Blended Cooling Mode for Data Center Heat Loads
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current data center cooling systems are inefficient, leading to servers operating at only 50% capacity due to inadequate cooling, resulting in high energy consumption and operational costs, as they struggle to manage heat effectively.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a blended cooling system that combines adiabatic and evaporative modes, utilizing an evaporative cooler and a recovery coil, along with a fluid transmission and retention device to variably distribute cooling fluid, allowing for efficient operation in different modes such as economizer, adiabatic, evaporative, and blended modes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional air-conditioning systems are used in data centers, then cooling is provided to servers, but energy consumption exceeds 40% of total energy and servers operate at only 50% capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the thermal parameters of supply air by blending hot return air with cold outdoor air, adjusting the temperature profile to match server cooling requirements more efficiently. This allows servers to operate at higher capacities while reducing overall energy consumption by optimizing the thermal characteristics of the cooling system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the harmful hot return air that would normally be discarded into a useful resource by blending it with outdoor air. This hot air is reused to pre-condition the supply air, reducing the energy required for cooling and allowing servers to operate at higher capacities without proportionally increasing energy consumption.
2Productivity
If cooling systems increase capacity to cool servers at higher loads, then more heat can be removed, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the hot return air stream with the cold outdoor air stream in a blending chamber, creating a combined supply air stream. This merging allows the system to provide increased cooling capacity to handle higher server loads while utilizing the thermal energy already present in the return air, thereby reducing the additional energy required compared to traditional separate cooling systems.
3Loss of substance
If adiabatic cooling mode is used, then water usage is reduced, but cooling effectiveness decreases in certain conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between adiabatic cooling mode and evaporative cooling mode based on environmental conditions and cooling demands. This dynamic operation allows the system to maintain high cooling effectiveness when needed while minimizing water usage during periods when adiabatic cooling is sufficient, thereby resolving the contradiction between water conservation and cooling reliability.
4Reliability
If evaporative cooling mode is used, then cooling effectiveness increases, but water consumption increases by 35% compared to traditional systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the operational parameters by blending hot return air with the cooled air stream, which reduces the amount of evaporative cooling needed to achieve the desired supply air temperature. This parameter change allows the system to maintain high cooling effectiveness while significantly reducing water consumption compared to pure evaporative cooling modes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances cooling efficiency, reduces energy consumption, and increases data center capacity by optimizing water usage and cooling performance across varying outdoor conditions, achieving a 35% reduction in annual water usage compared to traditional systems.
Implementation Method 1
an evaporative cooler arranged in a scavenger air plenum
Implementation Method 2
a recovery coil arranged downstream of the evaporative cooler
Data Source
AI summary
Conditioning systems and methods for providing cooling to a heat load can include an evaporative cooler arranged in a scavenger plenum with a recovery coil downstream of the evaporative cooler. The conditioning systems can operate in various modes, including an adiabatic mode and an evaporative mode, and a blended mode between the adiabatic mode and the evaporative mode, depending on environmental conditions. The blended mode can be enabled by a fluid transmission and retention device fluidically connected to the inlet and outlet of the evaporative cooler, the recovery coil outlet, and the heat load. The fluid transmission and retention device can variably distribute the cooling fluid exiting the recovery coil and the cooling fluid exiting the evaporative cooler to one or both of the heat load and the evaporative cooler inlet. In an example, the fluid transmission and retention device includes a manifold. In another example, the fluid transmission and retention device includes one or more tanks.