Cooling system for data center rack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016270263-A1
Application number	US-201615065201-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 9, 2016
Priority date	Mar 9, 2015
Publication date	Sep 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided is a process for cooling a datacenter chamber having racks configured to hold arrays of rack-mounted computing devices, the process including: directing a cooling fluid, at a first temperature and a first pressure from an outer radius of circularly arranged racks through the racks and components within the racks; passing the cooling fluid to an interior chamber of the datacenter chamber at a second temperature and a second pressure; and directing the cooling fluid upward to exit the interior chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of cooling rack-mounted computing devices, the method comprising:
conducting a cooling fluid, at a first temperature and a first pressure, through an outer perimeter of three or more racks, wherein the racks are arranged facing at least three different directions to define an interior chamber disposed on an opposite side of the racks from the outer perimeter; conducting the cooling fluid through the racks and in contact with heat-generating computing components within the racks such that the temperature of the cooling fluid increases and heat is removed from the computing components; and conducting the cooling fluid through the interior chamber at a second temperature and a second pressure in a direction that is generally orthogonal to the direction the cooling fluid flows when conducting the cooling fluid through the racks.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the interior chamber is upstream of the outer perimeter, the first pressure is higher than the second pressure, and the first temperature is lower than the second temperature.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an exhaust vent is located on a top side of the interior chamber, and wherein the cooling fluid is directed to exit the interior chamber through the exhaust vent, the method comprising performing steps for spatially modulating airflow restrictions.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the chamber comprises a fan, one or more motors configured to individually drive the fan, the motors being coupled to the fan via one or more clutches, and a controller, the method further comprising:
engaging a first clutch mechanically coupleable to a first motor to drive the fan; measuring a rotational velocity of the fan; comparing the rotational velocity of the fan to a threshold rotational velocity value; disabling the first clutch associated with the first motor responsive to the rotational velocity satisfying the threshold; and engaging a second clutch mechanically coupleable to a second motor to drive the fan.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
disabling the second clutch associated with the second motor responsive to the rotational velocity of the fan satisfying the threshold; and engaging a third clutch mechanically coupleable to a third motor to drive the fan.

6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
disabling a last clutch mechanically coupleable to a last motor responsive to the rotational velocity of the fan satisfying the threshold; and engaging the first clutch associated with the first motor to drive the fan.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more clutches are configured to drive the fan with substantially equal torque.

8 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising, estimating airflow within the chamber and wherein the engaging and disabling operations are further based on comparing the airflow to an airflow range.

9 . A system configured for cooling rack-mounted computing devices, the system comprising:
a plurality of racks arranged such that the back sides of the racks define an interior of a chamber, the interior of the chamber being of cylindrical shape; and a spatially modulated airflow restrictor configured to restrict airflow to or from the interior chamber, wherein the airflow restrictor imposes less restriction on airflow entering the interior chamber in a first portion of the interior chamber relative to airflow entering a second portion of the interior chamber, the first portion being upstream of the second portion along an airflow through the interior chamber.

10 . The system of claim 9 , comprising a first fan motor and a second fan motor configured to drive one or more fans in fluid communication with the interior chamber, wherein the first fan motor and second fan motor are hot swappable.

11 . The system of claim 9 , comprising means for creating a pressure differential between the interior chamber and the exterior of the chamber.

12 . A cooling system for cooling a data center chamber, the cooling system comprising:
a fan; one or more motors configured to drive the fan, the motors being coupled to the fan via respective clutches; and a controller configured to perform operations comprising:
engage a first clutch mechanically coupleable to a first motor to drive the fan;
measure rotational velocity of the fan;
compare a rotational velocity of the fan to a range of rotational velocity values;
disable the first clutch associated with the first motor responsive to the rotational velocity being outside of the range; and
engage a second clutch mechanically coupleable to a second motor to drive the fan.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations comprise:
disable the second clutch associated with the second motor responsive to the rotational velocity of the fan being outside of the range; and engage a third clutch mechanically coupleable to a third motor to drive the fan.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the operations comprise:
disable a last clutch, mechanically coupleable to a last motor responsive to the rotational velocity of the fan being outside of the range; and engage the first clutch associated with the first motor to drive the fan.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more clutches are configured to drive the fan with equal torque.

16 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising:
an airflow sensor configured to output signals conveying information related to airflow within the chamber, wherein the controller is further configured to calculate airflow within the chamber based on the output signals, and wherein the engaging and disabling operations are further based on comparing the airflow to a pre-determined airflow range.

17 . The system of claim 12 , wherein an exhaust vent is located on a top side of the interior chamber, and wherein the cooling fluid is directed to exit the interior chamber through the exhaust vent.

18 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the chamber comprises multiple computing devices and wherein the cooling system is configured to cool components of the computing devices.

19 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising one or more sensors configured to output signals conveying information related to temperature, pressure, or humidity within the chamber.

20 . The system of claim 12 , comprising means for spatially modulating airflow into or out of the interior chamber.

Assignees

• Vapor Io Inc

Inventors

• Crawford Colton Malone

Classifications

• H05K7/20745

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

• H05K7/20836

  Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control · CPC title

• H05K7/20718 Primary

  Forced ventilation of a gaseous coolant (in closed loop H05K7/20754) · CPC title

• H05K7/1497 Primary

  Rooms for data centers; Shipping containers therefor · CPC title

• H05K7/20736

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title