Rack Air Duct Layout to Prevent Data Center Cooling Recirculation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Data centers face inefficiencies in cooling systems due to air recirculation and inadequate heat management, particularly with modern high-power servers, leading to energy loss and reduced cooling effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of air inlet and exhaust ducts mounted on computer equipment racks to redirect air flows, minimizing recirculation and ensuring cooled air passes through the equipment, with the ducts being partially enclosed to match the rack's dimensions and length, allowing for efficient airflow redirection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If cooled air is supplied to computer equipment but recirculates back to the cooling unit without circulating through the equipment, then the cooling system consumes energy, but cooling effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and redirects the recirculating air flow path using external ducts. The ducts capture air that would otherwise recirculate directly from equipment exhaust outlets back to cooling unit inlets, and redirect it through a longer path that ensures it passes through equipment air inlets first, thereby eliminating the harmful short-circuit recirculation while maintaining energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces ducts as intermediary components between the cooling unit and equipment. These ducts act as mediators that intercept and redirect air flows, ensuring that cooled air must pass through equipment before returning to the cooling unit, thus preventing direct recirculation and improving cooling effectiveness without significant additional energy cost.
2Productivity
If heated exhaust air recirculates back into equipment air inlets, then air flow is maintained, but energy is lost without cooling resulting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts heated exhaust air from equipment outlets using ducts and redirects it to discharge at locations away from equipment air inlets. This prevents the heated air from recirculating back into equipment, eliminating the energy loss associated with recirculating hot air while maintaining continuous air flow circulation through the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful recirculation of heated air into a beneficial flow path by directing it through ducts to discharge areas where it will not re-enter equipment. The heated air's kinetic energy and flow characteristics are utilized to maintain circulation, but its harmful thermal recirculation effect is eliminated by changing its path.
3Reliability
If equipment is arranged in hot isle/cold isle configuration, then cooling efficiency is improved by reducing air mixing, but device complexity and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the air flow paths into distinct controlled channels using ducts. By dividing the air flow into separate inlet and outlet paths with physical ducts, it creates well-defined flow boundaries that prevent mixing between hot and cold air streams, achieving hot isle/cold isle separation effects at the rack level without requiring complex overall facility reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local air flow control at individual rack locations rather than requiring global facility reconfiguration. The ducts are installed locally on or near equipment racks to control air paths at specific points, creating localized hot and cold air separation zones that improve cooling efficiency without demanding complex facility-wide changes.
4Temperature
If cooled air is drawn off by equipment lower in racks, then lower equipment is cooled, but only heated expelled air remains for equipment higher in racks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces ducts as intermediary structures that guide cooled air from the cooling unit directly to equipment air inlets at various rack heights. The ducts act as conduits that deliver cooled air to upper equipment locations, ensuring that all equipment regardless of height receives cooled air rather than only heated air, thereby improving cooling coverage throughout the entire rack.
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 solution enhances the efficiency of data center cooling systems by reducing air recirculation and ensuring cooled air is effectively utilized, thereby improving cooling performance and energy management.
Implementation Method 1
an air inlet duct configured to redirect an incoming air flow at the air inlets
Implementation Method 2
an air exhaust duct configured to redirect outgoing air flow at the exhaust outlets
Implementation Method 3
At the air cooling unit, the air is cooled, completing a full cooling cycle
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for cooling in a data center are provided. In one aspect a computer equipment rack is provided comprising one or more air inlets; one or more exhaust outlets, and one or more of: an air inlet duct mounted to the computer equipment rack surrounding at least a portion of the air inlets, the air inlet duct having a lateral dimension that approximates a lateral dimension of the computer equipment rack and a length that is less than a length of the computer equipment rack, and an air exhaust duct mounted to the computer equipment rack surrounding at least a portion of the exhaust outlets, the air exhaust duct having a lateral dimension that approximates the lateral dimension of the computer equipment rack and a length that is less than the length of the computer equipment rack.