Water scavenging system for datacenter cooling systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11639831-B2
Application number	US-201916399666-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2019
Priority date	May 2, 2018
Publication date	May 2, 2023
Grant date	May 2, 2023

Abstract

Cooling a first device and second device in a fashion to produce water. The method includes collecting environmental air from an environment. The environmental air is used to cool a first device. Cooling the first device generates first device exhaust air produced from the environmental air. The first device exhaust air is provided to a first device portion of a heat exchanger. At a second device portion of the heat exchanger, thermally coupled to the first device portion of the heat exchanger, second device exhaust air generated by cooling a second device is received. At the heat exchanger, the first device exhaust air is used to cool the second device exhaust air to a dew point, causing condensed water to be created from the second device exhaust air. The condensed water is collected.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of producing water, the method comprising:
collecting environmental air from an environment;
using the environmental air, cooling a first device, wherein cooling the first device generates first device exhaust air produced from the environmental air;
providing the first device exhaust air to a first portion of a heat exchanger;
receiving at a second portion of the heat exchanger, wherein the second portion of the heat exchanger is thermally coupled to the first portion of the heat exchanger, second device exhaust air generated by cooling a second device;
at the heat exchanger, using the first device exhaust air to directly, as a result of being thermally coupled, cool the second device exhaust air to a dew point, causing condensed water to be created from the second device exhaust air; and
collecting the condensed water.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of cooling the second device exhaust air to a dew point is performed to condense a pre-determined amount of the condensed water.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined amount of water is based on one or more of the following:
expected load of the first device;
temperatures of at least one of the first device, the second device, or the environmental air;
humidity of the environmental air;
historical water usage based on an amount of water that has been previously used for cooling;
historical cooling needs;
anticipated climate cycle where the first device or second device is located;
historical climate cycle where the first device or second device is located; or
machine learning.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein cooling a second device is performed using second device cooling air, the method further comprising controlling characteristics of the second device cooling air to cause condensation of a pre-determined amount of the condensed water.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the step of controlling the characteristics of the second device cooling air comprises selectively mixing additional environmental air with air produced when the first device exhaust air is used to cool the second device exhaust air, to produce the second device cooling air having a predetermined temperature.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising cooling a portion of the environmental air and using the cooled portion of the environmental air to cool the first device.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein cooling the portion of the environmental air comprises using evaporative cooling using the collected, condensed water.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein cooling the second device exhaust air to a dew point is performed to condense an amount of water that is within a predetermined threshold of an amount of water expected to be used for the evaporative cooling.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein cooling the portion of the environmental air comprises using a refrigeration coil, and condensate collector, to collect additional water.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using air produced when the first device exhaust air is used to cool the second device exhaust air to produce air used to cool the second device.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising mixing additional environmental air with air produced when the first device exhaust air is used to cool the second device exhaust air to produce air used to cool the second device.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using at least a portion of the first device exhaust air to produce reaction air and providing the reaction air to the second device, where the reaction air is used in at least one of a chemical reaction or combustion by the second device.

13. A system for producing water, the system comprising:
a first ambient air intake for collecting environmental air from an environment;
at least one of a cooler, compressor, or refrigeration coil coupled to the ambient air intake and thermally coupled to a first device, and configured to cool the first device, wherein cooling the first device generates first device exhaust air produced from the environmental air;
a heat exchanger coupled to the cooler, compressor, or refrigeration coil to receive the first device exhaust air to a first portion of the heat exchanger;
an air intake configured to provide air for cooling a second device, coupled to a second portion of the heat exchanger which is thermally coupled to the first portion of the heat exchanger, causing second device exhaust air by cooling the second device;
wherein the heat exchanger is configured to cause condensed water to be created from the second device exhaust air, by using the first device exhaust air to directly, as a result of being thermally coupled, cool the second device exhaust air to a dew point; and
a reservoir coupled to the heat exchanger, and configured to collect the condensed water.

14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising control circuitry configured to control water production from the heat exchanger, wherein the control circuity receives as input, and uses at least one of the following: expected load of the first device; temperatures of at least one of the first device, the second device, or the environmental air; humidity of the environmental air; historical water usage; historical cooling needs; anticipated climate cycle; historical climate cycle.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the control circuitry comprises an unsupervised neural network for determining when water should be produced.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the cooler is an evaporative cooler coupled to the reservoir and the cooler, compressor, or refrigeration coil, and configured to cool the first device using the condensed water.

17. The system of claim 13 , further comprising the compressor and refrigeration coil coupled to the compressor.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a condensate collector coupled to the refrigeration coil and the reservoir, the condensate collector being configured to collect water generated from the refrigeration coil and to provide the collected water to the reservoir.

19. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a power source coupled the compressor, wherein the power source comprises one or more renewable energy sources, and wherein the compressor is coupled to the control circuitry, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the compressor to be powered by renewable energy sources when available and to disable the compressor when renewable energy sources are not available.

20. A system for producing water, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the system to perform the following:
collect environmental air from an environment;
using the environmental air, cool a first device, wherein cooling the first device generates first device exhaust air produced from the environmental air;
provide the first device exhaust air to a first portion of a heat exchanger;
receive at a second portion of the heat exchanger, wherein the second portion of the heat exchanger is thermally coupled to the first portion of the heat exchanger, second device exhaust air generated by cooling a second device;
at the heat exchanger, use the first device exhaust air to directly, as a result of being thermally coupled, cool the second device exhaust air to a dew point, causing condensed water to be created from the second device exhaust air; an

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Belady Christian L
• Gauthier David Thomas
• James Sean M
• Janous Brian Addams
• Monroe Mark Alan

Classifications

• H01M8/04828

  Humidity; Water content · CPC title

• F28F27/00

  Control arrangements or safety devices specially adapted for heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus (control arrangements in general G05) · CPC title

• Y02A20/00

  Water conservation; Efficient water supply; Efficient water use · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• H05K7/20745

  within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device · CPC title