Indirect free cooling module

1. An indirect free cooling module for cooling air from a data center, comprising:

an adiabatic device in fluid communication with a source of external air and configured to cool the source of external air to produce cooled external air;

at least one heat exchanger configured to be in fluid communication with the adiabatic device and a flow of air from the data center and to cool the flow of air from the data center with the cooled external air produced by the adiabatic device to produce treated air;

a damper system in fluid communication with the at least one heat exchanger and the flow of air from the data center such that a first damper of the damper system is in fluid communication with the flow of air from the data center and a second damper of the damper system is in fluid communication with the treated air from the heat exchanger; and

a control system in communication with the damper system and configured to selectively direct the flow of air from the data center to the heat exchanger and to selectively direct a flow of the treated air from the at least one heat exchanger through the damper system.

2. The indirect free cooling module of claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor in communication with the control system, the at least one sensor being configured to determine at least one of a temperature and a humidity value of one of the source of external air and the air from the data center, wherein the control system is further configured to determine at least one operating condition based on at least one value determined by the at least one sensor.

3. The indirect free cooling module of claim 2 , wherein the at least one sensor includes a first sensor and a second sensor, the first sensor in fluid communication with the flow of air from the data center and configured to determine a temperature value of the air from the data center, and the second sensor in fluid communication with the source of external air and configured to determine a dry bulb temperature value and a wet bulb temperature value of the source of external air.

4. The indirect free cooling module of claim 3 , wherein the control system is further configured to receive a set point temperature value for the air from the data center, and the at least one operating condition includes at least one of:

a difference between the value of the dry bulb temperature and the value of the wet bulb temperature is greater than a first threshold value;

a difference between the value of the temperature of the air from the data center and the value of the dry bulb temperature is greater than a second threshold value;

a difference between the value of the temperature of the air from the data center and the value of the wet bulb temperature is greater than the second threshold value; and

the set point temperature has a greater value than either the value of the dry bulb temperature and the value of the wet bulb temperature.

5. The indirect free cooling module of claim 4 , wherein the control system directs a flow of air from the data center to an inlet of the at least one heat exchanger and directs a flow of the treated air from an outlet of the at least one heat exchanger to an inlet of the second damper when at least one operating condition is satisfied.

6. The indirect free cooling module of claim 1 , wherein the at least one heat exchanger includes a first heat exchanger having an inlet in fluid communication with the air from the data center and a second heat exchanger having an inlet in fluid communication with the cooled external air produced by the adiabatic device.

7. The indirect free cooling module of claim 6 , wherein the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger are arranged in series.

8. A cooling system for cooling air from a data center, the cooling system comprising:

a cooling device having an outlet in fluid communication with the data center;

an indirect free cooling module comprising:

an adiabatic device in fluid communication with a source of external air and configured to cool the source of external air to produce cooled external air;

at least one heat exchanger configured to be in fluid communication with the adiabatic device and the flow of air from the data center and to cool the flow of air from the data center with the cooled external air produced by the adiabatic device to produce treated air;

a damper system in fluid communication with the flow of air from the data center, the cooling device, and the at least one heat exchanger of the indirect free cooling module such that an inlet of a first damper of the damper system is in fluid communication with the flow of air from the data center and an outlet of the first damper is in fluid communication with an inlet to the cooling device, and an inlet of a second damper of the damper system is in fluid communication with the treated air from the heat exchanger and an outlet of the second damper is in fluid communication with the inlet to the cooling device; and

a control system in communication with the damper system and configured to selectively direct the flow of air from the data center to an inlet of the at least one heat exchanger, or through the first damper to an inlet of the cooling device, or to both the inlet of the at least one heat exchanger and through the first damper to the inlet of the at least one cooling device.

9. The cooling system of claim 8 , further comprising at least one sensor in communication with the control system, the at least one sensor being configured to determine at least one of a temperature value and a humidity value of one of the source of external air and the air from the data center, wherein the control system is further configured to determine at least one operating condition based on at least one value determined by the at least one sensor.

10. The cooling system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one sensor includes a first sensor and a second sensor, the first sensor in fluid communication with the flow of air from the data center and configured to determine a temperature value of the air from the data center, and the second sensor in fluid communication with the source of external air and configured to determine a dry bulb temperature value and a wet bulb temperature value of the source of external air.

11. The cooling system of claim 10 , wherein the control system is further configured to receive a set point temperature value for the air from the data center, and the at least one operating condition includes at least one of:

the set point temperature having a higher value than either the value of the dry bulb temperature and the value of the wet bulb temperature;

a difference between the value of the dry bulb temperature and the value of the wet bulb temperature is greater than a first threshold value;

a difference between the value of the temperature of the air from the data center and the value of the dry bulb temperature is greater than a second threshold value;

a difference between the value of the temperature of the air from the data center and the value of the wet bulb temperature is greater than the second threshold value; and

the set point temperature has a greater value than either the value of the dry bulb temperature and the value of the wet bulb temperature.

12. The cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the control system directs a flow of air from the data center to the inlet of the at least one heat exchanger and directs a flow of the treated air from the at least one heat exchanger through the second damper when at least one operating condition is satisfied.

13. The cooling system of claim 12 , wherein the flow of treated air from the at least one heat exchanger and through the second damper is directed to the inlet of the cooling device.

14. The cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the control system directs a flow of air from the data center through the first damper to the inlet of the cooling device when at least one operating condition is not satisfied.

15. The cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the control system directs a flow of air from the data center to the heat exchanger and through the first damper to the inlet of the at least one cooling device when at least one operating condition is satisfied and when at least one operating condition is not satisfied.

16. The cooling system of claim 8 , wherein the indirect free cooling module is configured to be retrofitted with the cooling device and the damper system.

17. A method of cooling air from a data center using a cooling system, the cooling system comprising a cooling device, an indirect free cooling module comprising an adiabatic device and at least one heat exchanger, a damper system, a first sensor configured to determine a temperature value of a flow of air from the data center, and a second sensor configured to determine a dry bulb temperature value and a wet bulb temperature value of a source of external air, the method comprising:

receiving a set point temperature value for the flow of air from the data center;

determining a temperature value of the flow of air from the data center using the first sensor;

determining a dry bulb temperature value and a wet bulb temperature value of the source of external air using the second sensor;

calculating a difference between the value of the dry bulb temperature and the value of the wet bulb temperature to determine a first calculated value;

calculating a difference between the value of the temperature of the air from the data center and the value of the dry bulb temperature to determine a second calculated value;

calculating a difference between the value of the temperature of the air from the data center and the value of the wet bulb temperature to determine a third calculated value;

calculating a difference between the value of the set point temperature and the value of the wet bulb temperature to determine a fourth calculated value; and

selectively directing the flow of air from the data center through the at least one heat exchanger and a first damper of the damper system to an inlet of the cooling device, or through a second damper of the damper system to the inlet of the cooling device, or through both the at least one heat exchanger and through the first damper to the inlet of the cooling device and through the second damper to the inlet of the cooling device based on at least one of the first calculated value, the second calculating value, the third calculated value, and the fourth calculated value.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising directing the flow of air from the data center through the second damper to the inlet of the cooling device when the first calculated value is lower than a first threshold value and the second calculated value is lower than a second threshold value.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising directing the flow of air from the data center through the at least one heat exchanger and the first damper to the inlet of the cooling device when the first calculated value is greater than a first threshold value, the third calculated value is greater than a second threshold value, and the fourth calculated value is greater than a third threshold value.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising directing the flow of air from the data center through the at least one heat exchanger and the first damper to the inlet of the cooling device and through the second damper to the inlet of the cooling device when the first calculated value is greater than a first threshold value, the third calculated value is greater than a second threshold value, and the fourth calculated value is lower than a third threshold value.