Transportable datacenter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional datacenter designs are not suitable for transportable datacenters due to high power and maintenance costs, and challenges in utilizing low-cost power and cold ambient air, which are often distant from population centers, making it difficult to efficiently cool and operate data processing facilities.
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, along with a transport system for mobility, allowing for efficient cooling and operation in remote locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If active cooling (chiller, condenser, pump, cooling towers) is used, then cooling capability is improved, but electrical power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cooling function from active mechanical systems and replaces it with passive natural convection and radiation. The housing design allows hot air to rise and escape naturally through exhaust openings while cold air is drawn in through intake openings, eliminating the need for chillers, condensers, pumps, and cooling towers.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system serves itself through natural physical processes. The housing structure with strategically placed intake and exhaust openings enables automatic air circulation driven by temperature differences and buoyancy, requiring no external power input for the cooling function.
2Temperature
If active cooling equipment is deployed, then cooling performance is improved, but equipment costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes complex active cooling equipment (chillers, condensers, pumps, cooling towers) and replaces them with a simple passive housing structure that uses natural convection principles. This dramatically reduces equipment costs while maintaining adequate cooling performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs simple, inexpensive housing materials and passive cooling components that can be manufactured at low cost. The design prioritizes functional adequacy over durability of expensive components, using readily available materials for the housing and ventilation openings.
3Temperature
If active cooling equipment is used, then cooling capability is improved, but maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates maintenance-prone active cooling equipment (chillers, condensers, pumps, cooling towers) and replaces it with a passive housing structure that has no moving parts. This dramatically reduces maintenance requirements and associated costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The passive cooling system requires no maintenance intervention. The housing structure with natural convection openings operates automatically without mechanical components that wear out, fail, or require servicing, eliminating ongoing maintenance costs.
4Temperature
If conventional datacenter design with raised floor and ceiling plenums is used, then cooling air distribution is improved, but operator access to racks becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the raised floor and ceiling plenum structures from conventional datacenter design. Instead, it uses a simplified housing with front and rear openings that allow direct air flow across the racks, improving operator accessibility while maintaining cooling effectiveness.
5Use of energy by stationary object
If datacenter facilities are located in remote areas with low-cost power and cold ambient air, then operational costs are reduced, but transportation and deployment become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the datacenter into modular housing units that can be manufactured separately and transported to remote locations. Each housing unit is self-contained with integrated passive cooling, allowing flexible deployment in distributed locations with access to low-cost power and cold ambient air.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing design incorporates movable or removable components that facilitate transportation and assembly at the deployment site. The modular structure allows the datacenter to be configured dynamically based on location-specific requirements for power access and ambient cooling conditions.
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 reduces electrical power consumption, maintenance costs, and enhances operational efficiency by utilizing low-cost power and cold ambient air, making it feasible to establish data processing facilities in remote locations with low-cost power and cold temperatures.
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.