COOLING COMPUTING DEVICES IN A DATA CENTER WITH AMBIENT AIR COOLED USING HEAT FROM THE COMPUTING DEVICES

• US 20110154842A1
• Filed: 12/31/2009
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Magarelli, Marco, Heydari, Ali
• Granted Patent: US 8,820,113 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 62/259.2
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 27/02 using waste heat, e.g. from internal-combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 30/274 using waste energy, e.g. from internal combustion engine

Abstract

To reduce power consumption and more efficiently cool computing devices in a data center, an air supply unit supplies air from outside the data center to an air handling unit, which cools servers within the data center using the supplied air. Using air from outside the data center, rather than recirculating and cooling air from within the data center, reduces the power consumption of the data center. In an embodiment, a chiller and/or an evaporative cooling system are coupled to the air supply unit to allow further cooling of the outside air before it is circulated. Heat generated by the servers within the data center is collected, for example using thermal pathways coupled to server components, and used by the chiller in an absorption or adsorption process to further reduce power consumption of the data center and allow the air handling unit to further cool the outside air.

Claims

1. A data center system comprising:

a structure including plurality of servers within the structure;

an air supply unit having an input opening for receiving air from an environment external to the structure;

a chiller thermally coupled to the plurality of servers by a return line to receive a fluid that captures heat generated by operation of the plurality of servers, the chiller configured to cool a refrigerant using the captured heat in an absorption or adsorption process; and

an air handling unit coupled to receive air from the air supply unit and to receive a refrigerant from the chiller, the air handling unit configured to cool air from the air supply unit using the refrigerant and to direct the cooled air toward the plurality of severs.

2. The data center system of claim 1, further comprising an evaporative cooling system configured to receive air from the air supply unit, generate evaporatively cooled air, and supply the evaporatively cooled air to the air handling unit.

3. The data center system of claim 1, further comprising one or more sensors for monitoring an attribute of air proximate to the plurality of servers, the one or more sensors coupled to a control system which is coupled to the chiller, the control system for generating a control signal modifying operation of the chiller responsive to the attribute.

4. The data center system of claim 3, wherein the control system is configured to generate a control signal to deactivate the chiller responsive to a temperature of the air proximate to the plurality of servers being less than or equal to a threshold value.

5. The data center system of claim 3, wherein the control system is configured to generate a control signal to activate the chiller responsive to a temperature of the air proximate to the plurality of servers equaling or exceeding a threshold value.

6. The data center system of claim 1, further comprising a thermal storage unit coupled to the return line and to the chiller, the thermal storage unit configured to receive the fluid, warm the fluid using heat received from a heat source, and direct the additionally warmed fluid to the chiller.

7. The data center system of claim 6, wherein the heat source comprises at least one of a solar panel, a gas heater, and an electric heater.

8. The data center system of claim 1, further comprising:

a supply line coupled to the chiller for directing the fluid from the chiller to the return line;

a cold thermal storage unit coupled to the supply line, the cold thermal storage unit configured to capture the fluid before the fluid reaches the return line; and

a heat exchanger coupled to the cold thermal storage unit, the heat exchanger configured to cool the fluid and direct the cooled fluid to the plurality of servers.

9. The data center system of claim 1, wherein the chiller comprises an adsorption chiller, wherein the captured heat is used to regenerate a sorbent material.

10. The data center system of claim 9, further comprising:

a cooling tower coupled to the chiller, the cooling tower configured to supply a cooled fluid to the chiller to remove heat generated by the chiller.

11. The data center system of claim 1, wherein the chiller comprises an absorption chiller.

12. The data center system of claim 11, further comprising:

a cooling tower coupled to the chiller, the cooling tower configured to extract heat from a refrigerant vapor produced by the chiller using the captured heat; and

an evaporator coupled to the chiller, the evaporator configured to receive the refrigerant after heat is extracted and generate a coolant having a temperature reduced by boiling of the refrigerant, the coolant directed to the air handling unit to cool the air from the air supply unit.

13. The data center system of claim 1, further comprising:

an exhaust unit external to the plurality of servers and configured to extract air from the structure.

14. A data center system comprising:

a structure including plurality of servers arranged within the structure;

an air supply unit having an input opening for receiving air from an environment external to the structure;

a supply line configured to direct a fluid to a location proximate to the plurality of servers, where the fluid absorbs heat generated by operation of the plurality of servers to produce a warmed fluid;

a return line coupled to the supply line for receiving the warmed fluid;

a chiller coupled to provide the fluid to the supply line and to received the warmed fluid from the return line, the chiller configured to use heat from the warmed fluid to cool a coolant; and

an air handling unit coupled to the chiller and to the air supply unit, the air handling unit configured to receive air from the air supply unit, cool the air using the coolant from the chiller, and direct the cooled air toward the plurality of severs.

15. The data center system of claim 14, further comprising an evaporative cooling system configured to receive air from the air supply unit, generate evaporatively cooled air, and supply the evaporatively cooled air to the air handling unit.

16. The data center system of claim 14, further comprising one or more sensors for monitoring an attribute of air proximate to the plurality of servers, the one or more sensors coupled to a control system which is coupled to the chiller and to the evaporative cooling system, the control system for generating a control signal modifying operation of the chiller or the evaporative cooling system responsive to the attribute.

17. The data center system of claim 16, wherein the control system is configured to generate a control signal to deactivate the chiller responsive to a temperature of the air proximate to the plurality of servers being less than or equal to a threshold value.

18. The data center system of claim 16, wherein the control system is configured to generate a control signal to activate the chiller responsive to a temperature of the air proximate to the plurality of servers equaling or exceeding a threshold value.

19. The data center system of claim 14, further comprising a thermal storage unit coupled to the return line and to the chiller, the thermal storage unit configured to receive the fluid, further warm the fluid using heat received from a heat source, and direct the additionally warmed fluid to the chiller.

20. The data center system of claim 19, wherein the heat source comprises at least one of a solar panel, a gas heater, and an electric heater.

21. The data center system of claim 14, further comprising:

a cold thermal storage unit coupled to the supply line, the cold thermal storage unit configured to capture the fluid before the fluid reaches the return line; and

a heat exchanger coupled to the cold thermal storage unit, the heat exchanger configured to cool the fluid and direct the cooled fluid to the servers.

22. The data center system of claim 14, wherein the chiller comprises an adsorption chiller, wherein the captured heat is used to regenerate a sorbet material.

23. The data center system of claim 22, further comprising:

a cooling tower coupled to the chiller, the cooling tower configured to supply a cooled fluid to the chiller to allow adsorption of vapor from an evaporator coupled to the chiller.

24. The data center system of claim 14, wherein the chiller comprises an absorption chiller.

25. The data center system of claim 24, further comprising:

a cooling tower coupled to the chiller, the cooling tower configured to extract heat from a refrigerant vapor produced by the chiller using the captured heat; and

an evaporator coupled to the chiller, the evaporator configured to receive the refrigerant after heat is extracted and generate a coolant having a temperature reduced by boiling of the refrigerant, the coolant directed to the air handling unit to cool the air from the air supply unit.

26. The data center system of claim 14, wherein the supply line is adjacent to an exhaust opening of one or more of the servers.

27. The data center system of claim 14, wherein the supply line includes a thermal pathway coupled to one or more components within a server, the thermal pathway configured to capture heat generated by the one or more components during operation and communicate the captured heat to the supply line.

28. The data center system of claim 27, wherein the thermal pathway comprises one or more carbon nanotubes.

29. The data center system of claim 27, wherein the thermal pathway comprises at least one of a heat pipe, a vapor chamber, a liquid line, a vapor path, and a metal connection.

30. The data center system of claim 14, wherein the supply line partially includes the plurality of servers and includes a dielectric liquid immersing one or more components within the server, the dielectric liquid for capturing heat generated during operation of the one or more components.

31. The data center system of claim 14, further comprising:

an exhaust unit external to the plurality of servers and configured to extract air from the structure.

32. A method for cooling servers in a data center, the method comprising:

operating a plurality of servers arranged in a structure, the plurality of servers generating heat during operation;

capturing at least a portion of the heat generated during operation of the plurality of servers to produce a heated fluid;

cooling a refrigerant in an absorption or adsorption process using energy from the heated fluid;

receiving ambient air from a source external to the structure;

cooling the ambient air using a heat exchange process between the ambient air and the cooled refrigerant; and

directing the cooled air to the plurality of servers to cool the servers.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

monitoring a temperature of air internal to the structure; and

responsive to the temperature of the air internal to the structure being less than or equal to a threshold value, deactivating the absorption or adsorption process.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

responsive to the temperature of the air internal to the structure equaling or exceeding a maximum temperature, activating the absorption or adsorption process.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein directing the heated fluid to the chiller comprises:

increasing the temperature of the heated fluid unit using heat received from a heat source; and

using the additionally warmed heated fluid in the absorption or adsorption process.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein capturing at least the portion of the heat generated during operation of the plurality of servers to produce the heated fluid comprises capturing heat generated by one or more components included in a server using a thermal pathway coupled to the one or more components included in the server.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the thermal pathway comprises one or more carbon nanotubes.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the thermal pathway comprises at least one of a heat pipe, a vapor chamber, a liquid line, a vapor path, and a metal connection.

39. The method of claim 32, wherein capturing at least the portion of the heat generated during operation of the plurality of servers to produce the heated fluid comprises immersing one or more components within a server in a dielectric liquid, the dielectric liquid for capturing heat generated during operation of the one or more components within the server.