Data Center Enclosure Cooling With Aisle Heat Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Data centers face significant challenges with high power consumption and heat generation due to thousands of microprocessors, leading to increased energy costs for both powering and cooling the facilities, with existing cooling systems being inefficient and costly.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising an enclosure with trays mounted in racks, featuring cooling coils to capture and exhaust heat, along with a network of fans and power supply arrangements that optimize airflow and temperature control to increase heat rise across trays, thereby enhancing cooling efficiency and reducing energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If traditional cooling systems are used to remove heat from data centers, then heat removal is achieved, but energy consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent captures the hot exhaust air from server trays and redirects it to pre-cool incoming air before it enters the cooling coils. This converts the harmful hot exhaust air into a useful resource that reduces the cooling load, thereby decreasing energy consumption while maintaining effective heat removal
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a plenum chamber as an intermediary component that facilitates heat exchange between hot exhaust air and cold incoming air. This plenum acts as a mediator that transfers thermal energy from the hot stream to the cold stream, reducing the overall cooling requirement without adding significant energy consumption
2Temperature
If more cooling equipment is deployed to handle increased heat load, then heat removal capacity improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the exhaust air handling function with the cooling function by using the same plenum chamber for both hot air discharge and cold air pre-cooling. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate cooling equipment, maintaining heat removal capacity while reducing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The plenum chamber serves multiple functions: it acts as an exhaust air discharge path, a pre-cooling chamber for incoming air, and a heat exchange medium. This multi-functionality allows the system to maintain adequate heat removal capacity without requiring additional specialized cooling equipment
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
The system achieves more efficient cooling by increasing the temperature rise across trays, which enhances heat transfer and reduces energy consumption, lowering operational costs and minimizing equipment failures due to temperature-related issues.
Implementation Method 1
one or more cooling coils configured to capture heat generated by the plurality of trays and exhaust the heat outside the interior region
Implementation Method 2
one or more cooling coils configured to capture heat generated by the plurality of trays
Implementation Method 3
a second connection for supplying cooling fluid to the one or more cooling coils in the interior region, and a third connection for receiving cooling fluid discharged from the one or more cooling coils
Data Source
AI summary
A system can include an enclosure having an exterior surface and an interior region that is characterized by a width and a length that is longer than the width; a plurality of trays mounted in racks that line a majority of each side of the length of the interior region and that define an aisle therebetween which is suitable for passage by one or more human occupants; cooling coils configured to capture heat generated by the plurality of trays and exhaust the heat outside the interior region; a plurality of connections on the exterior surface for supplying electrical power to the plurality of trays, supplying cooling fluid to the cooling coils, and for receiving cooling fluid discharged from the cooling coils; and doors at either end of the aisle configured and positioned to facilitate emergency egress from the enclosure by a human occupant.