Transportable datacenter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional datacenter designs are not suitable for transportable datacenters as they require operator access to cold and hot air plenums, making it difficult to utilize low-cost power and cold ambient air efficiently, and are challenging to manufacture and transport to remote locations with low-cost power and cold temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A transportable datacenter design featuring a housing with air intake and exhaust openings, fluidically isolated cold and hot air plenums, and a ventilation system that draws air progressively through the datacenter, allowing for efficient cooling and power distribution, and includes a transport system for easy relocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional datacenter design with raised floor and ceiling plenums is used, then operator access to plenums is enabled, but the design becomes unsuitable for transportable datacenters and cannot efficiently utilize cold ambient air
Solution Approach 1:
The datacenter is divided into modular rack units with integrated plenum access. Each rack contains its own cold and hot plenums that are accessible from the front and rear respectively, eliminating the need for a continuous raised floor ceiling structure. This segmentation allows the system to be transported as complete modules while maintaining plenum access functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of accessing plenums vertically through raised floors and ceilings, the design provides plenum access through horizontal openings at the front and rear of each rack. This dimensional change allows operators to access cold plenums from the front and hot plenums from the rear without requiring overhead or floor-level access pathways.
2Reliability
If conventional datacenter design is used, then established cooling pathways are provided, but the design is challenging to manufacture and transport to remote locations
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into rack-level modules with integrated plenums rather than a facility-wide raised floor ceiling structure. Each rack is a self-contained unit that can be manufactured independently and transported to remote locations, then assembled into a complete datacenter facility.
Solution Approach 2:
Each rack serves multiple functions: it houses computing equipment, contains integrated cold and hot plenums for cooling, provides structural support, and enables both equipment access and plenum access from its front and rear faces. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed and simplifies manufacturing and transport.
3Reliability
If cold air plenum is beneath raised floor and hot air plenum is above server racks, then cooling is provided, but frequent operator access requirements mean plenums lack barriers between racks
Solution Approach 1:
Each rack contains its own dedicated cold and hot plenums that are thermally isolated from adjacent racks. The plenums are segmented at the rack level rather than forming continuous facilities-wide spaces, allowing thermal management without requiring complex barrier structures between racks while maintaining cooling reliability.
4Use of energy by stationary object
If datacenter is located in remote areas with low-cost power and cold ambient air, then power costs are reduced, but transportation to these locations becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The datacenter is divided into transportable rack modules that can be manufactured at standard facilities and transported to remote locations. This segmentation into manageable units makes transportation feasible while enabling deployment in locations with favorable energy conditions including low-cost power and cold ambient air for free cooling.
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 design enables efficient cooling and power management in transportable datacenters, reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs while allowing for easy deployment in remote locations with low-cost power and cold ambient air.
Implementation Method 1
a ventilation system to draw air progressively through the air intake openings, the cold air plenum, the processor bays, the hot air plenum and the air exhaust openings
Data Source
AI summary
Several transportable datacenters are described. The transportable datacenters include transport systems allowing them to be transported between an assembly location and an operating location. The transportable datacenters also include a ventilation system for cooling processors positioned in racks in the datacenters. The ventilation system draws cold air from the environment, through processor bays containing the processors and then exhausts the air back to the environment.