Systems and methods for providing cooling to a heat load

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11092349-B2
Application number	US-201715814153-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 15, 2017
Priority date	May 15, 2015
Publication date	Aug 17, 2021
Grant date	Aug 17, 2021

Abstract

Conditioning systems and methods for providing cooling to a heat load can include an evaporative cooler arranged in a scavenger plenum with a pre-cooler upstream and a recovery coil downstream of the evaporative cooler. Outdoor or scavenger air can be conditioned in the evaporative cooler such that the conditioned scavenger air can provide cooling to a cooling fluid circulating through the recovery coil. The reduced-temperature cooling fluid can provide liquid cooling or air cooling for an enclosed space (for example, a data center) or for one or more devices that are enclosed or open to the atmosphere. Given the design and arrangement of the pre-cooler, evaporative cooler and recovery coil in the plenum, the system can operate in multiple modes. The pre-cooler can be configured to circulate a cooling fluid to condition the scavenger air. The pre-cooler fluid circuit can be coupled or decoupled from a process cooling fluid circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A conditioning system for providing cooling to a heat load, the conditioning system comprising:
a scavenger plenum having an air inlet and outlet, the scavenger plenum configured to direct scavenger air in an air flow path from the air inlet to the air outlet;
an evaporative cooler arranged inside the scavenger plenum in the air flow path and having a first cooling fluid circuit configured to circulate a first cooling fluid through the evaporative cooler, the evaporative cooler configured to selectively evaporate a portion of the first cooling fluid;
a first cooling component arranged inside the scavenger plenum between the air inlet and the evaporative cooler, the first cooling component configured to selectively condition the scavenger air flowing through the first cooling component;
a second cooling component arranged inside the scavenger plenum between the evaporative cooler and the air outlet and having a second cooling fluid circuit configured to circulate a second cooling fluid through the second cooling component, the second cooling component configured to reduce a temperature of the second cooling fluid using scavenger air; and
a process cooling fluid circuit connected to at least one of the first cooling fluid circuit and the second cooling fluid circuit, the process cooling fluid circuit configured to provide a process cooling fluid to cool the heat load,
wherein the first cooling fluid circuit and the second cooling fluid circuit are fluidly connected, and the first and second cooling fluids are the same.

2. The conditioning system of claim 1 wherein the first cooling fluid and the second cooling fluid provide at least one of liquid cooling or air cooling to the heat load.

3. The conditioning system of claim 1 wherein the second cooling fluid exiting the second cooling component selectively flows through the evaporative cooler.

4. The conditioning system of claim 1 wherein the evaporative cooler is a liquid-to-air membrane energy exchanger (LAMEE), and the first cooling fluid is separated from the air flow path by a membrane, the LAMEE configured to condition the scavenger air and evaporatively cool the first cooling fluid.

5. The conditioning system of claim 1 further comprising one or more bypass dampers configured to permit scavenger air to enter or exit the air flow path at one or more locations between the air inlet and outlet.

6. The conditioning system of claim 5 wherein the one or more bypass dampers include a first set of bypass dampers configured to direct scavenger air into the air flow path at a location between the first cooling component and the evaporative cooler.

7. The conditioning system of claim 5 wherein the one or more bypass dampers include a second set of bypass dampers configured to direct scavenger air into the air flow path at a location between the evaporative cooler and the second cooling component.

8. The conditioning system of claim 1 wherein the evaporative cooler operates in an adiabatic mode, and the first cooling fluid circuit is a closed circuit circulating through the evaporative cooler.

9. The conditioning system of claim 1 wherein the heat load is from an enclosed space with one or more heat-generating components.

10. The conditioning system of claim 9 wherein the process cooling fluid is delivered to the enclosed space to provide liquid cooling to at least one of process air in the enclosed space or one or more components in the enclosed space.

11. The conditioning system of claim 9 wherein the enclosed space is a data center.

12. A method of providing cooling to a heat load, the method comprising:
selectively directing scavenger air through a pre-cooling unit arranged in a scavenger air plenum, the scavenger air entering the plenum at an air inlet and exiting the plenum at an air outlet, and the pre-cooling unit configured to condition the scavenger air entering the plenum;
selectively directing the scavenger air exiting the pre-cooling unit through an evaporative cooler arranged in the plenum, the evaporative cooler having a first cooling fluid circuit and configured to selectively evaporate a first cooling fluid in the first cooling fluid circuit;
directing the scavenger air exiting the evaporative cooler through a recovery coil arranged in the plenum, the recovery coil having a second cooling fluid circuit and configured to reduce a temperature of a second cooling fluid in the second cooling fluid circuit using the scavenger air; and
providing cooling to the heat load using a process cooling fluid in a process cooling fluid circuit, the process cooling fluid circuit connected to at least one of the first cooling fluid circuit and the second cooling fluid circuit,
wherein the first cooling fluid circuit and the second cooling fluid circuit are fluidly, connected, and the first and second cooling fluids are the same.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein selectively delivering scavenger air through a pre-cooling unit includes using a bypass damper between the pre-cooling unit and the evaporative cooler to bypass the pre-cooling unit depending on outdoor air conditions.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein selectively delivering scavenger air through an evaporative cooler includes using a bypass damper between the evaporative cooler and the recovery coil to bypass the pre-cooling unit and the evaporative cooler depending on outdoor air conditions.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein selectively directing the scavenger air exiting the pre-cooling unit through an evaporative cooler comprises:
operating the evaporative cooler adiabatically to condition the scavenger air stream in the evaporative cooler; and
recirculating the first cooling fluid through the evaporative cooler in an adiabatic mode such that the first cooling fluid circuit is a closed circuit circulating through the evaporative cooler and the first and second fluid circuits are selectively separated from one another.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein selectively directing scavenger air through a pre-cooling unit arranged in a scavenger air plenum includes circulating a third cooling fluid through the pre-cooling unit to condition the scavenger air.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the third cooling fluid is in a third cooling fluid circuit separate from the process cooling circuit and the first and second cooling fluid circuits, and the method further comprises:
directing the third cooling fluid exiting the pre-cooling unit through an auxiliary cooling unit configured to reduce a temperature of the third cooling fluid; and
recirculating the reduced-temperature third cooling fluid through the pre-cooling unit during operation of the pre-cooling unit.

18. A conditioning system for providing cooling to a heat load, the conditioning system comprising:
a process cooling unit comprising:
a scavenger air plenum having an air inlet and outlet, the scavenger air plenum configured to direct scavenger air in an air flow path from the air inlet to the air outlet;
an evaporative cooler arranged inside the scavenger air plenum in the air flow path and having a first cooling fluid circuit configured to selectively circulate a first cooling fluid through the evaporative cooler, the evaporative cooler configured to selectively evaporate a portion of the first cooling fluid;
a pre-cooler arranged inside the scavenger air plenum upstream of the evaporative cooler, the pre-cooler having a second cooling fluid circuit configured to selectively circulate a second cooling fluid through the pre-cooler to selectively conditi

Assignees

• Nortek Air Solutions Canada Inc

Inventors

• Lepoudre Philip Paul
• Gerber Manfred
• Ghadiri Moghaddam Davood

Classifications

• F24F1/0007

  Indoor units, e.g. fan coil units (self-contained units F24F1/02) · CPC title

• Y02B30/54

  Free-cooling systems · CPC title

• F24F5/0035 Primary

  using evaporation · CPC title

• F24F12/002

  using an intermediate heat-transfer fluid · CPC title

• F24F1/0059

  characterised by heat exchangers · CPC title