Modular Cooling Pipeline Units for Staged Data Center Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data center cooling systems require extensive early construction and resource allocation, leading to long construction periods and high investment costs, with limited flexibility for future capacity expansion due to reserved pipe interfaces and inefficient resource utilization.
Innovation Solution
A modular cooling system with detachable circulation pipeline units that allow for staged construction and expansion, enabling the connection of additional units to existing systems, reducing early investment costs and improving resource utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If pipe interfaces are reserved on each floor during early construction to facilitate future capacity expansion, then future adaptability is improved, but early construction time is increased and resource utilization is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into multiple independent circulation pipeline units that can be constructed and installed in stages. Each unit serves a specific floor or equipment room, allowing the data center to be built incrementally without requiring pre-installation of pipelines on all floors. This segmentation enables construction to proceed only where needed, reducing early construction time while maintaining future expandability through modular addition of pipeline units.
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion interfaces are designed and prepared in advance within each circulation pipeline unit, but the actual physical expansion (connecting to additional floors) is deferred until needed. This allows the system to be ready for future expansion without performing the expansion work during early construction, thus reducing initial construction time and resource allocation while preserving adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If pipe interfaces are reserved on each floor during early construction to facilitate future capacity expansion, then future adaptability is improved, but resource utilization is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the cooling system into modular circulation pipeline units corresponding to specific floors or equipment rooms, resources (materials, labor, space) are allocated only to the portions of the system that are immediately needed. This eliminates the waste of installing and reserving pipeline infrastructure on floors that will not be used as equipment rooms in the near term, thereby improving resource utilization while maintaining the ability to expand later by adding units to unused floors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows the physical configuration parameters (number of active floors, pipeline connections) to be changed dynamically based on actual usage requirements. Rather than maintaining a fixed, over-provisioned infrastructure, the cooling capacity and pipeline extent can be adjusted to match the current data center规模, optimizing resource utilization while preserving adaptability through the modular unit design.
3Productivity
If a modular cooling system with detachable circulation pipeline units is used, then resource utilization and construction efficiency are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into standardized circulation pipeline units with uniform expansion interfaces. While the overall system becomes more modular and adaptable, each individual unit maintains a simple, consistent structure. This standardization reduces the complexity burden by making each module simple and interchangeable, allowing efficient assembly without requiring complex custom designs for each component.
Solution Approach 2:
The expansion interfaces are designed as universal components that can connect any circulation pipeline unit to any floor or equipment room. This universality means that the same interface design and connection methodology are used throughout the system, reducing the need for multiple specialized components and simplifying the overall system architecture despite its modular nature. The universal interface pattern reduces complexity by providing a repeatable, standardized connection solution.
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling system includes a first circulation pipeline unit and a second circulation pipeline unit that are configured to circulate a cooling medium. The first circulation pipeline unit includes a first water supply pipe group and a first water return pipe group that are connected to each other. The second circulation pipeline unit includes a second water supply pipe group and a second water return pipe group that are connected to each other. A first end of the first water supply pipe group and a first end of the first water return pipe group each are provided with a first expansion interface.