Modular ice storage for uninterruptible chilled water

• US 8,424,336 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2010
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Bean, John H. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): ALI, MOHAMMAD M
• Application Number:
  US12/726,934
• Publication Number:
  US 20100170663A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,132 Days
• Field of Search: 62/32, 62/33, 62/37, 62/59, 622/592, 624/34, 624/35, 624/59, 623/06, 623/32, 623/33, 165/80.4, 165/104.33, 361/699
• US Class Current: 62/434
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 16/00 Devices using a combination of a cooling mode associated with refrigerating machinery with a cooling mode not associated with refrigerating machinery
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 17/02 for circulating liquids, e.g. brine
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 3/00 Devices using other cold materials; Devices using cold-storage bodies
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20763 Liquid cooling without phase change

Abstract

A backup cooling storage system comprising at least one cooling and storage unit configured to cool a liquid supply using a quantity of cooled material when a main chiller of the liquid supply is not operational, and at least one chilling element configured to generate the quantity of cooled material for the at least one cooling and storage unit when the main chiller of the liquid supply is operational. Additional embodiments and methods are further disclosed.

Claims

1. A cooling system comprising:

at least one cooling unit configured to cool a portion of a data center;

a main chilling unit separate from the at least one cooling unit and configured to cool a liquid supply in fluid communication with the at least one cooling unit, the arrangement being such that the main chilling unit is configured to supply cool liquid to the at least one cooling unit and receive warm liquid from the at least one cooling unit; and

at least one backup cooling unit configured to generate and maintain a quantity of cooled material using the liquid supply when the main chilling unit is operational and configured to cool the liquid supply using the quantity of cooled material when the main chilling unit is not operational, the at least one backup cooling unit includes at least one chiller configured to further cool at least a portion of the liquid supply to generate and maintain the quantity of cooled material when the main chilling unit is operational, wherein the at least one chiller includes at least one thermoelectric chiller.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the liquid supply includes at least one of a composition comprising water and a composition comprising glycol.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one backup cooling unit is configured to generate and maintain the quantity of cooled material when a temperature of the liquid supply is below a threshold value, and wherein the at least one backup cooling unit is configured to cool the liquid supply when the temperature of the liquid supply is above the threshold value.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one backup cooling unit includes at least one storage tank configured to store the quantity of cooled material.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the quantity of cooled material includes a quantity of a first portion of the cooled material and a quantity of a second portion of the cooled material, the first portion being a liquid portion of the cooled material, and the second portion being a solid portion of the cooled material.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first portion includes water and the second portion includes ice.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one backup cooling unit includes at least one liquid directing element configured to direct at least a portion of the liquid supply through the at least one backup cooling unit so that heat transfers between at least the portion of the liquid supply and the quantity of cooled material.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the main chilling unit and backup cooling unit are further configured to provide the liquid supply to a cooling system.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one backup cooling unit is housed in at least one standard rack.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein each backup cooling unit of the at least one cooling unit is configured to generate a cooling output over a cooling period.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one backup cooling unit includes a desired number of ice storage elements corresponding to a total desired cooling output and a total desired cooling period.