flow feedback mode is to obtain a target flow, to control the flow change through the feedback of the difference between the working medium flow and the target flow, and specifically comprises: Setting the target flow rate Q of the working medium 目标 , setting the allowable difference K between the real-time flow rate and the target flow rate of the working medium Q , if K is not set Q , then the default value is called When Q 流道 - Q 目标 > K Q , the mechanical throttle valve is adjusted to reduce the real-time flow of the working medium; When Q 流道 - Q 目标 - K Q Then adjust the mechanical throttle to increase the real-time flow of working medium; When -K Q < Q 设备 - Q 目标 < K Q Then, the current mechanical throttle opening is maintained. The active control mode is to input external instructions to the single-chip microcomputer through an external IO interface, to control the rudder to drive the mechanical throttle valve to control the flow change, and specifically comprises: directly adjusting the flow; setting the response mode of the flow with the real-time temperature of the device, the real-time temperature of the device or the change of the flow with time, etc., to realize the purpose of actively and intelligently controlling the flow.

2. The integrated intelligent flow control method of claim 1, wherein, The rudder (12) and the mechanical throttle valve (4) are connected through gear transmission or belt transmission.

3. The integrated intelligent flow control method of claim 1, wherein, The rudder (12) adopts a high-torque rudder (12), the scale knob of the mechanical throttle valve (4) can be rotated by a fixed angle through a transmission device, the twist speed is fast, and the flow can be quickly adjusted.

4. The integrated intelligent flow control method of claim 1, wherein, The single-chip microcomputer (10) adopts an arduino circuit integrated board, has the functions of data communication and control level output, receives the target equipment temperature and flow signals captured by the temperature sensor (7) and the flow sensor (5), and drives the steering engine (12) to rotate and adjust the mechanical throttle valve (4) according to the mode and parameters set by the user through internal program control level output or through external direct input instructions to actively control the level output to drive the steering engine (12) to rotate and adjust the mechanical throttle valve (4).

5. The integrated intelligent flow control method of claim 4, wherein, The input and output port of the single-chip microcomputer (10) is integrated into an RJ45 interface input and output.

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