Offset-Aperture Security Panels for Data Center Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data center designs face inefficiencies in cooling and wire routing, with air conditioning units not being in standardized, accessible positions, and lack of systematic separation of power and data wiring, leading to suboptimal airflow and maintenance challenges.
Innovation Solution
An integrated data center design with modular thermal shields, separate air conditioning units, and efficient wire routing systems, including a false ceiling and warm air escape channels, to create a hot air containment chamber and rapid air circulation, ensuring efficient cooling and wiring management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional air conditioning units are installed in data centers, then cooling function is provided, but the units are not in standardized, accessible positions and are difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The air conditioning system is divided into modular units that can be independently installed, accessed, and maintained. Each module contains specific cooling components that can be serviced without shutting down the entire system, enabling standardized positions and improved accessibility for maintenance personnel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent repositions air conditioning units from conventional ceiling or floor installations to wall-mounted positions at optimized heights. This dimensional change places units in standardized, accessible locations that improve maintenance ease while maintaining effective cooling coverage throughout the data center space.
2Temperature
If electronics equipment is arranged in rows with hot aisles, then heat is concentrated in specific areas for efficient cooling, but airflow patterns may become disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates airflow sensors and temperature monitoring throughout the hot aisle to detect disruptions in real-time. This feedback enables dynamic adjustment of air conditioning unit operation and positioning to maintain optimal airflow patterns while preserving the heat concentration benefits of the hot aisle configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The air conditioning units are designed with adjustable components that can dynamically adapt to changing airflow conditions. This includes variable speed fans, adjustable air distribution angles, and repositionable units that respond to real-time thermal and airflow measurements to maintain productivity while managing heat concentration.
3Ease of manufacture
If wiring is routed through raised floors, then power and data wiring can be separated, but installation and access become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates simplified replicate structures for wiring access at multiple locations throughout the data center. Instead of a single complex raised floor system, standardized wiring access points are distributed throughout the space, each providing the same wiring separation functionality with reduced structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional raised floor wiring to wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted wiring channels that provide systematic separation of power and data wiring. This dimensional change eliminates the need for complex raised floor structures while maintaining the wiring separation capability through alternative routing paths.
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 design achieves efficient cooling by recirculating air every 5-10 minutes, maintaining optimal temperature and airflow, while allowing for easy access and maintenance of units, and separating power and data wiring for improved facility operation.
Implementation Method 1
traps the heated air within the central hot air area and causes substantially all the heated air within the central hot air area to rise up within the hot air containment chamber
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of air conditioning units disposed in the external area outside the building that each receive heated air, emit cooled air
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an integrated data center that provides for efficient cooling as well as efficient wire routing. The data center houses electronic equipment stored in clusters of cabinets. The space inside the data center is shared, such as on a leased basis, between multiple different entities who operate their own electronic equipment. To achieve privacy, security, and cooling air flow, one or more layers of a security paneling surround one or more clusters of cabinets to create a secure interior space. This allows access to only authorized personal, prevents people from viewing into the secure interior space, and allows cooling air flow to pass into the secure interior space to cool the electronic equipment. The security paneling comprises sheets of metal with small apertures. Two or more security panels may be arranged with offset apertures to further prevent viewing of the electronic equipment in the secure interior space.