Cooling system and method

• US 8,672,732 B2
• Filed: 01/19/2006
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Rasmussen, Neil, Bean, John H., Uhrhan, Greg R., Buell, Scott D.
• Primary Examiner(s): McAllister, Steven B
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, SAMANTHA A
• Application Number:
  US11/335,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20070167125A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,980 Days
• Field of Search: 454/184, 361/700, 361/689
• US Class Current: 454/184
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/2079 within rooms for removing heat from cabinets

Abstract

A system for cooling a data center designed to house a plurality of electronic equipment racks, with each equipment rack being adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment and having an industry-standard width, includes at least one cooling rack including a housing having a width approximately one-half the width of each of the plurality of equipment racks. The system further includes cooling system components supported by the housing. Methods of cooling a data center are further disclosed.

Claims

1. A system for cooling a data center having a volume of space designed to house a plurality of electronic equipment racks, each equipment rack being adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment and including a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of each equipment rack defining a width of the housing of the equipment rack, the housing of each equipment rack having an industry-standard width, the system comprising:

at least one cooling rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of the cooling rack defining a width of the housing of the cooling rack, the width of the housing of the cooling rack being one-half the width of each of the plurality of equipment racks, the cooling rack being constructed and arranged to be positioned next to the equipment rack in such a manner that a side of the cooling rack is adjacent to a side of the equipment rack; and

cooling system components supported by the housing.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a distribution box having a housing separate from the housing of the cooling rack, the distribution box being adapted to deliver chilled coolant to the at least one cooling rack and to receive heated coolant from the at least one cooling rack.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising a fluid communication system adapted to connect the at least one cooling rack to the distribution box.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the fluid communication system comprises flexible tubing fabricated from a polymer.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the fluid communication system further comprises support members to support the flexible tubing, wherein the flexible tubing includes at least one length of flexible tubing having a first coupling adapted to mate with the at least one cooling rack and a second coupling adapted to mate with the distribution box.

6. The system of claim 3, further comprising a controller to control operation of the at least one cooling rack and the distribution box.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the cooling system components comprise a heat exchanger housed within the housing of the at least one cooling rack and at least one fan adapted to be releasably secured within the housing and configured to draw warm air over the heat exchanger to cool the warm air.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a control valve, operably coupled to the controller, to control flow of coolant to the at least one cooling rack.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising a display, operably coupled to the controller, to display environmental conditions of the volume of space.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to control the operation of the cooling system components based on the environmental conditions of the volume of space.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the controller is disposed within the at least one cooling rack.

12. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one cooling rack is a plurality of cooling racks.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the distribution box is configured to deliver chilled coolant to the plurality of cooling racks and to receive heated coolant from the plurality of cooling racks.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a controller to control operation of the plurality of cooling racks and the distribution box.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the controller comprises a master controller provided in one of the plurality of cooling racks and subservient controllers provided in the remaining plurality of cooling racks.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller operably coupled to the at least one cooling rack, wherein the controller is configured to determine the cooling capacity of the at least one cooling rack.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the housing of the at least one cooling rack includes casters, coupled to the housing, to roll the housing along a generally horizontal surface.

18. A method of cooling a data center, the method comprising:

arranging a plurality of equipment racks in a row, each equipment rack being adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment and including a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of each equipment rack defining a width of the housing of the equipment rack, the housing of each equipment rack having an industry-standard width;

positioning a cooling rack between two equipment racks of the plurality of equipment racks, the cooling rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of the cooling rack defining a width of the housing of the cooling rack, the cooling rack being adapted to support components of a cooling system, the housing of the cooling rack having a width one-half the width of one of the plurality of equipment racks, the cooling rack being positioned next to the equipment rack in such a manner that a side of the cooling rack is adjacent to a side of the equipment rack; and

delivering coolant to the cooling rack.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising controlling flow of coolant delivered to the cooling rack.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising displaying environmental conditions on the cooling rack.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising monitoring a cooling capacity of the cooling rack.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the row of the plurality of equipment racks is arranged to create a cool aisle in front of the plurality of equipment racks and a hot aisle in back of the plurality of equipment racks, and wherein the method comprises

drawing air from the hot aisle into the cooling rack,

cooling the drawn air, and

exhausting the cooled air to the cool aisle.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising directly drawing air from the equipment rack into the cooling rack.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising positioning a plurality of cooling racks within the data center.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising controlling the operation of the plurality of cooling racks.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising

monitoring environmental conditions within the data center, and

selectively controlling the operation of each of the plurality of cooling racks based on environmental conditions within the data center.

27. A system for cooling an electronic equipment rack adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment, the equipment rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of each equipment rack defining a width of the housing of the equipment rack, the housing of the equipment rack having an industry-standard width, the system comprising:

a cooling rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of the cooling rack defining a width of the housing of the cooling rack, the housing of the cooling rack having a width one-half the width of the equipment rack, the cooling rack being constructed and arranged to be positioned next to the equipment rack in such a manner that a side of the cooling rack is adjacent to a side of the equipment rack and that the fronts and the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack lie along substantially same planes;

cooling system components supported by the housing of the cooling rack; and

a back plenum secured to the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack,

wherein the back plenum is adapted to isolate air within the equipment rack so that the cooling rack cools the air.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising a front plenum secured to the fronts of the equipment rack and the cooling rack.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein components of the cooling system are adapted to draw warm air from the back of the equipment rack to the back of the cooling rack through the back plenum, and wherein the components of the cooling system are further adapted to cool the warm air delivered to the back of the cooling rack and deliver the cooled air to the front of the cooling rack and to the front of the equipment rack.

30. The system of claim 27, further comprising a distribution box having a housing separate from the housing of the cooling rack, the distribution box being adapted to deliver chilled coolant to the cooling rack and receive heated coolant from the cooling rack.

31. The system of claim 30, further comprising a fluid communication system adapted to connect the cooling rack to the distribution box.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the fluid communication system comprises flexible tubing fabricated from a polymer.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the flexible tubing includes at least one length of flexible tubing having a first coupling adapted to mate with the at least one cooling rack and a second coupling adapted to mate with the distribution box.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the fluid communication system further comprises support members to support the flexible tubing.

35. The system of claim 27, further comprising a controller operably coupled to the cooling rack to control the operation of the cooling rack.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the cooling system components comprise a heat exchanger housed within the housing of the cooling rack and at least one fan adapted to be releasably secured within the housing and configured to draw warm air over the heat exchanger to cool the warm air under the direction of the controller.

37. The system of claim 35, further comprising a control valve, operably coupled to the controller, to control the flow of coolant to the cooling rack.

38. The system of claim 35, further comprising a display, operably coupled to the controller, to display environmental conditions of the volume of space.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the controller is configured to determine the cooling capacity of the at least one cooling rack and display the capacity on the monitor.

40. The system of claim 27, wherein the housing of the cooling rack includes casters, coupled to the housing, to roll the housing along a generally horizontal surface.

41. A method of cooling an electronic equipment rack adapted to support at least one piece of electronic equipment, the equipment rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of each equipment rack defining a width of the housing of the equipment rack, the housing of the equipment rack having an industry-standard width, the method comprising:

positioning a cooling rack next to the equipment rack, the cooling rack comprising a housing having a front, a back, two sides, a bottom and a top, the distance between the two sides of the housing of the cooling rack defining a width of the housing of the cooling rack, the housing of the cooling rack supporting components of a cooling system and having a width one-half the width of the equipment rack, the cooling rack being constructed and arranged to be positioned next to the equipment rack in such a manner that a side of the cooling rack is adjacent to a side of the equipment rack and that the fronts and the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack lie along substantially same planes;

securing a back plenum to the backs of the equipment rack and the cooling rack; and

delivering coolant to the cooling rack, wherein the front and back plenums are adapted to isolate air within the equipment rack so that the cooling rack cools the air.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising securing a front plenum to the fronts of the equipment rack and the cooling rack.

43. The method of claim 41, further comprising controlling flow of coolant delivered to the cooling rack.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising displaying the temperature of air within the equipment rack.