Data Center Cooling

• US 20070213000A1
• Filed: 12/12/2006
• Published: 09/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric IT Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: American Power Conversion Corporation (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Day, Tony
• Granted Patent: US 7,867,070 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 454/184
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/40 HVAC with raised floors
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20745 within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20754 Air circulating in closed loop within cabinets

Abstract

A system includes a substantially sealed, substantially airtight cabinet sized for housing a vertical array of heat-producing units, the cabinet having an exterior shell and the system including an interior divider wall disposed inside the cabinet, the shell and divider wall providing an equipment chamber adapted to support the array such that the array cooperates with the shell and divider wall in use to define a first plenum, the first plenum having a first inlet defined by the divider wall for receiving a flow of cooling gas and having a first outlet defined by a plurality of openings through the array whereby the first plenum communicates with the openings in use to exhaust substantially all of the flow of cooling fluid through the openings and hence through the array, wherein the divider wall is configured to allow the first inlet to admit the gas to the first plenum in a substantially horizontal direction.

Claims

1. A data center system for housing and cooling rack-mounted electronic heat-producing equipment, the system comprising:

a cabinet configured to house the rack-mounted electronic heat-producing equipment and configured to provide a first chamber and a second chamber within the cabinet, the first chamber being configured to house the electronic equipment in an equipment rack, the first and second chambers being in fluid communication with each other and displaced horizontally with respect to each other; and

cooling and circulating means for drawing in heated gas from the first chamber to the second chamber, cooling the drawn-in gas to produce cooled gas, and impelling the cooled gas from the second chamber horizontally into the first chamber.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the cabinet defines first and second passages between the first and second chambers to provide the fluid communication between the chambers, the first and second passages being horizontally in line with both the cooling means and the electronic equipment.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the first and second passages extend along a substantial portion of a height of the cabinet.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the cooling means comprises a plurality of fans displaced vertically with respect to each other and arranged to draw in and direct gas substantially horizontally.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the cooling and circulating means includes a heat exchanger cartridge configured to be removed from the system without turning off the electronic equipment.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the cooling and circulating means includes a heat exchanger cartridge coupled to at least one coolant supply duct through at least one dry-break connector.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the cooling means is for horizontally drawing in heated gas from the first chamber to the second chamber.