Container Data Center Cooling Airflow Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container-type data centers require high remodeling costs to divide the interior into cooling and heat exhaust areas, as seen in prior-art configurations, making them inefficient and costly to implement in standard containers.
Innovation Solution
A container-type data center with an air conditioning facility that uses a partition panel to separate the interior into a cooling area and a heat exhaust area, featuring an indoor unit with a vent for cooling air and an outdoor unit, along with a system ceiling and vinyl curtains to prevent air leakage, allowing for efficient cooling without the need for ducts and maintaining a sealed environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If outdoor units of the air conditioning facility are disposed outside the container, then cooling function is provided, but it is necessary to arrange the container at a determined location and install outdoor units near the container, increasing installation complexity and reducing mobility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the outdoor unit and indoor unit into an integrated air conditioning facility that can be disposed within the container. This merging eliminates the need for separate outdoor unit installation and piping connections, thereby reducing installation complexity while maintaining the cooling function and improving mobility.
2Productivity
If the interior of the container is divided into cooling area and heat exhaust area using partition panels and curtains, then cooling efficiency is enhanced, but the container structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the container interior into a cooling area and a heat exhaust area using partition panels and vinyl curtains. This segmentation creates distinct functional zones that prevent mixing of cooled air and exhaust air, thereby enhancing cooling efficiency. The modular nature of partition panels and curtains allows for flexible configuration without requiring permanent structural modifications.
3Adaptability or versatility
If air conditioning piping is connected between outdoor units and indoor units, then cooling function is achieved, but the system requires fixed installation locations and reduces adaptability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the air conditioning facility from the traditional split-system configuration with separate outdoor and indoor units connected by piping. Instead, the air conditioning facility is integrated as a self-contained unit within the container, eliminating the need for external piping connections and enabling flexible deployment at various locations without fixed installation requirements.
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 configuration enhances cooling efficiency while reducing costs by securely directing cooling air to IT equipment without passing through racks, effectively dividing the container's interior into functional cooling and heat exhaust areas without the need for extensive remodeling.
Implementation Method 1
indoor unit having a vent for sending out cooling air toward an upper direction
Implementation Method 2
system ceiling arranged to correspond to the height of the vent on the upper portion of the indoor unit disposed within the indoor area, so as to conduct the cool air flowing out from the vent on the upper area of the indoor unit disposed within the indoor area toward the cooling area
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a container-type data center having an air conditioning facility, which enables to effectively cool IT equipment by applying the arrangement to an existing container. A system ceiling 50 is attached to a ceiling surface 25 to send out cooling air to a cooling area 2 from a vent 31a of an indoor unit 31 of an air conditioning device disposed in a container 1, and a draft air duct is defined by the system ceiling 50, a down-wall 51 and the ceiling surface 25. A vinyl curtain 60 is provided on an upper portion of a rack 40 so as to prevent cooling air having reached the cooling area 2 from flowing out to a heat exhaust area 3 without passing through the rack 40 loading the IT equipment, and a vinyl curtain 70 in a form of a shop curtain is disposed at an area used as a path for operators entering the cooling area 2. According to this arrangement, all the cooling air sent to the cooling area 2 is discharged through racks 40 lading IT equipments to the heat exhaust area 3, enhancing the effect of cooling the IT equipment loaded in the racks 40.