Power consumption model for cooling equipment

• US 10,001,761 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2014
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: VanGilder, James William
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lindsay, Bernard G
• Application Number:
  US14/586,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20160187397A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,267 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

According to various aspects and embodiments, a system and method for managing power consumption of cooling equipment in a data center is provided. The method includes receiving at least one parameter of at least one cooling device, receiving at least one measurement of at least one of an ambient temperature, an ambient humidity, and an airflow rate, and implementing a power consumption efficiency model that includes at least one loss parameter and is based on the at least one parameter of the at least one cooling device. According to certain aspects, implementing the power consumption efficiency model includes determining at least one correction factor for at least one loss parameter based on at least one of the measured ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and airflow rate, applying the at least one correction factor to the at least one loss parameter, and determining a power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device based on the at least one corrected loss parameter.

Claims

1. A method for managing power consumption of cooling equipment in a data center, comprising:

receiving at least one parameter of at least one cooling device located in the data center;

receiving, by a controller comprising a processor, measurements of an ambient temperature, an ambient humidity, and an airflow rate from one or more sensors;

implementing a power consumption efficiency model that includes at least one loss parameter and is based on the at least one parameter of the at least one cooling device, wherein the loss parameter is at least one of a no-load loss parameter, a proportional loss parameter, and a square-law loss parameter associated with the power consumption efficiency of the cooling equipment, and implementing the power consumption efficiency model includes;

determining at least one correction factor for at least one loss parameter, the at least one correction factor including an ambient temperature correction factor based on the measured ambient temperature and a nominal ambient temperature, an ambient humidity correction factor based on a difference between the measured ambient humidity and a nominal ambient humidity, and an airflow rate correction factor based on the measured airflow rate and a nominal airflow rate, the measured airflow rate associated with a fan of the at least one cooling device;

applying the at least one correction factor to the at least one loss parameter by multiplying the at least one loss parameter by the at least one correction factor;

determining a power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device based on the at least one corrected loss parameter;

displaying the power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device; and

adjusting at least one component of the at least one cooling device, by the controller, based on the power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device, wherein the component comprises at least one of;

a computer room air conditioner (CRAC), a computer room air handler (CRAH), a pump, a chiller, or a cooling tower, and

wherein the adjustment comprises adjusting at least one of a fan speed, a cooling fluid temperature, and a cooling fluid flow rate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the no-load loss parameter includes a no-load loss coefficient, the proportional loss parameter includes a proportional loss coefficient, and the square-law loss parameter includes a square-law loss coefficient, and the no-load loss coefficient, the proportional loss coefficient, and the square-law loss coefficient are each empirically determined constants based on nominal conditions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the power consumption model includes a no-load loss parameter and the airflow rate correction factor includes a ratio between the measured airflow rate and the nominal airflow rate, and the method further comprises applying the airflow rate correction factor to the no-load loss parameter.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the power consumption model includes a proportional loss parameter and the method further comprises applying at least one of the ambient temperature correction factor and the ambient humidity correction factor to the proportional loss parameter.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein

the ambient temperature correction factor further includes an empirically determined constant based on a mathematical relationship between the at least one cooling device'"'"'s power consumption, the measured ambient temperature, and a cooling fluid temperature, and

the ambient humidity correction factor further includes an empirically determined constant based on a mathematical relationship between the at least one cooling device'"'"'s power consumption and the measured ambient humidity.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the nominal ambient temperature is based on the nominal conditions used to determine the proportional loss coefficient and the nominal ambient humidity is based on the nominal conditions used to determine the proportional loss coefficient.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the at least one parameter includes receiving a value representative of a cooling load handled by the at least one cooling device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the cooling load includes loads handled by at least one of CRAH, CRAC, fan, and chiller.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one cooling device includes a plurality of cooling devices and implementing the power consumption efficiency model further includes aggregating the power losses of each cooling device of the plurality of cooling devices to obtain a total cooling device loss for the data center.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein

receiving the at least one parameter of the at least one cooling device is receiving at least one first parameter of the at least one cooling device, and

receiving the measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate is receiving first measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate, and the method further comprises:

receiving at least one second parameter of the at least one cooling device;

receiving second measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate; and

adjusting the power consumption efficiency model based on the at least one second parameter of the at least one cooling device and the second measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate to determine an updated power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of parameters of the at least one cooling device, the plurality of parameters representing a year of parameters of the at least one cooling device;

receiving a plurality of measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate, the plurality of measurements representing a year of measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate;

adjusting the power consumption efficiency model based on the plurality of parameters of the at least one cooling device and the plurality of measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate to determine a plurality of power consumption rates for the at least one cooling device; and

aggregating the plurality of power consumption rates to obtain a year-long power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the controller is a computer and the method is performed with the computer and at least one act is performed in a software program housed in the computer.

13. A system for managing power consumption of cooling equipment in a data center, comprising:

one or more sensors configured to measure ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and an airflow rate;

a controller comprising;

at least one input in communication with the one or more sensors and configured to receive at least one parameter of at least one cooling device located in the data center and measurements of the ambient temperature, the ambient humidity, and the airflow rate;

a programmable device in communication with the at least one input, the programmable device comprising;

a memory for storing the received at least one parameter and the measurements;

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

implement a power consumption efficiency model that includes at least one loss parameter and is based on the at least one parameter of the at least one cooling device, wherein the loss parameter is at least one of a no-load loss parameter, a proportional loss parameter, and a square-law loss parameter associated with the power consumption efficiency of the cooling equipment, and implementing the power consumption efficiency model includes;

determining at least one correction factor for at least one loss parameter, the at least one correction factor including an ambient temperature correction factor based on the measured ambient temperature and a nominal ambient temperature, an ambient humidity correction factor based on a difference between the measured ambient humidity and a nominal ambient humidity, and an airflow rate correction factor based on the measured airflow rate and a nominal airflow rate, the measured airflow rate associated with a fan of the at least one cooling device;

applying the at least one correction factor to the at least one loss parameter by multiplying the at least one loss parameter by the at least one correction factor;

determining a power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device based on the at least one corrected loss parameter;

adjusting at least one component of the at least one cooling device based on the power consumption rate, wherein the component comprises at least one of;

a computer room air conditioner (CRAC), a computer room air handler (CRAH), a pump, a chiller, or a cooling tower, and

wherein the adjustment comprises adjusting at least one of a fan speed, a cooling fluid temperature, and a cooling fluid flow rate; and

at least one output in communication with the programmable device and configured to display the power consumption rate for the at least one cooling device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the no-load loss parameter includes a no-load loss coefficient, the proportional loss parameter includes a proportional loss coefficient, and the square-law loss parameter includes a square-law loss coefficient, and the no-load loss coefficient, the proportional loss coefficient, and the square-law loss coefficient are each empirically determined constants based on nominal conditions.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the power consumption efficiency model includes a no-load loss parameter and the airflow rate correction factor includes a ratio between the measured airflow rate and the nominal airflow rate, and the at least one processor is further configured to apply the airflow rate correction factor to the no-load loss parameter.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the power consumption efficiency model includes a proportional loss parameter and the at least one processor is further configured to apply at least one of the ambient temperature correction factor and the ambient humidity correction factor to the proportional loss parameter.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein

the ambient temperature correction factor further includes an empirically determined constant based on a mathematical relationship between the at least one cooling device'"'"'s power consumption, the measured ambient temperature, and a cooling fluid temperature, and

the ambient humidity correction factor further includes an empirically determined constant based on a mathematical relationship between the at least one cooling device'"'"'s power consumption and the measured ambient humidity.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the nominal ambient temperature is based on the nominal conditions used to determine the proportional loss coefficient and the nominal ambient humidity is based on the nominal conditions used to determine the proportional loss coefficient.

19. A method for managing power consumption in a data center, the data center including one or more cooling devices, comprising:

receiving at least one parameter of the one or more cooling devices;

receiving, by a controller comprising a processor, measurements of an ambient temperature, an ambient humidity, and an airflow rate from one or more sensors;

implementing a power consumption efficiency model that includes at least one loss parameter and is based on the at least one parameter and the at least one measurement, wherein implementing the power consumption efficiency model includes;

determining at least one correction factor for at least one loss parameter, the at least one loss parameter including a no-load loss parameter that includes a no-load loss coefficient, a proportional loss parameter that includes a proportional loss coefficient, and a square-law loss parameter that includes a square-law loss coefficient, the no-load loss coefficient, the proportional loss coefficient, and the square-law loss coefficient each empirically determined constants based on nominal conditions, and the at least one correction factor including an airflow rate correction factor based in part on a nominal airflow rate, an ambient temperature correction factor based in part on a nominal ambient temperature, and an ambient humidity correction factor based in part on a difference between the measured ambient humidity and a nominal ambient humidity, the nominal ambient temperature and the nominal ambient humidity based on the nominal conditions used to determine the proportional loss coefficient;

applying the at least one correction factor to the at least one loss parameter by multiplying the at least one loss parameter by the at least one correction factor;

determining a power consumption rate for the one or more cooling devices based on the at least one corrected loss parameter; and

adjusting at least one component of a cooling device of the one or more cooling devices, by the controller, based on the power consumption rate, wherein the component comprises at least one of;

a computer room air conditioner (CRAC), a computer room air handler (CRAH), a pump, a chiller, or a cooling tower, and

wherein the adjustment comprises adjusting at least one of a fan speed, a cooling fluid temperature, and a cooling fluid flow rate.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the airflow rate correction factor is further based on the measured airflow rate and the ambient temperature correction factor is further based on the measured ambient temperature.