Indirect Air Handling Unit With Heat Tubes For Data Centre Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Data centers face challenges in efficiently cooling servers due to high air-flow resistance in underfloor plenums and the inefficiency of traditional cooling systems, which can lead to overheating and increased energy consumption, while also requiring redundant air handling units that are wasteful in terms of space and cost.
Innovation Solution
An indirect air handling unit (IDAHU) with separate external and internal air flow paths, utilizing heat tubes and a wetted matrix humidifier to optimize cooling capacity and reduce energy usage, while allowing for modular and resilient design to maintain operation even with component failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cooling air is supplied through an underfloor plenum, then the cooling system can be implemented with traditional infrastructure, but the air-flow resistance is high and the volume of cooling air supplied is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the cooling air supply function from the underfloor plenum system and relocates it to a dedicated lateral corridor. This separation allows the plenum to be optimized for its original purpose while the corridor is optimized for high-volume cooling air transport with low flow resistance, directly addressing the energy loss problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional underfloor plenum system to a three-dimensional lateral corridor system with significantly larger cross-sectional area. This dimensional change enables much higher cooling air volumes to be supplied with lower velocity and reduced flow resistance, solving both the insufficient cooling air volume and high energy consumption issues.
2Quantity of substance
If cooling air is supplied at a lower temperature to overcome high air-flow resistance, then sufficient cooling air volume can be supplied, but the energy usage of the data centre increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the flow resistance parameter by providing a larger cross-sectional area corridor, which allows cooling air to be supplied at higher temperatures (reducing cooling energy) while maintaining sufficient volume. The lower velocity flow in the enlarged corridor reduces dynamic pressure losses, enabling energy-efficient high-volume cooling air supply.
3Reliability
If redundant air handling units are provided to ensure continuity of service, then reliability is improved, but space and cost are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces dynamic control capabilities to the air handling system, allowing real-time adjustment of cooling capacity to match actual server load requirements. This eliminates the need for static oversized redundant units, maintaining reliability through responsive load matching rather than excessive capacity, thereby reducing space consumption.
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 IDAHU provides efficient cooling with reduced energy consumption and waste by isolating internal and external air streams, allowing for precise control of humidity and temperature, and enabling operation with fewer and more efficient fans, thus minimizing overheating risks and operational costs.
Implementation Method 1
heat tubes and a wetted matrix humidifier to optimize cooling capacity
Implementation Method 2
wetted matrix humidifier to optimize cooling capacity
Data Source
AI summary
An air handling unit for a data centre, a data centre comprising such, a method of operating such, and a method of cooling IT equipment in a data centre using such, is disclosed. The unit comprises an external airflow path (102) arranged to be in fluid communication with outside air, a separate internal airflow path (103) arranged to be in fluid communication with inside air, and heat tube panels (106). Preferably, each heat tube panel (106) comprises a heat tube comprising a first section in the external airflow path (102) and a second section in the internal airflow path (103). Preferably, the plurality of heat tube panels (106) is in a row across the internal and external air flow paths (103, 102). Preferably, at least one of the heat tube panels (106) is removable and extends through an opening between the internal and external air flow paths (103, 102).