JP7798514B2 - Data center air conditioning system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioning system for a data center.

In data centers, a large number of pieces of information processing equipment are placed in information processing equipment rooms located within the building. Air conditioners are used to cool these rooms. Examples of cooling methods using air conditioners include outdoor air cooling, which cools introduced outside air to provide cooling (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 2013-245913 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-017674

In outdoor air cooling systems, filters are installed in the vents that introduce outdoor air to prevent dust from entering the building. Because data centers require higher levels of cleanliness than ordinary residential buildings, the filters installed in the vents have high filtering capabilities. Because filters with high filtering capabilities increase airflow resistance, high-static-pressure fans are used to introduce outdoor air. Using high-static-pressure fans increases the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the building, making it easier for dust and moisture to enter through gaps in the building. For example, if the fan's intake side is placed in an area facing the exterior wall and negative pressure is created, outdoor air containing dust and moisture may enter the building through gaps in the exterior wall near that area without passing through the filter. For this reason, buildings are constructed to minimize gaps. However, constructing a highly airtight building with small gaps is not easy.

One aspect of the disclosed technology aims to provide an air conditioning system for a data center that can more easily prevent dust and moisture from entering the data center building.

One aspect of the disclosed technology is exemplified by the following data center air conditioning system. This data center air conditioning system includes a building with an air vent formed at the bottom of the building, an information processing equipment room located between the exterior wall of the building and the air vent and in which racks housing information processing equipment are arranged, an outside air intake path located at the bottom of the building and connecting the outside of the building to the air vent, and a blower fan that draws in air from outside the building via the outside air intake path and the air vent and supplies cool air to the information processing equipment room.

With the disclosed technology, the information processing equipment room is located between the vent and the exterior wall, so the vent is located away from the exterior wall of the building. This allows the area that becomes negative pressure when the outside air from the vent is sucked in by the blower fan to be located away from the exterior wall of the building. The cool air blown out by the blower fan is then supplied from the inside of the building to the outside. Therefore, with the disclosed technology, it is possible to prevent dust and moisture from entering the data center building due to the larger difference in air pressure between the inside and outside of the building.

The disclosed technology may further include the following feature: In the information processing equipment room, the servers are placed upstream of the cool air, and the auxiliary power supplies are placed downstream. By including this feature, the disclosed technology can efficiently cool the servers, which have strict cooling requirements, while also cooling the auxiliary power supplies.

The disclosed technology may further include the following features: The auxiliary power supply includes an uninterruptible power supply and a battery, a floor member with multiple holes formed therein is provided above the battery, and the uninterruptible power supply is placed on the floor member. Because uninterruptible power supplies often draw cooling air from below using an internal fan, an uninterruptible power supply placed on the floor member can efficiently draw cool air supplied through the floor member into the uninterruptible power supply from below.

The disclosed technology may further include the following features: The information processing equipment room includes a first information processing equipment room and a second information processing equipment room, and the first information processing equipment room and the second information processing equipment room are arranged on either side of the ventilation opening. By arranging the information processing equipment room and the ventilation opening in this manner, the ventilation opening is further separated from the exterior wall. This makes it possible to further prevent dust and moisture from entering the data center building due to a larger difference in air pressure between the inside and outside of the building.

The disclosed technology may further include the following feature: The ventilation opening is provided with a filter that prevents dust and moisture contained in the outside air from entering the building. By providing such a filter at the opening, the intrusion of dust and moisture into the building is prevented.

The disclosed technology may further include the following features: The outside air introduction path is installed underground. The temperature underground is more stable than above ground. Therefore, even if high-temperature outside air is introduced in the summer, for example, the outside air is cooled to some extent by flowing through the outside air introduction path installed underground. This prevents the outside air drawn into the air conditioner from becoming too hot.

This data center's air conditioning system can more easily prevent dust and moisture from entering the data center building.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a building of a data center to which an air conditioning system according to an embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 3 is an example of a side cross-sectional view of a server rack according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the flow of cold air and warm air in a server room.

<Embodiment>
The configurations of the embodiments described below are illustrative, and the disclosed technology is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a building 11 of a data center 1 to which an air conditioning system according to an embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1. The data center 1 includes, for example, one or more buildings 11. In FIG. 1, the air vents 5 formed in the floor 14 of the building 11 of the data center 1 and the cool pit 8 formed below the floor 14 are also illustrated by dotted lines. FIG. 2 also schematically shows the flow of cool air and warm air within the building 11. Note that in this specification, the rightward direction in FIG. 1 is also referred to as the "+X direction," the leftward direction as the "-X direction," the upward direction in FIG. 1 as the "+Y direction," and the downward direction as the "-Y direction." In FIG. 2, the upward direction is also referred to as the "+Z direction," and the downward direction as the "-Z direction."

The building 11 includes an exterior wall 12, a roof 13, a floor 14, and eaves 15. The building 11 is, for example, a building surrounded by the exterior wall 12, which is rectangular (oblong) in plan view. Within the building 11, a corridor 7 is provided along the exterior wall 12 and circumnavigates the building 11. Within the area surrounded by the corridor 7 in the building 11, for example, four information processing equipment rooms 2, two air conditioning machine rooms 3, and two electrical rooms 4 are provided. The two air conditioning machine rooms 3 are arranged side by side on the center line of the building 11 in the short direction in plan view. Furthermore, the two electrical rooms 4 are arranged side by side in a straight line on the center line of the building 11 in the long direction in plan view. In other words, the two air conditioning machine rooms 3 and the two electrical rooms 4 are arranged in a cross shape in plan view of the building 11. In the building 11, an air vent 5 is provided in the floor 14 in the air conditioning machine room 3. The air vent 5 is provided with an air vent filter 51 that suppresses the intrusion of dust and moisture contained in the outside air into the building 11, and a fourth damper 52 that controls the intake of outside air.

The cool pit 8 is provided below the floor 14 (e.g., underground). The cool pit 8 can be, for example, a piping pit formed underground (underground) in the building 11. The cool pit 8 is formed in a cross shape in a plan view of the building 11, passing under the two air conditioning machine rooms 3 and the two electrical rooms 4. The cool pit 8 is connected to an outside air inlet 9 and a vent 5 provided outside the building 11, and serves as a flow path for air (outside air) outside the building 11 taken in through the outside air inlet 9. The cool pit 8 is an example of an "outside air introduction path." The building 11 and the cool pit 8 are examples of a "building."

The air conditioning machine room 3 is equipped with a diffusion line fan 31, a blower fan 32, a cooling coil 33, a second damper 34, a humidifier 35, a cooling coil 36, and a third damper 37. The blower fan 32 is located behind a wall 28 in the information processing equipment room 2 that is located at the boundary between the information processing equipment room 2 and the air conditioning machine room 3. An air outlet is formed in the wall 28 to pass the cool air from the blower fan 32. The cool air from the blower fan 32 is supplied to the information processing equipment room 2 through an air outlet formed in the wall 28. The flow of cool air and warm air within the building 11 will be described later. A fire wall 6 is installed in the air conditioning machine room 3. Two blower fans 32 are arranged with their air outlets facing in opposite directions, with the fire wall 6 as the boundary. That is, the blower fan 32 with its cool air outlet facing in the "-X direction" is located in the "-X direction" of the firewall 6. Furthermore, in the "+X direction" of the firewall 6, a blower fan 32 is placed, with the cool air blowing out in the "+X direction."

The information processing equipment rooms 2 house information processing equipment such as servers, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), and batteries. As can be seen from FIG. 1, two information processing equipment rooms 2 are arranged on either side of the air conditioning machine room 3 (or the vent 5 provided in the floor 14 of the air conditioning machine room 3). In other words, the information processing equipment rooms 2 are arranged between the exterior wall 12 and the vent 5. The information processing equipment rooms 2 include a server room 21 and an auxiliary power supply room 23. In the server room 21, server racks 22 housing information processing equipment such as servers are arranged in a row in the Y direction.

In the information processing equipment room 2, the server room 21 is located closer to the air conditioning machine room 3 than the auxiliary power supply room 23 (upstream of the cool air blown out by the blower fan 32 installed in the air conditioning machine room 3). By locating the server room 21 upstream of the auxiliary power supply room 23, it is possible to effectively cool information processing equipment such as servers, which have strict cooling requirements. Furthermore, the cool air passing through the server room 21 is supplied to the auxiliary power supply room 23 through a perforated door 231 with multiple holes, thereby also cooling the battery 233 and UPS 234. Furthermore, by locating the server room 21, which houses server racks 22 housing information processing equipment that stores various types of information, away from the exterior wall 12, the data center 1 also meets the information security requirements required of data centers. The information processing equipment room 2 located in the "-X direction" of the air conditioning machine room 3 is an example of a "first information processing equipment room." The information processing equipment room 2 located in the "+X direction" of the air conditioning machine room 3 is an example of a "second information processing equipment room."

A battery 233 and a UPS 234 are located in the auxiliary power supply room 23. The auxiliary power supply room 23 is divided into a first floor and a second floor by a grating floor 232 with multiple holes formed in it. The battery 233 is located on the first floor of the auxiliary power supply room 23, and the UPS 234 is located on the second floor. Because the grating floor 232 with multiple holes allows air to flow through, the cool air supplied to the first floor flows into the second floor through the grating floor 232. The battery 233 and the UPS 234 are an example of an "auxiliary power supply device." The grating floor 232 is an example of a "floor component."

Figure 3 is an example of a side cross-sectional view of a server rack 22 in an embodiment. A rack door 221 formed of a perforated plate with multiple holes is provided on the front of the server rack 22 (the intake side of the servers 91). The back of the server rack 22 may be open. The server rack 22 has multiple rack rails extending horizontally and vertically. Each server 91 is installed on the rack rail of the server rack 22. A plate-shaped blanking panel 222 is provided in front of the rack rails on which no servers 91 are installed to prevent hot air from the hot aisle from circulating into the cold aisle.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of cold air and warm air in the server room 21. As illustrated in Figure 4, multiple server racks 22 are arranged with their front faces (the intake sides of the servers 91 housed in the server racks 22) facing each other. The passageway toward which the intake sides of the servers 91 housed in the server racks 22 face is called the cold air passageway 211. Flow straighteners 26 are provided at both ends of the cold air passageway 211. The flow straighteners 26 are installed to prevent poor intake of cold air into the server racks 22 due to a decrease in static pressure or turbulence caused by the high flow rate of the cold air blown out by the blower fans 32. The flow straighteners 26 ensure that cold air flows from the blower fans 32 to the cold air passageway 211 at a substantially uniform flow rate. Furthermore, a ceiling 24 and partition plates 25 extending downward from both ends of the ceiling 24 are provided above the cold air passageway 211. The ceiling 24 and partition 25 prevent warm air from flowing from the warm air passage 212 into the cold air passage 211.

By arranging multiple server racks 22 so that their fronts face each other, the multiple server racks 22 also face their rears (the exhaust sides of the servers 91 housed in the server racks 22) toward each other. The aisle toward which the exhaust sides of the servers 91 housed in the server racks 22 face is called the hot aisle 212. Blocking plates 27 are provided at both ends of the hot aisle 212. The hot aisle 212 is separated from the space of the server room 21 by the blocking plates 27. The provision of the blocking plates 27 prevents the hot air exhausted into the hot aisle 212 from flowing into the cold aisle 211. The top of the hot aisle 212 is connected to the back of the ceiling 24 (the space above the ceiling 24), and the hot air in the hot aisle 212 flows into the space above the ceiling 24.

Returning to Figure 2, the warm air that flows upward from the hot air passage 212 and the warm air that has passed through the auxiliary power supply room 23 is exhausted to the outside, for example, through a first damper 16 provided on the roof 13. The first damper 16 is provided above the air conditioning machine room 3. In other words, the first damper 16 is not provided directly above the information processing equipment room 2. The first damper 16 is normally closed, but is opened when exhausting air. Furthermore, a eaves 15 protrudes in front of the first damper 16 (in the direction of exhaust), preventing rainwater from entering the building 11 even when the first damper 16 is open.

In addition, warm air flowing upward from the hot air passage 212 or warm air passing through the auxiliary power supply room 23 is returned to the air conditioning machine room 3 via, for example, the second damper 34 or the third damper 37. When the second damper 34 is open, the warm air returning to the air conditioning machine room 3 via the second damper 34 is humidified by the humidifier 35 and cooled by the cooling coil 33. If a larger amount of warm air is to be returned to the air conditioning machine room 3, the third damper 37 is also opened. The warm air returned to the air conditioning machine room 3 via the third damper 37 is cooled by the cooling coil 36. In the air conditioning machine room 3, the diffusion line fan 31 thoroughly mixes the outside air drawn in through the air vent 5 with the return air returned to the air conditioning machine room 3 via the second damper 34 or the third damper 37. The blower fan 32 can supply the thoroughly mixed air (cooled air) to the information processing equipment room 2.

The air conditioning machine room 3 may be cooled using only outside air (outside air cooling method) with the second damper 34 and third damper 37 closed, or may be cooled using warm air from inside the building 11 with the second damper 34 and third damper 37 open and the fourth damper 52 closed (circulating cooling method). When using the circulating cooling method, the humidifier 35 may be stopped.

In the building 11, no circulation fans or outside air intake fans are installed in the area on the exterior wall 12 side (for example, the auxiliary power supply room 23). That is, in this embodiment, outside air is taken in through the air vent 5 located in the center of the building 11, and cool air is supplied from the center of the building 11 to the outside (exterior wall 12) by the blower fan 32 in the air conditioning machine room 3.

<Effects of the embodiment>
In this embodiment, the air conditioning machine room 3 is sandwiched between the two information processing equipment rooms 2, so that the cool air supplied by the blower fan 32 flows in a direction from the center of the building 11 toward the exterior wall 12. That is, in this embodiment, the cool air is supplied from near the center of the building 11 toward the exterior wall 12. Furthermore, it is the cool pit 8, not the inside of the building 11, that becomes negative pressure due to the air suction by the air conditioning machine room 3. Therefore, according to this embodiment, by suppressing the difference in air pressure between the inside and outside of the building 11 (or by increasing the air pressure inside the building 11 more than outside the building 11), it is possible to suppress the intrusion of dust and moisture from outside the building 11 into the building 11.

As described above, the data center 1 according to this embodiment can prevent dust and moisture from entering the building 11 from outside, thereby increasing the cleanliness of the cool air supplied to the servers 91 and ultimately increasing the cleanliness of the servers 91.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the building 11 is reduced, so the intrusion of dust and moisture into the building 11 is suppressed without the need to make the building 11 a highly airtight building with small gaps. This makes it easier to construct the building 11. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the corridor 7 is provided on the exterior wall 12 side within the building 11, and the air conditioning machine room 3 and information processing equipment room 2 are provided within the area surrounded by the corridor 7. Therefore, the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the building 11 can be further reduced.

In this embodiment, the server room 21 is located upstream of the cool air supplied by the blower fan 32, and the auxiliary power supply room 23 is located downstream. A perforated door 231 that allows air to circulate is provided at the boundary between the auxiliary power supply room 23 and the server room 21. By adopting this arrangement, this embodiment can efficiently cool the servers 91, which require strict cooling requirements, and can also supply cool air to the auxiliary power supply room 23 via the server room 21 and perforated door 231 to cool the battery 233 and UPS 234.

In this embodiment, the auxiliary power supply room 23 is divided into a first floor and a second floor by a grating floor 232, with the battery 233 located on the first floor and the UPS 234 located on the second floor. The UPS 234 is equipped with a fan inside and often cools the interior by drawing in cooling air from the bottom and exhausting it from the top. Therefore, by locating the UPS 234 on the second floor of the auxiliary power supply room 23, the cool air supplied via the first floor of the auxiliary power supply room 23 can be efficiently drawn into the UPS 234 by the fan of the UPS 234.

In this embodiment, an air vent filter 51 is provided in the air vent 5. In this embodiment, the air vent filter 51 can remove dust and moisture from the outside air introduced into the building 11 through the air vent 5, thereby preventing dust and moisture from entering the building 11 from outside.

In this embodiment, no circulation fans or outside air intake fans are installed in areas on the exterior wall 12 side (for example, the auxiliary power supply room 23 or the corridor 7). By adopting this configuration, this embodiment prevents negative pressure from building up in the areas on the exterior wall 12 side.

In this embodiment, the air conditioning machine room 3 is located in the center (inside) of the building 11, so that piping and other components are concentrated in the center of the building 11. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the amount of work involved in the construction of the building 11 can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the first damper 16 is not located directly above the server room 21, but is located above the air conditioning machine room 3. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if rainwater were to enter the building 11 through the first damper 16, the rainwater is prevented from falling into the server room 21.

<Modification>
In the embodiment described above, air conditioning machine rooms 3 are provided with air outlets facing in opposite directions, with the firewall 6 as the boundary. However, in the building 11, an air conditioning machine room 3 that cools the information processing equipment room 2 in the "-X direction" and an air conditioning machine room 3 that cools the information processing equipment room 2 in the "+X direction" may be combined into a single air conditioning machine room 3. In this case, the air conditioning machine room 3 may be provided with a blower fan 32 that blows cool air in the "-X direction" and a blower fan 32 that blows cool air in the "+X direction."

In the embodiment described above, no outside air intake fan or exhaust fan was provided, but an outside air intake fan and an exhaust fan may be provided. By providing the outside air intake fan in the vent 5 and the exhaust fan next to the first damper 16, the rotation speed of the outside air intake fan and the exhaust fan can be controlled to adjust the amount of outside air taken into the building 11 and the amount of exhaust air exhausted from the building 11.

Here, if an outside air intake fan is not installed in the air vent 5, outside air is also taken in using the power of the blower fan 32, resulting in a higher static pressure inside the air conditioning machine room 3 than if an outside air intake fan were not installed. By installing an outside air intake fan in the air vent 5 and using the outside air intake fan to take in outside air, the static pressure in the air conditioning machine room 3 can be reduced accordingly, making it possible to further prevent outside air from entering from places other than the air vent filter 51. Furthermore, if at least the exterior walls (floor panels) around the air vent 5 and air vent filter 51 are constructed with a panel structure that provides a high level of airtightness, outside air can be further prevented from entering from places other than the air vent filter 51.

Although a temperature and humidity sensor is not provided in the embodiment described above, a temperature and humidity sensor may be provided. For example, a temperature and humidity sensor that detects the temperature and humidity outside the building 11 (outdoor temperature and humidity) may be provided outside the building 11, and a temperature and humidity sensor that detects the temperature and humidity inside the building 11 (indoor temperature and humidity) may be provided inside the building 11. If the detected outdoor temperature and humidity and indoor temperature and humidity indicate that the outdoor air cooling method is effective, the fourth damper 52 of the air vent 5 may be opened to introduce outdoor air as the outdoor air cooling method. The amount of outdoor air taken in through the air vent 5 can be adjusted by controlling the opening degree of the fourth damper 52. Furthermore, the opening degree of the first damper 16 may be controlled to exhaust approximately the same amount of air to the outdoors as the outdoor air taken in through the air vent 5. If the detected outdoor temperature and humidity and indoor temperature and humidity indicate that the outdoor air cooling method is not effective, the fourth damper 52 and the first damper 16 may be closed to select the circulating air cooling method. The control of the opening degrees of the fourth damper 52 and the first damper 16 based on the temperature and humidity detected by the temperature and humidity sensors may be performed by a computer including a processor and a memory.

In the embodiment described above, the building 11 is formed to be rectangular in plan view, but the building 11 may be formed to be a shape other than rectangular in plan view. For example, the building 11 may be formed to be circular or a polygon with pentagons or more sides in plan view.

The embodiments and variations disclosed above can be combined with each other.

1. Data center 2. Information processing equipment room 3. Air conditioning machine room 4. Electrical room 5. Ventilation duct 6. Fire wall 7. Corridor 8. Cool pit 9. Outside air intake 11. Building 12. Exterior wall 13. Roof 14. Floor 15. Eaves 16. First damper 21. Server room 22. Server rack 23. Auxiliary power room 24. Ceiling 25. Partition plate 26. Flow rectifier 27. Blocking plate 28. Wall 31. Diffusion line fan 32. Blower fan 33. Cooling coil 34. Second damper 35. Humidifier 36. Cooling coil 37. Third damper 51. Ventilation duct filter 52. Fourth damper 91. Server 211: Cold air aisle 212: Hot air aisle 221: Rack door 222: Blank panel 231: Punching door 232: Grating floor 233: Battery 234: UPS

Claims (9)

A building with a vent formed at the bottom of the building;
an information processing equipment room provided between the outer wall of the building and the ventilation opening, in which racks accommodating information processing equipment are arranged;
an outside air introduction path provided in a lower part of the building and connecting the outside of the building with the vent;
a blower fan that draws in air outside the building via the outside air introduction path and the vent and supplies cool air to the information processing equipment room,
none of the vents are provided in an area closer to the exterior wall than the information processing equipment room;
Air conditioning systems for data centers. A building with a vent formed at the bottom of the building;
an information processing equipment room provided between the outer wall of the building and the ventilation opening, in which racks accommodating information processing equipment are arranged;
an outside air introduction path provided in a lower part of the building and connecting the outside of the building with the vent;
a blower fan that draws in air outside the building via the outside air introduction path and the vent and supplies cool air to the information processing equipment room,
none of the blower fans are provided in an area closer to the exterior wall than the information processing equipment room;
Air conditioning systems for data centers. A building with a vent formed at the bottom of the building;
an information processing equipment room provided between the outer wall of the building and the ventilation opening, in which racks accommodating information processing equipment are arranged;
an outside air introduction path provided in a lower part of the building and connecting the outside of the building with the vent;
a blower fan that draws in air outside the building via the outside air introduction path and the vent and supplies cool air to the information processing equipment room,
In the information processing equipment room, an auxiliary power supply unit is disposed in an area closer to the outer wall than an area in which a server is disposed.
Air conditioning systems for data centers. A building with a vent formed at the bottom of the building;
an information processing equipment room provided between the outer wall of the building and the ventilation opening, in which racks accommodating information processing equipment are arranged;
an outside air introduction path provided in a lower part of the building and connecting the outside of the building with the vent;
a blower fan that draws in air outside the building via the outside air introduction path and the vent and supplies cool air to the information processing equipment room,
the cool air is supplied to a first area in the information processing equipment room where servers are located, and is then supplied to a second area via the first area where an auxiliary power supply unit is located;
Air conditioning systems for data centers. A building with a vent formed at the bottom of the building;
an information processing equipment room provided between the outer wall of the building and the ventilation opening, in which racks accommodating information processing equipment are arranged;
an outside air introduction path provided in a lower part of the building and connecting the outside of the building with the vent;
a blower fan that draws in air outside the building via the outside air introduction path and the vent and supplies cool air to the information processing equipment room,
In the information processing equipment room, a server is disposed on the upstream side of the cool air, and an auxiliary power supply unit is disposed on the downstream side of the cool air;
the auxiliary power supply includes an uninterruptible power supply and a battery;
a floor member having a plurality of holes formed therein is provided above the battery;
The uninterruptible power supply is disposed on the floor member.
Air conditioning systems for data centers. In the information processing equipment room, a server is disposed on the upstream side of the cool air, and an auxiliary power supply unit is disposed on the downstream side.
The air conditioning system for a data center according to any one of claims 1 to 4. the information processing equipment room includes a first information processing equipment room and a second information processing equipment room;
the first information processing equipment compartment and the second information processing equipment compartment are provided on opposite sides of the ventilation opening;
The air conditioning system for a data center according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The ventilation opening is provided with a filter that prevents dust and moisture contained in the outside air from entering the building.
An air conditioning system for a data center according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The outside air introduction path is provided underground.
An air conditioning system for a data center according to any one of claims 1 to 8.