Modular Data Center Cooling Infrastructure with Autonomous Thermal Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heterogeneous IT environments often require custom solutions for mixed air and liquid cooling, leading to unoptimized cooling capacity and safety issues due to manual tuning and personnel presence, which can result in detrimental temperatures for IT equipment and safety hazards.
Innovation Solution
A modular cooling system comprising a dry cooler module, a liquid heat exchanger module, and an air-to-liquid exchange module, allowing for scalable and efficient liquid and air cooling with autonomous operation, adjustable cooling ratios, and flexible deployment to accommodate various IT needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If custom solutions are used for mixed air and liquid cooling, then the cooling system can be tailored to specific application loads, but additional custom engineering is required for each deployment and refresh cycle
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into separate air cooling modules and liquid cooling modules that can be independently designed, manufactured, and deployed. Each module type is standardized and can be combined in different ratios to meet various cooling requirements without requiring custom engineering for each deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs universal module designs that can serve multiple cooling configurations. The same air cooling modules and liquid cooling modules can be used across different deployments and refresh cycles, eliminating the need for custom solutions while maintaining adaptability to various application loads.
2Productivity
If the cooling system is manually tuned to optimize cooling capacity, then the system can adapt to changing IT loads, but continuous manual intervention is required and temperatures may become detrimental to IT equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling modules are designed with self-regulating capabilities that automatically adjust cooling capacity based on detected IT equipment temperatures and loads. The system monitors and adjusts air and liquid cooling delivery without requiring manual intervention, ensuring temperatures remain within safe ranges while optimizing cooling efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If personnel are present in the cooling environment, then system monitoring and adjustment can be performed, but personnel presence affects air temperatures and creates safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
Manual monitoring and adjustment by personnel is replaced with automated sensors, controllers, and actuation systems. The cooling modules include temperature sensors that continuously monitor IT equipment and ambient temperatures, and automated control systems that adjust cooling delivery based on sensor data, eliminating the need for personnel presence and the associated temperature distortion and safety hazards.
4Productivity
If liquid cooling is increased to handle higher heat loads, then cooling capacity is improved, but the system becomes less flexible for air-cooled applications
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system separates air cooling and liquid cooling into distinct modular components. This segmentation allows the system to independently adjust the proportion of air-cooled and liquid-cooled IT racks based on application requirements, maintaining flexibility while providing high cooling capacity where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed to dynamically adjust the ratio of air cooling to liquid cooling based on real-time thermal requirements. Additional liquid cooling modules can be added or removed from the configuration to match changing heat loads, allowing the system to optimize cooling capacity while maintaining adaptability to different application scenarios.
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 modular system provides efficient and scalable cooling solutions with a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) near 1.0, optimizing both liquid and air cooling, ensuring safe and effective temperature management for IT equipment while reducing manual tuning requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a first module with at least one dry cooler
Implementation Method 2
a second module with at least one liquid heat exchanger device
Implementation Method 3
a third module with an air to liquid exchange section that includes at least one air to liquid exchanger
Data Source
AI summary
Multiple systems for providing liquid and closed loop air cooling for Information Technology (IT) components is disclosed. The systems for cooling IT include a first module with at least one dry cooler, a second module with at least one liquid heat exchanger device, and a third module with an air to liquid exchange section that includes at least one air to liquid exchanger that provides air cooling to one or more IT units. The system may also include a fourth module that includes the one or more IT units.