Energy saving system and method for cooling computer data center and telecom equipment
View Patent ↗A system and method of reducing consumption of electricity used to cool electronic computer data center, networking, and telecommunications equipment, and to reduce the incidence of thermal failure of electronic components, includes provision 5 of one or more partitions to reduce the volume of the cooled environment supplying coldest possible cooled air from air conditioning systems to a chamber adjacent to racks containing the electronic components, preventing dilution of the supplied cooling airflow by warmer air from outside of the reduced volume environment, and controlling the delivery of cooling air flow through the reduced volume of the cooled environment.
1. A cooling system for electronic equipment, comprising:
an enclosure formed within a structure, for delivering cooling air to the electronic equipment, the enclosure defining a plurality of contained volumes within the structure, at least one of the plurality of contained volumes defined by the enclosure being a cooling air chamber containing the cooling air that flows to the electronic equipment for cooling, and at least one of the plurality of contained volumes defined by the enclosure being a warm air chamber containing warmer air that is warmer than the cooling air in the cooling air chamber, the enclosure delivering the cooling air to at least two electronic equipment racks having the electronic equipment mounted within at least one of the racks, the racks having airflow communication with the cooling air chamber and the warm air chamber defined by the enclosure, and all available mounting locations for electronic equipment within each rack being occupied by either the electronic equipment or a blanking panel, the enclosure comprising at least one partition to control mixing of the cooling air with the warmer air; and
means for controlling the delivery of the cooling air through the cooling air chamber defined by the enclosure to initiate new cooling airflow pathways across surfaces heated by the electronic equipment, wherein an air pressure differential between air pressure at a cooling air intake side of the electronic equipment and air pressure at a cooling air discharge side of the electronic equipment is controlled to create a cooling airflow of the cooling air across surfaces heated by the electronic equipment, and wherein pressure within the cooling air chamber defined by the enclosure is differential and superior to pressure within the warm air chamber defined by the enclosure, the cooling airflow having thermal exchange communication with the surfaces heated by the electronic equipment.
2. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the means for controlling the delivery of the cooling air comprises at least one fan.
3. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic equipment comprises a plurality of components of the electronic equipment, and wherein the means for controlling the delivery of the cooling air comprises the plurality of electronic equipment components being arranged in an array to define cooling airflow channels between adjacent ones of the electronic equipment components, wherein the means for controlling the cooling airflow of the cooling air further comprises at least one blanking panel.
4. The cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the means for controlling the delivery of the cooling air comprises the cooling air chamber being positioned on one side of the electronic equipment and the warm air chamber being positioned on the opposite side of the electronic equipment.
5. A method for reducing the consumption of energy used to cool electronic equipment, said method comprising:
providing an enclosure within a structure, the enclosure forming a plurality of chambers defining contained volumes within the structure, at least one of the plurality of chambers being a cooling air chamber containing cooling air that cools the electronic equipment, with at least two electronic equipment racks having airflow communication with the enclosure, and with the electronic equipment being mounted within the at least two racks, the enclosure segmenting air within the structure partitioning cooling air from warmer air to define a proportionally smaller cooled environment within the structure;
delivering the cooling air to the cooling air chamber defined by the enclosure;
generating a pressure differential from a first cooling air intake side of the electronic equipment to a second cooling air discharge side of the electronic equipment to control flow of the cooling air across a surface warmed by the electronic equipment; and
controlling the delivery of the cooling air to the electronic equipment by partitioning the cooling air from a higher temperature air mass within the structure but external of the cooling air chamber formed by the enclosure to control mixing of the cooling air with the warmer air,
wherein in operation the enclosure delivers a cooling airflow of the cooling air to the at least two electronic equipment racks having as few as one electronic component mounted within one of the racks, the racks having airflow communication with the cooling air chamber and a warm air chamber defined by the enclosure, and all available mounting locations for electronic components within each rack being occupied by either an electronic component or a blanking panel.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising inhibiting mixing of the warmer air with the cooling air delivered to the electronic equipment.