HIGH EFFICIENCY COOLING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A cooling system, comprising:
- a cabinet having an air inlet and an air outlet;
an air moving unit disposed in the cabinet;
a plurality of separate cooling stages including an upstream cooling stage and a downstream cooling stage, at least the upstream cooling stage a variable capacity cooling circuit;
each cooling stage including a cooling circuit having an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor and an expansion device;
at least the cooling circuit of the upstream cooling stage having a pumped refrigerant economizer mode and a direct expansion mode wherein each cooling circuit that has both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and the direct expansion mode also has a liquid pump wherein when that cooling circuit is operated in the direct expansion mode a compressor of that cooling circuit is on and compresses a refrigerant in a vapor phase to raise its pressure and thus its condensing temperature and refrigerant is circulated around the cooling circuit by the compressor of that cooling circuit and wherein when that cooling circuit is operated in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode the compressor of that cooling circuit is off and the liquid pump of that cooling circuit is on and pumps the refrigerant in a liquid phase and refrigerant is circulated around that cooling circuit by the liquid pump of that cooling circuit and without compressing the refrigerant in its vapor phase;
the evaporator of the cooling circuit of the upstream cooling stage (upstream evaporator) and the evaporator of the cooling circuit of the downstream cooling stage (downstream evaporator) arranged in the cabinet so that air to be cooled passes over them in serial fashion, first over the upstream evaporator and then over the downstream evaporator;
a controller that determines which of the cooling circuits to operate to provide cooling and for each of the cooling circuits to be operated to provide cooling that has both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and direct expansion mode, determining whether to operate each such cooling circuit in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode or the direct expansion mode;
the controller operating each cooling circuit having both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and the direct expansion mode in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode when an outside air temperature is low enough to provide sufficient heat rejection from the refrigerant flowing through the condenser to the outside air without compressing the refrigerant and when the outside air temperature is not low enough to provide such sufficient heat rejection operating that cooling circuit in the direct expansion mode; and
the controller when a Call for Cooling first reaches a point where cooling is needed, operating the upstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and not operating the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and when the Call for Cooling has increased to a second point, additionally operating the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling, wherein the cooling capacity at which the upstream cooling circuit is being operated to provide is less than the full cooling capacity of the upstream cooling circuit when the Call for Cooling reaches the second point.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A cooling system has a cabinet and a plurality of separate cooling stages including an upstream cooling stage and a downstream cooling stage. At least the upstream cooling state is a variable capacity cooling stage. Each cooling stage has a cooling circuit. Evaporators of the cooling circuits are arranged in the cabinet so that air passes over them in serial fashion. A controller when a Call for Cooling first reaches a point where cooling is needed, operating the upstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and not the downstream cooling circuit. When the Call for Cooling has increased to a second point, the controller additionally operates the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling. The cooling capacity at which the upstream cooling circuit is being operated is less than its full capacity when the Call for Cooling reaches the second point.
75 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A cooling system, comprising:
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a cabinet having an air inlet and an air outlet; an air moving unit disposed in the cabinet; a plurality of separate cooling stages including an upstream cooling stage and a downstream cooling stage, at least the upstream cooling stage a variable capacity cooling circuit; each cooling stage including a cooling circuit having an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor and an expansion device; at least the cooling circuit of the upstream cooling stage having a pumped refrigerant economizer mode and a direct expansion mode wherein each cooling circuit that has both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and the direct expansion mode also has a liquid pump wherein when that cooling circuit is operated in the direct expansion mode a compressor of that cooling circuit is on and compresses a refrigerant in a vapor phase to raise its pressure and thus its condensing temperature and refrigerant is circulated around the cooling circuit by the compressor of that cooling circuit and wherein when that cooling circuit is operated in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode the compressor of that cooling circuit is off and the liquid pump of that cooling circuit is on and pumps the refrigerant in a liquid phase and refrigerant is circulated around that cooling circuit by the liquid pump of that cooling circuit and without compressing the refrigerant in its vapor phase; the evaporator of the cooling circuit of the upstream cooling stage (upstream evaporator) and the evaporator of the cooling circuit of the downstream cooling stage (downstream evaporator) arranged in the cabinet so that air to be cooled passes over them in serial fashion, first over the upstream evaporator and then over the downstream evaporator; a controller that determines which of the cooling circuits to operate to provide cooling and for each of the cooling circuits to be operated to provide cooling that has both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and direct expansion mode, determining whether to operate each such cooling circuit in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode or the direct expansion mode; the controller operating each cooling circuit having both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and the direct expansion mode in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode when an outside air temperature is low enough to provide sufficient heat rejection from the refrigerant flowing through the condenser to the outside air without compressing the refrigerant and when the outside air temperature is not low enough to provide such sufficient heat rejection operating that cooling circuit in the direct expansion mode; and the controller when a Call for Cooling first reaches a point where cooling is needed, operating the upstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and not operating the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and when the Call for Cooling has increased to a second point, additionally operating the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling, wherein the cooling capacity at which the upstream cooling circuit is being operated to provide is less than the full cooling capacity of the upstream cooling circuit when the Call for Cooling reaches the second point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A cooling system, comprising:
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a cabinet having an air inlet and an air outlet; an air moving unit disposed in the cabinet; a plurality of separate cooling stages including an upstream cooling stage and a downstream cooling stage; each cooling stage including a cooling circuit having an evaporator, a condenser, a tandem digital scroll compressor and an electronic expansion valve; each tandem digital scroll compressor including a fixed capacity compressor and variable capacity digital scroll compressor; at least the cooling circuit of the upstream cooling stage having a pumped refrigerant economizer mode and a direct expansion mode wherein each cooling circuit that has both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and the direct expansion mode also has a liquid pump wherein when that cooling circuit is operated in the direct expansion mode the compressor is on and compresses a refrigerant in a vapor phase to raise its pressure and thus its condensing temperature and refrigerant is circulated around the cooling circuit by the compressor and wherein when that cooling circuit is operated in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode the compressor of that cooling circuit is off and the liquid pump of that cooling circuit is on and pumps the refrigerant in a liquid phase and refrigerant is circulated around that cooling circuit by the liquid pump and without compressing the refrigerant in its vapor phase; the evaporator of the cooling circuit of the upstream cooling stage (upstream evaporator) and the evaporator of the cooling circuit of the downstream cooling stage (downstream evaporator) arranged in the cabinet so that air to be cooled passes over them in serial fashion, first over the upstream evaporator and then over the downstream evaporator; a controller that controls the operation of the cooling circuits and determining which of the cooling circuits to operate in a direct expansion mode to provide cooling based on a Call for Cooling and for each cooling circuit being operated in the direct expansion mode, the controller controlling the fixed compressor and variable capacity digital scroll compressor of the tandem digital scroll compressor of that cooling circuit based on the Call for Cooling, which of a plurality of ranges that the Call for Cooling falls within and whether the Call for Cooling is ramping up or ramping down; and the controller when any of the cooling circuits are being operated in the direct expansion mode controlling the electronic expansion valve of that cooling circuit to control a suction superheat of the evaporator of that cooling circuit and the controller when any of the cooling circuits having both the pumped refrigerant economizer mode and the direct expansion mode is being operated in the pumped refrigerant economizer mode controlling the expansion valve of that cooling circuit to maintain a minimum differential pressure across the liquid pump of that cooling circuit. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A cooling system, comprising:
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a cabinet having an air inlet and an air outlet; an air moving unit disposed in the cabinet; direct expansion cooling circuit and a pumped cooling fluid cooling circuit; the direct expansion cooling circuit including an evaporator disposed in the cabinet, a condenser, a compressor and an expansion device; the pumped cooling fluid cooling circuit includes an evaporator disposed in the cabinet, a condenser, a liquid pump and an expansion device; the evaporators of the cooling circuits are arranged in the cabinet so that air flows over them in serial fashion with the cooling circuit having the most upstream evaporator being a variable capacity cooling circuit and an upstream cooling circuit; the cooling system has a direct expansion mode wherein the direct expansion cooling circuit is operating to provide cooling and a pumped cooling fluid economizer mode wherein the direct expansion cooling circuit is not operating to provide cooling and the pumped cooling fluid cooling circuit is operating to provide cooling; a controller that when a Call for Cooling first reaches a point where cooling is needed, operating the upstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and not operating the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and when the Call for Cooling has increased to a second point, additionally operating the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling, wherein the cooling capacity at which the upstream cooling circuit is being operated to provide is less than the full cooling capacity of the upstream cooling circuit when the Call for Cooling reaches the second point. In an aspect, the pumped cooling fluid cooling circuit is the upstream cooling circuit. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification