Method and arrangement for air-conditioning a cold aisle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air-conditioning methods for hot rooms with heat-generating devices are not energy efficient and induce significant pressure losses due to fan usage, while maintaining good flow conditions and easy maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The method involves integrating fans into openings in the boundary wall, allowing cold aisles to directly connect with the wall, which is partially formed as a cooling wall with heat exchangers, enabling axial fans with large impellers for efficient air circulation without a raised hollow floor, ensuring cooled air flows exclusively through heat-generating devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If air is conveyed through heat exchangers formed as boundary walls using fans, then cooling of cold aisles is achieved, but significant pressure losses occur and energy efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses variable speed fans that can adjust their rotation speed dynamically. The control unit monitors temperature conditions and fan operation status, then adjusts fan speed to optimize between cooling performance and energy consumption, resolving the contradiction between effective cooling and energy efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
A control unit receives information about temperature conditions and fan operation status, processes this data, and adjusts fan speed accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures the system maintains optimal performance while minimizing energy consumption, addressing the contradiction between cooling effectiveness and energy use
2Productivity
If fans are integrated into openings in the boundary wall, then flow conditions are optimized and pressure losses minimized, but maintenance access becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The boundary wall is designed with removable or accessible sections that allow maintenance personnel to reach fans integrated into the wall structure. This segmentation maintains the aerodynamic benefits of wall-integrated fans while providing practical access for maintenance activities
Solution Approach 2:
Maintenance passages or access channels are created as intermediary spaces that allow technicians to reach fans without disrupting the overall wall structure or airflow patterns. These passages serve as mediators between the need for integrated design and maintenance accessibility
3Loss of energy
If cold aisles are enclosed to allow exclusive flow through heat-generating devices, then cooling efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cold aisle enclosures are merged with the boundary wall structure containing the heat exchangers. This integration achieves the goal of directing airflow exclusively through heat-generating devices while avoiding the complexity of separate, standalone enclosure systems
Solution Approach 2:
The boundary wall serves multiple functions: it provides structural separation between rooms, contains the heat exchangers for air conditioning, and forms the enclosures for cold aisles. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while maintaining effective airflow control
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 achieves high energy efficiency and optimal flow conditions with minimal pressure losses, allowing for effective cooling of cold aisles while maintaining easy access and maintenance of heat exchangers and fans.
Implementation Method 1
a heat exchanger through which a cooling fluid flows
Implementation Method 2
air that is conveyed through the at least one heat exchanger by means of at least one fan
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an arrangement for air-conditioning a cold aisle which is partially bounded by heat-generating devices and is arranged in a hot room, the hot room being separated from a second room by a boundary wall, and a region of the boundary wall is formed by a heat exchanger, such that air that is conveyed through the heat exchanger by the fan is supplied to the cold aisle. An opening with a fan is provided in the boundary wall. The cold aisle is connected to the boundary wall so that the opening is surrounded by the cold aisle.