A hybrid evaporative high efficiency cooling tower for data centers

Abstract

The application discloses a composite evaporation high-efficiency cooling tower for a data center, which comprises a cylindrical outer tower body and a columnar inner tower body, an annular gap between the two bodies constituting a dry air cooling zone, and the inside of the columnar inner tower body constituting a wet evaporation cooling zone; a heat exchanger assembly is connected in series by a cyclone fin heat exchanger located in the dry air cooling zone and a tower fin heat exchanger located in the wet evaporation cooling zone. The cyclone fin heat exchanger is provided with helical flow guide heat exchange fins, which can forcibly guide airflow to rotate and flow to strengthen heat exchange; the tower fin heat exchanger is matched with a circulating spraying system to realize evaporation cooling; the tower body is provided with a hole blocking ring assembly capable of adjusting the opening degree of an air inlet hole and an air inlet flow adjusting mechanism; the application can realize self-adaptive switching of three modes of single dry air cooling, single wet evaporation cooling and dry-wet composite evaporation cooling, and through accurate adjustment of dry-wet composite strengthened heat exchange and airflow organization, the annual comprehensive energy efficiency and operation stability of the cooling tower are significantly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of cooling tower technology, and specifically discloses a composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers. Background Technology

[0002] With the explosive growth in computing power demand, the power density of single data center racks continues to rise, pushing the traditional air-cooling capacity to its physical limits. Liquid cooling technology is rapidly becoming the mainstream solution for high-density computing infrastructure. Against this backdrop, cooling towers, as the core heat dissipation equipment in liquid cooling systems, directly impact the annual energy efficiency of data centers through their heat exchange efficiency and operational stability.

[0003] There have been some technological explorations regarding the application of cooling towers in data center scenarios. For example, the invention patent with publication number CN106247816A proposes a cooling tower and cooling system for data centers. This cooling tower uses heat exchange channels set in the tower tray to heat the cooling water in the tower tray with high-temperature return water to prevent freezing in low-temperature environments.

[0004] This solution improves the reliability of cooling tower operation in winter to some extent, but the following technical problems still exist. First, most existing cooling towers adopt a single wet evaporative cooling mode. Although antifreeze measures can be taken in low-temperature winter environments, they cannot fully utilize natural cold sources for energy-saving operation. In high-temperature summer environments, simple wet cooling faces the problems of decreased heat exchange efficiency and increased water consumption. At the same time, during the year-round operation of data centers, the ambient temperature fluctuates greatly and the load fluctuates frequently, making it difficult for a single cooling mode to maintain optimal energy efficiency under different operating conditions. Second, the airflow organization design inside the tower is relatively simple. In traditional cooling towers, the airflow is usually linear, with short contact time and low disturbance with the heat exchange surface, resulting in a limited convective heat transfer coefficient. In addition, the dry heat exchange area and the wet evaporation area are independent of each other, failing to form a stepped optimization of the heat exchange process, thus limiting the overall heat exchange efficiency. Third, existing cooling towers generally lack the ability to adjust airflow channels and inlet airflow online. During partial load periods, they cannot adjust operating parameters in real time according to changes in ambient temperature and load, resulting in insufficient fine-grained adjustment capabilities. Finally, in existing cooling towers, the airflow is prone to uneven distribution when passing through the packing zone, with high velocity at the center and low velocity around the edges. This results in insufficient utilization of the actual heat exchange area of ​​the packing and inadequate heat and moisture exchange between the sprayed water and the air. Therefore, to address the above-mentioned shortcomings of existing cooling towers, this application proposes a data center-specific cooling tower that can adaptively switch cooling modes according to changes in ambient temperature and load, optimize airflow organization and heat exchange process, and improve overall energy efficiency throughout the year. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers, in order to solve the technical problems and shortcomings of traditional cooling towers when facing data center heat exchange and cooling, such as the single heat exchange mode and the simple airflow organization design inside the tower leading to poor heat exchange effect.

[0006] This invention is achieved through the following technical solution: A composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers includes a cylindrical outer tower body, a columnar inner tower body, an exhaust fan, multiple air inlets, a baffle ring assembly, a heat exchanger assembly, a blower, an airflow regulating mechanism, and a circulating spray system. Wherein: The cylindrical outer tower body has an opening at its lower end, which is then sealed and installed on the upper end of a base with a water collection trough. The columnar inner tower body is fixedly installed at the center of the top cover at the top of the cylindrical outer tower body. The upper end of the columnar inner tower body extends out of the top cover and the lower end extends to the bottom of the cylindrical outer tower body, and both the upper and lower ends are open. The annular gap between the cylindrical outer tower body and the columnar inner tower body forms a dry air-cooling zone, and the internal space of the columnar inner tower body forms a wet evaporative cooling zone. An exhaust fan is installed at the top of the columnar inner tower body; Multiple air inlets are arranged in a ring array on the outer circular surface of the cylindrical outer tower body between the lower end of the columnar inner tower body and the water collection tank. A baffle ring assembly is disposed on the cylindrical outer tower body and is used to adjust the effective air intake cross-sectional area of ​​the air inlet. The heat exchanger assembly includes a swirling finned heat exchanger located in the dry air-cooled zone and a tower finned heat exchanger located in the wet evaporative cooling zone, wherein the swirling finned heat exchanger and the tower finned heat exchanger are connected in series. An air blower is installed on the top cover at the top of the cylindrical outer tower body to blow outside air into the dry air-cooled zone; An airflow regulating mechanism is installed in the dry air-cooled zone above the swirl finned heat exchanger to regulate the airflow sealed at the upper end of the dry air-cooled zone or blown in by the blower into a swirling state. A circulating spray system is used to extract cooling water from the water collection tank and spray the cooling water onto the tower-type finned heat exchanger.

[0007] As a specific configuration of the above scheme, the swirl finned heat exchanger includes a feed ring pipe, multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes, and flow-guiding heat exchange fins; the feed ring pipe is located outside the cylindrical outer tower body, and one end of it is provided with a feed inlet pipe; multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes are connected in a ring array to the inner ring of the feed ring pipe, and the liquid outlet ends of all heat exchange serpentine tubes extend towards the center and penetrate into the interior of the columnar inner tower body; the flow-guiding heat exchange fins are spirally coiled on the multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes, and the flow-guiding heat exchange fins are located in the dry air-cooled zone.

[0008] As a specific configuration of the above scheme, the tower-type finned heat exchanger includes a transfer ring pipe, multiple heat exchange inclined tubes, a vertical manifold pipe, and multiple inclined ring fins; the transfer ring pipe is located inside the cylindrical inner tower body and is connected to the liquid outlet end of all heat exchange serpentine tubes; multiple heat exchange inclined tubes are evenly connected to the lower end of the transfer ring pipe and converge toward the center of the cylindrical inner tower body; the vertical manifold pipe extends vertically along the center of the cylindrical inner tower body, its lower end is connected to the convergence end of all heat exchange inclined tubes, and its upper end is connected to a discharge end pipe extending out of the cylindrical outer tower body; multiple inclined ring fins are arranged vertically at intervals and are fixed through all heat exchange inclined tubes.

[0009] As a specific feature of the above scheme, the airflow adjustment mechanism includes multiple fan-shaped plates evenly arranged circumferentially in the dry air-cooling zone. When the multiple fan-shaped plates are in a horizontal state, the side ends of each pair of adjacent fan-shaped plates are abutted to seal the upper end of the dry air-cooling zone. A radially extending shaft is fixed in the middle of the fan-shaped plate. The inner end of the shaft is rotatably connected to the outer wall of the cylindrical inner tower body, and its outer end passes through the cylindrical outer tower body and is connected to an end bar. A rotary adjustment assembly for driving all end bars to rotate synchronously is provided on the outer circular surface of the cylindrical outer tower body.

[0010] As a specific configuration of the above scheme, the rotation adjustment assembly includes a rotating ring rotatably disposed on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical outer tower body. The rotating ring is circumferentially evenly provided with oblique guide grooves corresponding to each end bar, and a guide slide column that interacts with the oblique guide groove is fixed on the end bar. The rotating ring is provided with a conical tooth surface, and an adjustment motor is fixed on the cylindrical outer tower body. A bevel gear that meshes with the conical tooth surface is provided on the output shaft of the adjustment motor.

[0011] As a specific configuration of the above scheme, the circulating spray system includes an annular spray pipe, multiple nozzles, a water supply pipe, and a circulating water pump; the annular spray pipe is located directly above the tower-type finned heat exchanger, and the multiple nozzles are evenly installed circumferentially at the lower end of the annular spray pipe; one end of the water supply pipe is connected to the annular spray pipe, and the other end extends out of the cylindrical outer tower body and is connected to the circulating water pump, and the inlet end of the circulating water pump is connected to the water collection tank.

[0012] As a specific feature of the above scheme, the hole-blocking ring assembly includes a hole-blocking ring that fits onto the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical outer tower body. The cylindrical outer tower body is provided with a telescopic drive for driving the hole-blocking ring to move up and down, and a guide assembly for guiding the up and down movement of the hole-blocking ring.

[0013] As a further feature of the above scheme, a packing layer is provided below the tower-type finned heat exchanger, and an airflow distribution and material guiding ring is provided in the columnar inner tower body located below the packing layer.

[0014] As a specific configuration of the above scheme, the airflow distribution guide ring includes a flow-gathering section, a small-diameter section, and a flow-expanding section connected in sequence; the upper end of the flow-gathering section converges upwards, the small-diameter section extends vertically, and the upper end of the flow-expanding section expands outwards.

[0015] As a further feature of the above solution, the base is also equipped with a water supply pipe and a sewage discharge pipe that are connected to the water collection tank.

[0016] The composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers disclosed in this application achieves efficient cooling throughout the year through dry-wet composite heat exchange and multi-mode adaptive switching. The main body of the cooling tower consists of a cylindrical outer tower and a columnar inner tower. The annular gap between the two forms a dry air-cooling zone, while the interior of the columnar inner tower forms a wet evaporative cooling zone. The heat exchanger assembly consists of a swirling finned heat exchanger and a tower-type finned heat exchanger connected in series. The heat source medium (high-temperature return water from the data center) flows through both sequentially to achieve cooling.

[0017] In terms of airflow organization, the cooling tower is equipped with an exhaust fan and multiple blowers at the top, and an air inlet with a baffle ring assembly at the bottom. By adjusting the vertical position of the baffle ring, the effective air intake cross-sectional area of ​​the air inlet can be continuously changed, achieving online adaptive adjustment of the air intake volume. The airflow adjustment mechanism located at the upper end of the dry air-cooled zone consists of multiple rotatable fan-shaped plates. By adjusting the motor-driven rotating ring, the opening and closing angle of the fan-shaped plates can be controlled, thereby achieving the sealing or swirling airflow guiding function at the upper end of the dry air-cooled zone.

[0018] The cooling tower disclosed in this invention has three adaptive operating modes: In high-temperature seasons, the airflow regulating mechanism seals the dry air-cooled zone, the baffle ring opens the air inlet to its maximum, and the exhaust fan and circulating spray system are activated. The nozzles evenly spray cooling water onto the surface of the tower-type finned heat exchanger to form a thin water film, and heat is dissipated through the evaporation of latent heat; this is the wet evaporative cooling mode. In low-temperature seasons, the airflow regulating mechanism opens the dry air-cooled zone and adjusts it to a guiding state, the baffle ring partially or completely closes the air inlet, and the blower and exhaust fan are activated. The outside cold air is guided to form a rotating airflow, which is turbulent by the spiral guiding fins in the swirling finned heat exchanger area. After sufficient heat exchange with the heat source medium, it enters the wet evaporative cooling zone for secondary heat exchange. The spray system does not work, achieving fully dry operation. Under high temperature and high load conditions, the blower, exhaust fan and circulating spray system are started at the same time. Dry convection heat exchange and wet evaporation phase change heat exchange act in parallel on the same heat source medium, so as to achieve superimposed heat exchange effect and ensure rapid cooling under extreme heat load.

[0019] In addition, this application further provides a packing layer below the tower-type finned heat exchanger to further increase the water-air contact area; and provides an airflow equalization guide ring below the packing layer to eliminate uneven airflow distribution and improve the heat and moisture exchange efficiency of the packing layer through the processes of flow convergence, acceleration, and diffusion equalization.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: This cooling tower, through the coordinated control of the airflow regulating mechanism and the baffle ring assembly, as well as the operation of the spray system, can freely switch between three modes: single wet evaporative cooling, single dry air cooling, and a combination of wet and dry evaporative cooling. In low-temperature seasons, it can operate entirely in dry mode, fully utilizing natural cold sources; in high-temperature seasons, it can operate in wet mode, leveraging the advantages of evaporative cooling; and under extreme heat loads, it can operate in a combined mode, achieving synergistic heat exchange effects and significantly improving the cooling effect on data centers. This patented design, with its redundant multi-mode configuration, maintains stable operation under different ambient temperatures and load conditions. Simultaneously, the coordinated control of the baffle ring assembly and the airflow regulating mechanism ensures precise adjustment of airflow organization, effectively avoiding the operational instability problems of traditional cooling towers under varying operating conditions.

[0021] This cooling tower employs a heat exchanger assembly consisting of a swirling finned heat exchanger and a tower-type finned heat exchanger connected in series. This allows the heat source medium from the data center to flow sequentially through a dry air-cooled zone and a wet evaporative cooling zone, completing two relay heat exchange processes. In the dry air-cooled zone, the spiral-shaped heat exchange fins on the swirling finned heat exchanger serve two purposes: firstly, they expand the heat exchange surface, increasing the heat exchange area; secondly, they force the airflow to rotate, creating strong turbulence on the surface of the heat exchange serpentine tubes, significantly lengthening the airflow heat exchange path and improving primary air cooling efficiency. In the wet evaporative cooling zone, the tower-type finned heat exchanger guides the sprayed water to spread evenly, forming a film flow, utilizing the latent heat of evaporation phase change to remove heat. The synergistic effect of the dry convection heat exchange and the wet evaporative phase change heat exchange allows the same heat source medium to undergo two highly efficient cooling processes, achieving a superposition and cascaded utilization of heat exchange effects, significantly improving the overall heat dissipation capacity.

[0022] This cooling tower also features a specially structured airflow distribution and guiding ring below the packing layer. Through a unique flow channel design of "convergence-acceleration-diffusive equalization," the airflow entering the packing layer is pre-treated. This allows the airflow from the bottom of the tower to first be guided and accelerated in the convergence section, reaching maximum velocity in the small-diameter section. Subsequently, as it enters the diffuser section, the velocity rapidly decreases, dynamic pressure is converted to static pressure, and the airflow diffuses evenly in all directions. This process completely eliminates the uneven airflow phenomenon of high velocity at the center and low velocity at the periphery found in traditional structures, creating a uniformly distributed airflow. The homogenized airflow then enters the packing layer, ensuring that the corrugated surface of each area of ​​the packing layer can fully contact the airflow. This allows the thin water film formed by the sprayed water on the packing surface to fully participate in heat and moisture exchange, thereby maximizing the potential of the packing layer to increase the water-air contact area and promote evaporative heat dissipation, further improving the overall heat exchange efficiency of the cooling tower.

[0023] This cooling tower adopts a nested design of a cylindrical outer tower body and a columnar inner tower body, integrating the dry air cooling zone and the wet evaporative cooling zone into the same tower body. The entire cooling tower has a compact structure and a small footprint, making it particularly suitable for data center scenarios with high space utilization requirements. Attached Figure Description

[0024] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the external three-dimensional structure of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the interior of the cylindrical outer tower body in this invention from the first angle. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the second angle three-dimensional structure inside the cylindrical outer tower body of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the interior of the columnar inner tower body in this invention; Figure 5 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the heat exchanger assembly in this invention; Figure 6 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the swirl finned heat exchanger in this invention; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the planar structure of the tower-type finned heat exchanger and water distributor in this invention. Figure 8 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the airflow regulating mechanism in this invention; Figure 9 For the present invention Figure 2 A magnified structural diagram; Figure 10 For the present invention Figure 3 A magnified structural diagram. Detailed Implementation

[0026] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort should fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0027] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be combined with each other. The following will refer to the appendix... Figures 1-10 This application will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments. Example 1

[0028] This embodiment 1 discloses a high-efficiency composite evaporative cooling tower for data centers, aiming to achieve efficient and stable cooling of data centers throughout the year through dry-wet composite heat exchange and multi-mode adaptive switching. Figures 1-4 As shown, its main structure includes a cylindrical outer tower body 10, a base 20, and a control cabinet 30 with an integrated control system.

[0029] A water collection trough 21 for collecting spray water is provided on the base 20. The lower end of the cylindrical outer tower 10 is opened and sealed to the upper end of the water collection trough 21, thereby forming a heat exchange space inside the cylindrical outer tower 10 that is relatively isolated from the outside. The control cabinet 30 is located on the base 20 next to the cylindrical outer tower 10.

[0030] A top cover 11, converging towards the center, is provided at the top of the cylindrical outer tower 10. A vertically extending columnar inner tower 40 is fixedly installed at the center of the top cover 11. The upper end of the columnar inner tower 40 extends beyond the top cover 11, and the lower end extends to the bottom of the cylindrical outer tower 10, with both ends being open. A high-power exhaust fan 41 is installed at the top of the columnar inner tower 40 to drive the airflow inside the tower from bottom to top. On the outer circular surface of the cylindrical outer tower 10 between the lower end of the columnar inner tower 40 and the water collection tank 21, multiple vertically extending air inlets 12 are arranged in a ring array. Through the above structure, when the exhaust fan 41 is running, a negative pressure is formed inside the columnar inner tower 40. Outside cold air is drawn into the cylindrical outer tower 10 through the air inlets 12, then flows upward along the columnar inner tower 40, and finally is discharged by the exhaust fan 41, forming a complete cooling airflow circulation path.

[0031] To achieve online adaptive adjustment of the intake air volume, a baffle ring assembly 50 is also provided on the cylindrical outer tower body 10. For example... Figure 1 and Figure 10 As shown, the baffle ring assembly 50 includes a baffle ring 51 fitted onto the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical outer tower body 10, a plurality of guide hole blocks 52 fixed to the cylindrical outer tower body 10, and a telescopic drive member 53. The telescopic end of the telescopic drive member 53 is fixedly connected to the baffle ring 51, and a vertical guide rod 54 is fixed on the baffle ring 51, penetrating the guide hole blocks 52. By driving the baffle ring 51 to slide up and down through the telescopic drive member 53, the effective air intake cross-sectional area of ​​the air intake hole 12 can be continuously changed, thereby precisely adjusting the air intake volume according to changes in the data center load.

[0032] From a spatial layout perspective, the annular gap between the cylindrical outer tower 10 and the columnar inner tower 40 constitutes the dry air-cooled zone, while the internal space of the columnar inner tower 40 constitutes the wet evaporative cooling zone. A heat exchanger assembly 60 is housed in both zones, such as... Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the assembly consists of a swirling finned heat exchanger 61 located in the dry air-cooled zone and a tower finned heat exchanger 62 located in the wet evaporative cooling zone, connected in series.

[0033] like Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, the swirl finned heat exchanger 61 includes a feed ring pipe 611 located outside the cylindrical outer tower body 10. One end of the feed ring pipe 611 is provided with an inlet pipe 612 for connecting to the high-temperature heat source medium pipeline of the data center. The inner ring of the feed ring pipe 611 is connected in a ring array with multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes 613. The liquid outlet end of each heat exchange serpentine tube 613 extends towards the center and penetrates into the interior of the cylindrical inner tower body 40. At the same time, a spirally coiled flow-guiding heat exchange fin 614 is also provided on the multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes 613. The fin is located in the dry air-cooled zone. The design of the flow-guiding heat exchange fins 614 serves two purposes: firstly, it extends the heat exchange surface, significantly increasing the convective heat transfer area between the heat exchange serpentine tube 613 and the air; secondly, its unique spiral geometry forces the airflow through the dry air-cooling zone to rotate, creating strong turbulent disturbances on the surface of the heat exchange serpentine tube 613 and significantly extending the heat transfer path. This synergistic effect of spiral guidance and turbulence enhancement greatly improves the convective heat transfer coefficient of primary air cooling.

[0034] like Figure 5 and Figure 7 As shown, the tower-type finned heat exchanger 62 includes a transfer loop 621 located inside the cylindrical inner tower 40 and connected to the liquid outlet ends of all heat exchange serpentine tubes 613. The lower end of the transfer loop 621 is uniformly connected to multiple inclined heat exchange tubes 622 converging towards the center of the cylindrical inner tower 40. The converging ends of all inclined heat exchange tubes 622 are connected to a vertically extending manifold 623 extending along the center. The end of the vertical manifold 623 is connected to a discharge end pipe 624 extending through the cylindrical inner tower 40 and the cylindrical outer tower 10, used to return the cooled heat source medium to the data center, forming a closed loop. To further enhance heat exchange, multiple inclined ring fins 625 arranged at intervals are fixed through all the inclined heat exchange tubes 622. The inclined ring fins 625 serve as fins to increase the heat exchange area and also act as guides in wet mode, so that the sprayed water can spread evenly and form a stable film flow.

[0035] To create a flexible and adjustable airflow organization, 3 to 6 blowers 13 are evenly installed on the top cover 11, and the total flow rate of the multiple blowers 13 into the dry air-cooled zone is configured to be equal to the exhaust flow rate of the exhaust fan 41 to ensure internal air pressure balance. An inlet airflow regulating mechanism 70 is provided in the dry air-cooled zone above the swirl finned heat exchanger 61. This inlet airflow regulating mechanism 70 has the dual functions of sealing and swirl guiding.

[0036] like Figure 1 Appendix Figure 8 and Figure 9 As shown, the airflow regulating mechanism 70 includes multiple circumferentially evenly arranged sector-shaped plates 71 at the upper end of the dry air-cooling zone. A radially extending shaft 72 is fixed to the center of each sector-shaped plate 71. The inner end of the shaft 72 is rotatably connected to the outer wall of the cylindrical inner tower body 40, and the outer end passes through the cylindrical outer tower body 10 and is connected to an end bar 73. A guide slide post 74 is fixed on the end bar 73. Simultaneously, an annular slide rail 78 is fixed to the outer circumference of the cylindrical outer tower body 10, and a rotating ring 75 is rotatably mounted on the annular slide rail 78. The rotating ring 75 has oblique guide grooves 751 that correspond one-to-one with each guide slide post 74. A conical tooth surface 752 is provided on the outer periphery of the rotating ring 75. An regulating motor 76 is fixedly mounted on the cylindrical outer tower body 10, and its output shaft end has a bevel gear 77 that meshes with the conical tooth surface 752. In operation, the aforementioned mechanism is driven by the regulating motor 76 through the meshing of the bevel gear 77 and the bevel tooth surface 752, which drives the rotating ring 75 to rotate precisely on the annular slide rail 78. As the rotating ring 75 rotates, its inclined guide groove 751 forces the guide slide column 74 to move along a specific trajectory, thereby causing the end bar 73 and shaft 72 to rotate at a certain angle. When each sector plate 71 is in a horizontal state, its sides are in contact with each other, completely sealing the upper end of the dry air-cooled zone, forcing all airflow through the wet evaporative cooling zone. When the sector plate 71 rotates to a set angle (e.g., 30°), a guide port 710 with a specific inclination angle is formed between adjacent sector plates 71. This guide port 710 imparts a tangential velocity component to the incoming airflow, causing it to form a rotating airflow entering the dry air-cooled zone, and working in conjunction with the spiral guide fins 614 below it to construct a dual-swirling enhanced heat transfer field.

[0037] To achieve wet evaporative cooling, such as Figure 4 and Figure 7As shown, this cooling tower also includes a circulating spray system 80. This system includes an annular spray pipe 81 located above the tower-type finned heat exchanger 62. Multiple nozzles 82 are evenly distributed at the lower end of the annular spray pipe 81, forming a water distributor adapted to the tower-type finned heat exchanger 62. The annular spray pipe 81 is connected to a circulating water pump 84 via a water supply pipe 83 extending from the cylindrical outer tower body 10. The inlet end of the circulating water pump 84 extends into the water collection tank 21. Furthermore, the base 20 is also equipped with a water supply pipe and a drain pipe connected to the water collection tank 21 for automatic water replenishment and periodic drainage to maintain stable water quality.

[0038] Based on the above structural design of the cooling tower, the cooling tower disclosed in Embodiment 1 can adaptively switch between three working modes to meet the cooling needs of the data center under different ambient temperatures and loads.

[0039] Mode 1: Single wet evaporative cooling mode (suitable for high-temperature seasons) At this time, the airflow regulating mechanism 70 seals the upper end of the dry air-cooled zone, the baffle ring assembly 50 opens the air inlet 12 to its maximum, and starts the exhaust fan 41 and the circulating water pump 84. The nozzle 82 sprays cooling water evenly onto the surface of the tower-type finned heat exchanger 62, forming a thin water film on the heat exchange inclined tube 622 and the inclined ring fins 625. The heat source medium flows inside the heat exchange inclined tube 622, and heat is transferred to the water film through the tube wall. After absorbing heat, part of the water film evaporates into water vapor, and a large amount of heat is dissipated through the latent heat of evaporation. The unevaporated spray water falls back under the action of gravity, and in the process of falling, it undergoes convection heat exchange with the cold air rising from below again, achieving pre-cooling before flowing into the water collection tank 21, and is then transported back to the nozzle 82 by the circulating water pump 84, forming a closed spray cycle.

[0040] Mode 2: Single dry air cooling mode (suitable for cold seasons) At this time, the airflow regulating mechanism 70 opens the upper part of the dry air-cooled zone and adjusts it to the guiding state, while the baffle ring assembly 50 partially or completely closes the air inlet 12, and starts the blower 13 and exhaust fan 41. Outside cold air is sent into the dry air-cooled zone by the blower 13. After being guided by the airflow regulating mechanism 70 to form a rotating airflow, it undergoes continuous turbulence in the swirl finned heat exchanger 61 area under the influence of the spiral guide fins 614, resulting in sufficient convective heat exchange with the heat source medium in the heat exchange serpentine tube 613. After the first heat exchange, the airflow continues downward into the wet evaporative cooling zone, undergoes a second convective heat exchange with the medium in the tower finned heat exchanger 62, and is then discharged by the exhaust fan 41. In this mode, the spray system does not operate, achieving fully dry operation and eliminating the risk of low-temperature icing.

[0041] Mode 3: Dry-wet hybrid evaporative cooling mode (suitable for high temperature and high load conditions) At this time, the airflow regulating mechanism 70 opens the upper part of the dry air-cooled zone to the guiding state, the baffle ring assembly 50 closes the air inlet 12, and simultaneously starts the blower 13, exhaust fan 41, and circulating water pump 84. The airflow path is the same as in mode two. After the heat source medium completes one air-cooled heat exchange in the swirl finned heat exchanger 61, it enters the tower finned heat exchanger 62. At the same time, the spray system continuously sprays cooling water onto the surface of the tower finned heat exchanger 62, achieving secondary high-efficiency heat exchange through film evaporation phase change. In this mode, dry convection heat exchange and wet evaporation phase change heat exchange act in parallel on the same heat source medium, achieving a superposition of heat exchange effects. This enables rapid and efficient heat removal under extreme heat loads, ensuring the safe operation of the data center. Example 2

[0042] Example 2 discloses a composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers, which is based on the technical solution in Example 1 and further optimized and improved. The similarities between it and Example 1 will not be repeated.

[0043] like Figure 6 As shown, in this embodiment 2, a packing layer 90 is also provided in the columnar inner tower 40 directly below the tower-finned heat exchanger 62. This packing layer 90 is composed of corrugated packing with a large specific surface area. When spray water drips from the tower-finned heat exchanger 62 onto the packing layer 90, the water flow spreads into an extremely thin liquid film on the surface of the packing, greatly expanding the contact interface between water and air. When the upward-flowing cold air passes through the packing layer 90, it undergoes a vigorous heat and moisture exchange with the liquid film, further removing heat from the water, thereby significantly reducing the return water temperature of the circulating spray water, increasing the initial temperature difference for the next spray cooling, and forming a positive feedback reinforcement effect.

[0044] In addition, to further optimize the uniformity of airflow distribution, an airflow equalization guide ring 42 is provided in the columnar inner tower body 40 below the packing layer 90. This guide ring 42 has a special flow channel cross-section variation design, which includes a flow-gathering section 421 that converges upward at the upper end, a small-diameter section 422 extending from the upper end of the flow-gathering section 421, and a flow-expanding section 423 with a gradually increasing diameter connected to the upper end of the small-diameter section 422.

[0045] Through the aforementioned structural design of the airflow distribution and guiding ring 42, the airflow from the bottom of the tower first enters the convergence section 421. As the cross-sectional area of ​​the flow channel gradually decreases, the airflow is guided, converged, and accelerated. After entering the small-diameter section 422, the airflow reaches its maximum velocity. When the high-speed airflow suddenly enters the expansion space of the expansion section 423 from the narrow small-diameter section 422, the velocity rapidly decreases, the dynamic pressure is converted into static pressure, and the airflow diffuses evenly in all directions. After the aforementioned convergence-acceleration-diffusion and equalization process, the non-uniform flow pattern that might have existed—high velocity in the center and low velocity around the edges—is completely eliminated, forming a uniform, large-area airflow distribution. This ensures that every area of ​​the packing layer 90 can fully contact the airflow, thereby maximizing the heat and moisture exchange potential of the packing layer and further improving the overall heat exchange efficiency of the cooling tower.

[0046] The above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers, characterized in that, include: The cylindrical outer tower body has an opening at its lower end, which is sealed and installed on the upper end of a base with a water collection trough. The columnar inner tower body is fixedly installed at the center of the top cover at the top of the cylindrical outer tower body. The upper end of the columnar inner tower body extends out of the top cover and the lower end extends to the bottom of the cylindrical outer tower body, and both the upper and lower ends are open. The annular gap between the cylindrical outer tower body and the columnar inner tower body forms a dry air-cooling zone, and the internal space of the columnar inner tower body forms a wet evaporative cooling zone. An exhaust fan is installed at the top of the columnar inner tower body; Multiple air inlets are arranged in a ring array on the outer circular surface of the cylindrical outer tower body between the lower end of the columnar inner tower body and the water collection tank. A baffle ring assembly is disposed on the cylindrical outer tower body and is used to adjust the effective air intake cross-sectional area of ​​the air intake hole; The heat exchanger assembly includes a swirling finned heat exchanger located in the dry air-cooled zone and a tower finned heat exchanger located in the wet evaporative cooling zone, wherein the swirling finned heat exchanger and the tower finned heat exchanger are connected in series. An air blower is installed on the top cover at the top of the cylindrical outer tower body to blow outside air into the dry air-cooled zone; An airflow regulating mechanism is installed in the dry air-cooled zone above the swirl finned heat exchanger to regulate the airflow that is sealed at the top of the dry air-cooled zone or blown in by the blower into a swirling state. A circulating spray system is used to extract cooling water from the water collection tank and spray the cooling water onto the tower-type finned heat exchanger.

2. The composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers according to claim 1, characterized in that, The swirling finned heat exchanger includes a feed ring pipe, multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes, and flow-guiding heat exchange fins. The feed ring pipe is located outside the cylindrical outer tower body, with a feed inlet pipe at one end. Multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes are connected in a ring array to the inner ring of the feed ring pipe, and the liquid outlet ends of all heat exchange serpentine tubes extend towards the center and penetrate into the interior of the columnar inner tower body. The flow-guiding heat exchange fins are spirally coiled on the multiple heat exchange serpentine tubes and are located in the dry air-cooled zone.

3. The composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers according to claim 2, characterized in that, The tower-type finned heat exchanger includes a transfer ring tube, multiple inclined heat exchange tubes, a vertical manifold, and multiple inclined ring fins. The transfer ring tube is located inside the cylindrical inner tower body and is connected to the liquid outlet end of all the heat exchange serpentine tubes. The multiple inclined heat exchange tubes are evenly connected to the lower end of the transfer ring tube and converge toward the center of the cylindrical inner tower body. The vertical manifold extends vertically along the center of the cylindrical inner tower body, and its lower end is connected to the convergence end of all the inclined heat exchange tubes. Its upper end is connected to a discharge end pipe extending out of the cylindrical outer tower body. The multiple inclined ring fins are arranged vertically at intervals and are fixed through all the inclined heat exchange tubes.

4. The high-efficiency composite evaporative cooling tower for data centers according to claim 1, characterized in that, The airflow adjustment mechanism includes multiple fan-shaped plates evenly arranged circumferentially in the dry air-cooling zone. When the multiple fan-shaped plates are in a horizontal state, the side ends of each pair of adjacent fan-shaped plates are abutted to seal the upper end of the dry air-cooling zone. A radially extending shaft is fixed in the middle of the fan-shaped plate. The inner end of the shaft is rotatably connected to the outer wall of the cylindrical inner tower body, and its outer end passes through the cylindrical outer tower body and is connected to an end bar. A rotary adjustment assembly for driving all end bars to rotate synchronously is provided on the outer circular surface of the cylindrical outer tower body.

5. The high-efficiency composite evaporative cooling tower for data centers according to claim 4, characterized in that, The rotation adjustment assembly includes a rotating ring rotatably mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical outer tower body. The rotating ring is circumferentially provided with oblique guide grooves corresponding to each end bar, and the end bar is fixed with a guide slide column that interacts with the oblique guide grooves. The rotating ring is provided with a conical tooth surface, and an adjustment motor is fixed on the cylindrical outer tower body. The output shaft of the adjustment motor is provided with a bevel gear that meshes with the conical tooth surface.

6. The high-efficiency composite evaporative cooling tower for data centers according to claim 1, characterized in that, The circulating spray system includes an annular spray pipe, multiple nozzles, a water supply pipe, and a circulating water pump. The annular spray pipe is positioned directly above the tower-type finned heat exchanger, and the multiple nozzles are evenly installed circumferentially at the lower end of the annular spray pipe. One end of the water supply pipe is connected to the annular spray pipe, and the other end extends out of the cylindrical outer tower body and is connected to the circulating water pump. The inlet end of the circulating water pump is connected to a water collection tank.

7. The composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers according to claim 1, characterized in that, The hole-blocking ring assembly includes a hole-blocking ring that fits onto the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical outer tower body. The cylindrical outer tower body is provided with a telescopic drive for driving the hole-blocking ring to move up and down, and a guide assembly for guiding the up and down movement of the hole-blocking ring.

8. The composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a packing layer located below the tower-type finned heat exchanger, and an airflow distribution and material guiding ring is provided in the columnar inner tower body located below the packing layer.

9. The composite evaporative high-efficiency cooling tower for data centers according to claim 8, characterized in that, The airflow distribution guide ring includes a flow-gathering section, a small-diameter section, and a flow-expanding section connected in sequence; the upper end of the flow-gathering section converges upwards, the small-diameter section extends vertically, and the upper end of the flow-expanding section expands outwards.

10. The high-efficiency composite evaporative cooling tower for data centers according to claim 1, characterized in that, The base is also equipped with a water supply pipe and a sewage discharge pipe that are connected to the water collection tank.

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