Thermal Shields for Data Center Airflow Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data center and co-location facility designs face inefficiencies in air conditioning and wiring management, leading to suboptimal temperature control and energy usage, as well as challenges in separating hot and cold air flows and routing power and data wiring effectively.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of novel support bracket structures and thermal panels that create distinct air flow channels for hot and cold aisles, along with a system to elevate wiring above cabinets, allowing for efficient air circulation and separation of air conditioning units from the equipment area, and modular thermal shields to manage heat and cable routing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If electronic equipment is placed in rows with parallel configurations to establish hot and cold aisles, then heat management is improved, but air mixing between hot and cold zones occurs reducing cooling efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The facility is segmented into distinct hot and cold zones using thermal shields and support brackets. The thermal shields create physical barriers that divide the air space into separate channels, preventing mixing between hot exhaust air from equipment and cold supply air. This segmentation maintains temperature purity in each zone, improving cooling efficiency by ensuring cold air reaches equipment without being contaminated by hot air, while hot air is efficiently captured and directed to AC units.
Solution Approach 2:
Thermal shields act as intermediary structures between hot and cold air zones. These shields are positioned to intercept and redirect air flows, serving as mediators that prevent direct mixing while maintaining the desired thermal separation. The support brackets elevate the shields to optimal positions where they can effectively guide air currents without interfering with equipment operation or cable routing.
2Ease of manufacture
If wiring is routed below equipment using raised floors, then installation is simplified, but heat from equipment interferes with data wiring and power wiring mixes
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of routing wiring horizontally below equipment through raised floors, the invention elevates wiring to a vertical dimension by mounting it on support brackets above the equipment. This dimensional change positions data wiring in the upper air space where it is separated from heat-generating equipment below. The thermal shields further assist by creating vertical air channels that guide hot air away from the wiring region, effectively removing heat interference through spatial repositioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The wiring is extracted from the traditional below-floor routing path and relocated to an elevated position above equipment. This extraction removes the wiring from the harmful thermal environment created by equipment operation. By taking out the wiring from the congested below-equipment space and placing it in the upper thermal shield zone, both heat interference and wiring mix issues are resolved while maintaining installation accessibility.
3Ease of manufacture
If power and data wiring are routed together for simplicity, then installation is easier, but electromagnetic interference and maintenance difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wiring system is segmented into separate power and data wiring channels using the thermal shield structure. Power wiring is routed along one path while data wiring follows a separate path, both elevated on support brackets. This segmentation physically isolates the two wiring types, preventing electromagnetic interference between them. The modular shield design allows each wiring type to be independently installed and maintained without affecting the other, resolving both reliability and maintenance issues while keeping installation systematic.
4Productivity
If air conditioning units are placed close to equipment for efficient cooling, then cooling delivery is improved, but hot air recirculation increases reducing system efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
Thermal shields serve as intermediaries that guide hot air from equipment to air conditioning units without recirculation. The shields create defined air channels that direct exhaust hot air away from the equipment zone and toward designated AC unit intakes. This intermediary air guidance system ensures that AC units receive fresh cold air for cooling while hot air is efficiently transported to exhaust or recirculation zones without mixing back with supply air, eliminating the harmful recirculation effect while maintaining effective cooling delivery.
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 air circulation, reduces temperature within the facility, saves energy, and allows for efficient modular setup and maintenance by effectively trapping heated air and delivering cooled air, while maintaining separation of power and data wiring.
Implementation Method 1
causes substantially all the heated air within the enclosure area to rise up within the warm exhaust channel
Implementation Method 2
the plurality of air conditioning units receiving heated air and emitting cooled air
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to electronic equipment data center or co-location facility designs and methods of making and using the same in an environmentally aware manner, and generally provides apparatus and methods for using novel support bracket structures, and thermal panels associated with the same, that allow for distinct partitioning of air flowing in hot aisles and cold aisles, as well as for holding wiring above cabinets that are used to store electronic equipment in the facility.