JP2012063049A - Air conditioning system for data center - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent decrease in cooling ability of an air conditioning system for a data center.SOLUTION: The air conditioning system for a data center employs an upper blowing system of air-conditioning by blowing cold air from the upper part of a rack 13 that stores ICT equipment. In the system, a cold isle 17 for storing cold air to be sucked to the rack 13 and a hot isle 18 for storing hot air discharged from the rack 13, are partitioned, and a communicating port 40 to mix the hot air stored in the hot isle 18 with the cold air supplied to the cold isle 17 is disposed. Since the hot air intruding from the hot isle 18 to the cold isle 17 is mixed with the cold air supplied to the cold isle 17 and sucked into the ICT equipment stored in the rack 13, a short circuit phenomenon can be effectively prevented.

Description

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

  In data centers (DCs) that house ICT equipment (information communication equipment such as computers, servers, and HUBs), maintain the temperature and humidity of the cold air drawn into the ICT equipment within the control range and reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning equipment. Must be reduced. For example, in class 1, which has the strictest management range, the allowable temperature range of cold air is 15 to 32 ° C., and the recommended temperature range is 18 to 27 ° C. Further, in class 2, which has the next severe management range, the allowable temperature range of cold air is 10 to 35 ° C., and the recommended temperature range is 18 to 27 ° C. Also, the temperature difference between the cold air supplied to the ICT equipment and the temperature of the hot air that has processed the heat load of the ICT equipment is usually about 8 ° C. There is also.

  Currently, the mainstream of air conditioning systems for data centers is under-floor air supply that uses the under-floor pressure chamber to supply cool air to the front of racks that contain ICT equipment from the floor panel openings. This method requires a large amount of blower power because the air pressure of the supply air is large and the pressure loss at the part that blows air from the air conditioner to the floor (the outlet of the air conditioner, bending of the duct, sudden expansion to the floor) is large. .

  As an example, the breakdown of power consumed in data centers is 44% for air conditioning equipment, 23% of which is blower power. In other words, the power consumption of the blower has reached 10% of the entire data center. If an air conditioning system with a small pressure loss can be realized, the power of the blower can be drastically reduced and reliable energy saving can be achieved. Since the performance of electronic components that make up ICT equipment depends on temperature, cooling capacity is an important design item. The heat generation density of electronic components tends to increase, and the realization of an air conditioning system with low pressure loss and high cooling capacity is desired.

  Therefore, conventionally, an air-conditioning system that blows out the upper part of the rack and does not require blowing air under the floor has been proposed. For example, Non-Patent Document 1 describes a method in which cold air is blown down from a ceiling outlet. Non-Patent Document 2 describes a system in which an air supply duct is installed between server racks and a server rack, and cool air is blown out from an outlet at the lower end of the air supply duct to the upper part of the rack.

  Conventionally, in order to prevent a so-called short circuit phenomenon in which hot air discharged from the rack is directly sucked into the rack, a cold aisle in which cold air is sucked into the rack storing ICT equipment, and a hot aisle in which air is discharged from the rack, For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 are disclosed as a method of partitioning the image.

JP 2010-43817 A JP 2006-64303 A

Obayashi Corporation Press Release 2009.6.10 “Development of“ Cool Air Capture ”Energy Saving Air Conditioning System Optimum for Data Centers” Construction example of new air conditioning system in Internet data center, magazine heat pump and its application, 2007.3, No.72, pp.18-20

  However, in the technologies shown in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, because the cold aisle that collects the cold air supplied from the air conditioner and the hot aisle that collects the hot air after processing the heat generated by the ICT equipment are not separated, Short circuit phenomenon is likely to occur, and there is a possibility that cold air cannot be effectively supplied to the suction surface of the rack.

  On the other hand, as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the method of partitioning the cold aisle and the hot aisle is effective in preventing the short circuit phenomenon, but the air volume imbalance has not been eliminated and the cold aisle is supplied. If the balance between the amount of cold air supplied and the amount of air drawn in by the ICT equipment stored in the rack is not balanced, the cooling effect will be reduced. For example, if the air supply amount is less than the suction amount, the hot air in the hot aisle may enter the cold aisle and cause the so-called short circuit phenomenon that the cooling capacity is reduced by being immediately sucked into the ICT equipment. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to prevent a decrease in cooling capacity of a data center air conditioning system.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, there is provided an air outlet system for a data center of an upper blowing system that blows cold air from an upper part of a rack that houses ICT equipment, and air-conditions the air sucked into the rack. A cold aisle to be stored and a hot aisle to store hot air discharged from the rack are partitioned, and a communication port is provided for mixing the hot air stored in the hot aisle with the cold air supplied to the cold aisle. An air conditioning system for a data center is provided.

  The communication port may be provided in an air supply duct that supplies cold air to the cold aisle. Further, the communication port is provided in a partition wall that divides the cold aisle and the hot aisle, and the communication port returns a hot air from the hot aisle across the discharge surface of the rack. It may be in the opposite position.

  An air supply port for supplying cold air may be provided above the cold aisle, and the communication port may be provided in the vicinity of the air supply port. In this case, a pipe communicating with the hot aisle may be disposed in the vicinity of the air supply port, and the communication port may be provided in the pipe.

  In addition, an exhaust port for discharging hot air from the hot aisle to the outdoors, and an outside air supply port for supplying outside air to the hot aisle from the outside, as seen from a return air port for returning hot air from the hot aisle, The exhaust port may be located away from the outside air supply port. Furthermore, a temperature sensor may be provided in the cold aisle and the hot aisle, and a control unit may be provided that controls the amount of cool air supplied to the hot aisle based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

  According to the present invention, even if hot air accumulated in the hot aisle enters the cold aisle, the hot air that has entered is mixed into the cold air supplied to the cold aisle and then sucked into the CT equipment stored in the rack. It will be. For this reason, the short circuit phenomenon can be effectively prevented. Also, hot air can easily move from hot aisle to cold aisle through the communication port, and the difference in the balance between the supply amount of low-temperature air supplied to the low temperature side and the intake amount of the blower provided in the ICT equipment stored in the rack Can be easily compensated by hot air moving from hot aisle to cold aisle.

1 is a plan view of a data center to which an air conditioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a communication port is provided in an air supply duct. It is AA sectional drawing in FIG. It is BB sectional drawing in FIG. 1 is a plan view of a data center to which an air conditioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a communication port is provided in a partition wall. It is AA sectional drawing in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of embodiment which supplies external air to a hot aisle. It is explanatory drawing of embodiment which controls the request | required air volume of cold using a temperature sensor. It is a graph which shows an example of the relationship between the temperature of cold air, and an inverter output. It is explanatory drawing of embodiment which provided the communicating port in the vicinity of the air supply port which supplies cold air to a cold aisle. It is explanatory drawing of an air dispersion pipe. It is a bottom view of the main duct. It is an AA cross-sectional enlarged view in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an air conditioning room 11 is provided inside the outer wall 10 of the data center 1. For the sake of explanation, the ceiling 26 is omitted in FIG. On the floor 12 of the air conditioning room 11, a rack 13 for storing ICT equipment is placed. A free access floor space 14 is provided below the floor 12. In the illustrated example, two racks 13 are placed on the floor 12 of the air conditioning room 11. The ICT equipment stored in the rack 13 is equipment that generates heat, such as a computer, a server, and a HUB, and is required to be cooled.

  The periphery of the rack 13 is partitioned into a cold aisle 17 and a hot aisle 18 by a vertical partition wall 15 that partitions the space horizontally and a horizontal partition wall 16 that partitions the space vertically. The pair of side surfaces of the rack 13 includes a suction surface 20 for sucking cold air into the rack 13 and a discharge surface 21 for discharging hot air that has become hot by processing the cooling load of the ICT equipment housed in the rack 13. It has become. The ICT equipment housed in the rack 13 includes individual blowers, and by operating the blower, cool air is sucked into the rack 13 from the suction surface 20 and hot air is discharged from the discharge surface 21 to the outside of the rack 13.

  The two racks 13 are arranged in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween, with the suction surfaces 20 facing each other. The cold aisle 17 is closed on all four sides by the suction surfaces 20 of the two racks 13 and the vertical partition wall 15, is closed by the horizontal partition wall 16 on the upper side, and is closed by the floor 12 on the lower side.

  The hot aisle 18 is formed so as to surround the outsides of the two racks 13 and the cold aisle 17, and the discharge surfaces 21 of the two racks 13 are all directed toward the hot aisle 18. The hot aisle 18 is closed on all four sides by the wall surface 25, the upper side is closed by the ceiling 26, and the lower side is closed by the floor 12. A cold aisle 17 surrounded by two racks 13, a vertical partition wall 15 and a floor 12 is located inside the hot aisle 18. Further, the hot aisle 18 is in a state of communicating through a space between the horizontal partition wall 16 formed above the rack 13 and the ceiling 26. A piping space 27 is formed above the ceiling 26.

  On the side of the hot aisle 18, an equipment chamber 30 is provided outside the wall surface 25. A wall 25 located between the hot aisle 18 and the equipment chamber 30 is provided with a return port 32 having a cooling coil 31. The cooling coil 31 is circulated and supplied via a refrigerant pipe 34 cooled by a cold heat source device 33 arranged outside (outside) the data center 1.

  A fan 35 is installed inside the equipment chamber 30. The fan 35 is connected to the start end of the main duct 36. The main duct 36 is provided horizontally in a piping space 27 formed above the ceiling 26.

  The upper ends of a plurality of air supply ducts 37 are connected to the lower surface of the main duct 36. Each air supply duct 37 passes through the ceiling 26, passes through the space (hot aisle 18) between the horizontal partition wall 16 formed above the rack 13 and the ceiling 26, and the lower end of each air supply duct 37. Is open and connected to the horizontal partition wall 16. Accordingly, the cold air accumulated in the equipment chamber 30 by the operation of the fan 35 is supplied to the cold aisle 17 through the main duct 36 and the air supply ducts 37.

  On the side surface of each air supply duct 37, a communication port 40 is opened in a space (hot aisle 18) between the horizontal partition wall 16 and the ceiling 26 formed above the rack 13.

  In the data center 1 configured as described above, the cold air previously stored in the equipment chamber 30 by the operation of the fan 35 installed in the equipment chamber 30 passes through the main duct 36 and each air supply duct 37. Then, the air is supplied to the cold aisle 17, and the cold air is stored in the cold aisle 17. The cold air thus stored in the cold aisle 17 is sucked into the rack 13 from the suction surface 20 by the operation of the blower included in the ICT equipment housed in the rack 13. Thus, the normal operation of the ICT equipment housed in the rack 13 is ensured by the cold air sucked into the rack 13.

  Then, hot air that has become high temperature due to the processing of the cooling load of the ICT equipment in the rack 13 is discharged from the rack 13 to the hot aisle 18 through the discharge surface 21. In this manner, hot air is stored in the hot aisle 18. The hot air accumulated in the hot aisle 18 is returned to the equipment chamber 30 through the return air port 32 by the operation of the fan 35. Here, since the cooling coil 31 is provided in the return air port 32, the hot air accumulated in the hot aisle 18 is cooled by the cooling coil 31 when passing through the return air port 32, and becomes cold air. 30. Thus, cold air is stored in the equipment chamber 30. The cold air accumulated in the equipment chamber 30 is supplied to the cold aisle 17 through the main duct 36 and each air supply duct 37 by the operation of the fan 35. Thus, in the data center 1, the cooling operation of the upper blowing method is performed, and the cooling load of the ICT equipment housed in the rack 13 is processed.

  By the way, in the data center 1 as described above, when the suction amount by the blower provided in the ICT equipment of the rack 13 is larger than the supply amount of the fan 35 installed in the equipment chamber 30, it is hot due to the differential pressure. Hot air enters the cold aisle 17 from the aisle 18. In such a case, if the hot air that has entered the cold aisle 17 is immediately sucked into the ICT device, the cooling capacity is reduced, and the cooling load of the ICT device may not be sufficiently processed.

  However, in this data center 1, since the communication port 40 is opened in the air supply duct 37 that supplies cold air to the cold aisle 17, when the hot aisle 18 has a lower pressure than the cold aisle 17, the communication port 40. Then, hot air enters the air supply duct 37 from the hot aisle 18. As a result, hot air enters the cold air flowing through the air supply duct 37, and hot air is mixed with the cold air in the air supply duct 37, so that the air (cold air) having a low temperature as a whole is supplied to the cold aisle 17. The Rukoto. In addition, the temperature of the cool air supplied from the air supply duct 37 to the cold aisle 17 rises by several degrees by the hot air entering and mixing into the air supply duct 37. However, compared with the amount of cold air supplied, the amount of hot air that enters the air supply duct 37 is small, which does not hinder the operation of ICT equipment. As a result, a short circuit phenomenon in which hot air that has entered the cold aisle 17 is immediately sucked into the ICT equipment is avoided, and a reduction in cooling capacity is prevented.

  The communication port through which hot air is mixed with cold air can also be provided at a place other than the air supply duct 37. In the data center 1 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a communication port 41 is provided in the vertical partition wall 15 that partitions the cold aisle 17 and the hot aisle 18. As in FIG. 1, the ceiling 26 is also omitted in FIG.

  However, in the data center 1 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the communication port 41 is arranged at a position opposite to the return air port 32 with the discharge surface 21 of the rack 13 interposed therebetween. That is, in the hot aisle 18, the hot air discharged from the discharge surface 21 of the rack 13 by processing the cooling load of the ICT equipment flows toward the return air port 32. For this reason, the hot air is collected most between the discharge surface 21 of the rack 13 and the return air port 32 in the hot aisle 18. On the other hand, even in the hot aisle 18, the temperature of the hot air is kept relatively low at the position opposite to the return air port 32 across the discharge surface 21 of the rack 13 because it is hardly affected by the heat generated by the ICT equipment. Even if air enters the cold aisle 17 through the communication port 41, the temperature rise of the cold air stored in the cold aisle 17 can be suppressed low. The hot air that has entered the cold aisle 17 from the communication port 41 is mixed with the cold air in the cold aisle 17 to become a low-temperature air (cold air) as a whole. It will be consumed for cooling.

  Next, FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which outside air is supplied to the hot aisle 18. The ceiling 26 that covers the upper part of the hot aisle 18 is provided with an exhaust port 45 for exhausting hot air from the hot aisle 18 to the outside and an outside air supply port 46 for supplying outside air to the hot aisle 18 from the outside. An exhaust duct 48 including an exhaust fan 47 is connected to the exhaust port 45. An air supply duct 51 including an air supply fan 49 and a filter 50 is connected to the outside air supply port 46. The exhaust duct 48 and the air supply duct 51 are drawn out to the outside through a pipe space 27 formed above the ceiling 26. By supplying the outside air to the hot aisle 18 in this way, a necessary amount of outside air for the worker can be ensured. In addition, when the outside air temperature is lower than the hot air stored in the hot aisle 18, a cooling effect can be obtained by supplying the outside air to the hot aisle 18.

  Further, when viewed from the position of the return air port 32 for ventilating the equipment chamber 30 from the hot aisle 18, the exhaust port 45 is provided at a position away from the outside air supply port 46. In the hot aisle 18, hot air discharged from the discharge surface 21 of the rack 13 flows toward the return air port 32. If the outside air supply port 46 is arranged on the upstream side of the flow of hot air generated in the rack 13 (the flow from the discharge surface 21 toward the return air port 32) and the exhaust port 45 is arranged on the downstream side, it is arranged on the upstream side. There is a possibility that the outside air supplied into the hot aisle 18 from the outside air supply port 46 that has been made flows on the flow of hot air generated in the rack 13 and is then exhausted from the exhaust port 45 disposed on the downstream side. is there. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, if the exhaust port 45 is located away from the outside air supply port 46 as viewed from the position of the return air port 32, the upstream side of the hot air flow generated in the rack 13. In this relationship, the exhaust port 45 is positioned on the downstream side, and the outside air supply port 46 is positioned on the downstream side. As a result, the outside air supplied into the hot aisle 18 from the outside air supply port 46 does not flow toward the exhaust port 45 but is surely sucked into the return air port 32 and enters the system (in the data center 1). Will be captured. Thereby, the amount of outside air required for the worker can be secured, and a cooling effect by outside air can also be obtained. In addition, since hot air is accumulated closer to the return air port 32 in the hot aisle 18, by supplying outside air from the outside air supply port 46 provided at a position closer to the return air port 32, The cooling effect by outside air can be used for a long time. Further, by exhausting excess air at the exhaust port 45 provided at a position away from the return air port 32 in the hot aisle 18, the influence on the flow of hot air generated in the rack 13 can be reduced.

  Next, FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which a temperature sensor 55 is provided in the cold aisle 17 and a temperature sensor 56 is provided in the hot aisle 18. 1 and 4, the ceiling 26 is omitted in FIG. The temperature of the cold air in the cold aisle 17 measured by the temperature sensor 55 and the temperature of the hot air in the hot aisle 18 measured by the temperature sensor 56 are input to the control unit 57. In the data center air conditioning system, the suction temperature into the ICT equipment is required to be within a predetermined range. In response to this requirement, in the embodiment of the present invention, the required amount of cold air obtained from the temperature of the cold air in the cold aisle 17 and the required amount of cold air obtained from the temperature of the hot air in the hot aisle 18 are high. The required air volume is used as the cold air supply volume, and the air volume of the blower 35 is variably controlled by the control unit 57 using the inverter 53 or the like. FIG. 8 shows an example of the relationship between the cold air temperature and the inverter output.

  The reason why the required air volume is obtained from the temperature in the hot aisle 18 and the suction temperature into the ICT equipment can be kept within a predetermined range is as follows. That is, the temperature difference between the cold air intake temperature calculated from the ventilation volume of ICT equipment and the temperature of the exhausted hot air is designed to be approximately 15 ° C. Further, in the present invention, the entry of hot air from the hot aisle 18 to the cold aisle 17 through the rack 13 is prevented by providing communication ports 40 and 41 for mixing hot air from the hot aisle 18 into the cold aisle 17. Thus, by setting the temperature of the hot aisle 18 within a predetermined range, the suction temperature of the ICT equipment can be kept within the predetermined range. However, considering the robustness of the control, it is desirable to select the higher required air volume from the temperature of the cold aisle 17 and the required air volume from the temperature of the hot aisle 18.

  Next, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, the cold aisle 17 is closed on all sides by the suction surfaces 20 and the partition walls 60 of the two racks 13, and the upper side is closed by the lower surface 61 of the main duct 36. The bottom is blocked by the floor 12. The lower surface 61 of the main duct 36 is flush with the ceiling 26, and the upper end of the partition wall 60 is in contact with the ceiling 26.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, two hot aisles 18 are arranged so as to sandwich both sides of the cold aisle 17. Each hot aisle 18 is closed on all sides by the wall surface 25, the discharge surface 21 of the rack 13, and the partition wall 60, the upper side is closed by the ceiling 26, and the lower side is closed by the floor 12. Further, the two hot aisles 18 are connected by an air dispersion pipe 62 disposed along the lower surface 61 of the main duct 36.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the air dispersion pipe 62 is a hollow pipe having both ends opened. The two hot aisles 18 communicate with each other through the inside of the air dispersion pipe 62, and the hot air accumulated in each hot aisle 18 enters the inside of the air dispersion pipe 62. On the side surface of the air dispersion pipe 62, communication ports 65 for blowing hot air in the hot aisle 18 into the cold aisle 17 are provided at a plurality of locations.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a plurality of air supply ports 66 are dispersedly arranged on the lower surface 61 of the main duct 36 blocking the upper side of the cold aisle 17. For this reason, the cold air previously stored in the equipment chamber 30 as described above is supplied into the main duct 36 by the operation of the fan 35, whereby the cold aisle 17 is supplied from the main duct 36 through the air supply port 66. Cooling air is supplied downward, and the cooling operation of the upper blow-out method is performed.

  Further, when the amount of air drawn by the blower provided in the ICT equipment of the rack 13 is larger than the amount of air supplied by the fan 35 installed in the equipment chamber 30, the hot aisle 18 has a lower pressure than the cold aisle 17. The hot air in the hot aisle 18 is blown into the cold aisle 17 from the communication port (opening) 65 on the side surface of the air dispersion pipe 62 in the vicinity of the air supply port 66 where the cold air is supplied downward. As a result, in the vicinity of the air supply port 66, hot air is mixed with the cold air supplied into the cold aisle 17, and air (cold air) that is in a uniformly low temperature as a whole is supplied downward to the cold aisle 17. Will be. As a result, a short circuit phenomenon in which hot air that has entered the cold aisle 17 is immediately sucked into the ICT equipment is avoided, and a reduction in cooling capacity is prevented.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, it is possible to provide an energy-saving data center air conditioning system with a small blowing power. Moreover, the annual energy consumption of the cold heat source equipment can be reduced by utilizing the outside air cooling for a long period of time.

  The present invention is useful for a data center storing ICT equipment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Data center 10 Outer wall 11 Air-conditioning room 12 Floor 13 Rack 14 Free access floor space 15 Vertical partition wall 16 Horizontal partition wall 17 Cold aisle 18 Hot aisle 20 Suction surface 21 Outlet surface 25 Wall surface 26 Ceiling 27 Piping space 30 Equipment chamber 31 Cooling coil 32 Return air port 33 Cold source device 34 Refrigerant piping 35 Fan 36 Main duct 37 Air supply ducts 40 and 41 Communication port 45 Exhaust port 46 Outside air supply port 47 Exhaust fan 48 Exhaust duct 49 Supply fan 50 Filter 51 Supply duct 55 56 temperature sensor 57 control unit 58 inverter 60 partition wall 61 lower surface 62 (of main duct) air dispersion pipe 65 communication port 66 air supply port

Claims (7)

It is an air outlet system for the data center of the upper outlet type that blows out cold air from the upper part of the rack that stores ICT equipment and performs air conditioning.
A cold aisle that collects cold air sucked into the rack and a hot aisle that accumulates hot air discharged from the rack are partitioned,
An air conditioning system for a data center, characterized in that a communication port is provided for mixing hot air stored in the hot aisle with cold air supplied to the cold aisle.   The air conditioning system for a data center according to claim 1, wherein the communication port is provided in an air supply duct for supplying cold air to the cold aisle. The communication port is provided in a partition wall that partitions the cold aisle and the hot aisle,
2. The air conditioning system for a data center according to claim 1, wherein the communication port is located at a position opposite to a return air port for returning hot air from the hot aisle across the discharge surface of the rack. An air supply port for supplying cold air is provided above the cold aisle,
The air conditioning system for a data center according to claim 1, wherein the communication port is provided in the vicinity of the air supply port.   The air conditioning system for a data center according to claim 4, wherein a pipe communicating with the hot aisle is disposed in the vicinity of the air supply opening, and the communication opening is provided in the pipe. An exhaust port for discharging hot air from the hot aisle to the outdoors, and an outside air supply port for supplying outside air to the hot aisle from the outside,
The data according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the exhaust port is located farther from the outside air supply port as viewed from a return port that returns hot air from the hot aisle. Center air conditioning system. A temperature sensor is provided in the cold aisle and the hot aisle,
The air conditioning system for a data center according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a control unit that controls a supply amount of cold air supplied to the cold aisle based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

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