JP2013206264A - Air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently process exhaust heat by preventing exhaust heat wraparound.SOLUTION: An air conditioning system includes a line of a plurality of racks housing a device and arranged opposite to each other across a passage to supply air from the front of the device and to exhaust heated air from the rear, and an air conditioner, in which cooling air blown out of the air conditioner cools the device and is then sucked again into the air conditioner from above the line of racks. In the air conditioning system, an air curtain generation unit for forming an air curtain upward is provided at an upper end of a hot aisle side of the line of the racks, a return air opening is provided on a ceiling in a manner to face the air curtain generation unit, and a suction air quantity by a fan of the air conditioner is made larger than a blowout air quantity of the air curtain generation unit to form an aisle with air at an upper part at the hot aisle side.

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioning system in a space where information processing equipment such as a data center generates a large amount of heat.

Information processing equipment such as servers, routers, gateways, and network devices that are peripheral equipment of servers, for example, data center server rooms installed in rack-like containers, or advanced communication equipment are also installed in rack-like containers In the communication electronics equipment installation room or the computer room where a high-performance supercomputer capable of high-speed and high-speed computation is installed, the remarkable progress in the integration of computing circuits of electronic information processing equipment Heat generation has also increased, and further integration of information processing devices has progressed due to the downsizing of unit information processing devices, increasing the heat generation load per unit plane area in the room.
In order to maintain the normal operating environment of these unit information processing devices, the room is always cooled. Due to the increase in the amount of heat generation and the increase in integration density, even if the air is cooled by the air conditioner and blown into the room, the cool air cannot be supplied to the unit information processing device. The problem that the unit information processing equipment goes down one after another due to the temperature protection circuit frequently occurs, and the supply of cool air to the place to be cooled in the room is a problem. In addition, in order to increase the size of the room where the above-mentioned information processing equipment can be installed in business and improve the rentable ratio of the building excluding the machine room, it is not necessary to install an air conditioner with a large amount of air unnecessarily. There is also a desire to make the machine room smaller with capacity.

In general, as in conventional computer room air conditioning, the return air is cooled by the air conditioner, and the cool air is led into the room through the floor outlet via the floor and cooled by the cool air. And the air-conditioning system which cools the warm return air by the air circulation which returns to an air-conditioner again through a ceiling through a ceiling inlet is employ | adopted.
In particular, recent unit information processing equipment has a small cooling fan itself, and there is equipment in which the direction of air cooling is determined. In the case of a room that has such information processing equipment and is equipped with information processing devices that are arranged in multiple stages in a rack, and that blows out cold air from the floor, the front and rear surfaces of the information processing devices face each other. For example, a “cold aisle / hot aisle system” in which cold air blown from under the floor is sucked in from the front surface of the information processing apparatus and discharged as hot air on the rear surface has been mainly adopted.

One example will be described based on the data center air conditioning system shown in FIG.
In the data center 1, a plurality of racks 11, each accommodating information processing equipment 12 such as servers, routers, and network devices, are arranged opposite to each other in the data center room 2 with a passage 13 therebetween. The data center room 2 is composed of a double floor 3 on the floor side for supplying cool air from the underfloor space 5 through the vent hole 4, and the ceiling side provides the vent hole 7 in the ceiling space 8 for exhaust heat in the data center room 2. It is comprised by the double ceiling 6 discharged through.
The underfloor space 5 and the ceiling space 8 are connected to an air conditioner 10 disposed in a machine room 9 adjacent to the data center room 2.
The rack 11 is configured so that the internal information processing device 12 has a cooling fan individually, sucks in cool air supplied from the front surface 11a into the data center room 2 through the vent hole 4, and discharges high-temperature exhaust gas from the back surface 11b. It is configured. For this reason, the space where the front surface 11a of the rack 11 is in contact is cold aisle (the space in the data center room 2 where the air conditioner 10 sends out the cool air sucked by the information processing device 12) and the back surface 11b side is hot. Aisle (a space in the data center room 2 where only the exhaust heat of the information processing device 12 is collected). For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when two rows of racks 11 are arranged, the front aisles 11a of the racks 11 face each other to make a cold aisle.

  In the air conditioning system configured as described above, cold air generated by the air conditioner 10 is passed from the underfloor space 5 to the vent 4 in the entire data center room 2 in which the rows of racks 11 containing the information processing devices 12 are arranged. The cold aisle is formed in the space where the front surface 11a of the rack 11 is in contact, the cooling air is sucked in from the front surface 11a of the rack 11 by the cooling fan, the information processing equipment 12 in the rack 11 is cooled, and the heat is exhausted. Is discharged into the data center room 2 from the rear surface 11b of the rack 11, exhaust heat is exhausted from the hot aisle on the rear surface 11b side of the rack 11 into the ceiling space 8 through the vent hole 7, and returned to the air conditioner 10. It is operated so as to keep the cold aisle in the data center room 2 at a temperature at which the information processing device 12 is sufficiently cooled by circulating air.

However, in the air conditioning system of FIG. 6, the hot air discharged to the rear surface 11b of the rack 11 is mixed with the cold air on the front surface 11a of the rack 11 as indicated by the arrow 11c, and the mixing loss, that is, the precious cold air is treated as information processing equipment. There is a problem of causing a heat loss that cools the high-temperature air that is supplied to 12 and not used for cooling but is discharged from the ceiling vent 7 as return air and returned to the air conditioner.
Further, as the amount of heat generated by the information processing device 12 in the rack 11 and the amount of high-temperature air to be discharged increase, the above-mentioned mixing loss is more likely to occur, and the thermal environment in the data center room 2 deteriorates, and the accumulation proceeds. There was a problem that the thermal environment of the processing apparatus 12 could not be maintained.
In addition, since the amount of heat generated by the information processing device 12 in the rack 11 has increased, the required cooling capacity has also increased.

Further, since the amount of heat generation varies depending on the amount of calculation data and the calculation frequency of the information processing device 12 in the rack 11, it is necessary to cope with cooling to a partial high heat generation.
However, since there is one air conditioner for each area and partial correspondence in the same space is not possible, there is only a countermeasure such as increasing the total circulating air volume, and the conveyance power necessary for air conditioning increases. In addition, since the return air is collectively processed by the air conditioner coil, the overall return air temperature rises due to the return air from the area with a high calorific value, and the air supply during the transition period of the cooling control of the air conditioner coil The temperature rises and the low heat generation area becomes high. As a result, the temperature that the information processing device 12 sucks becomes high, so that the information processing device itself is not sufficiently cooled, and there is a problem that the information processing device goes down due to the temperature protection circuit provided in the information processing device. .

Furthermore, in the cooling for residents as health air conditioning, the indoor air temperature and humidity conditions after processing the indoor load and building load should be 26 ° C., 50% RH, etc., and the supply air temperature blown out from the air conditioner is 18 In a data center room that is not health air conditioning, the air temperature at the inlet of the information processing device 12 before indoor load processing may be about 26 ° C. and 50% RH, and the suction return air temperature at the ceiling. Will return to the air conditioner at about 35 ° C to 40 ° C. Therefore, the temperature of the refrigerant (both water and chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant) flowing through the cooling coil of the air conditioner can be raised from the health air conditioner, and the coefficient of performance COP can be improved by raising the evaporation temperature of the refrigerator.
However, there has been no air conditioning system that performs such detailed energy saving.
In addition, there has been no air conditioning system that effectively uses outside air free cooling because the temperature of the refrigerant supplied to the air conditioner coil can be increased.

For example, in the region 11d on the back surface 11b of the rack 11, since it is not possible to individually cope with partial high heat generation, exhaust heat that cannot be processed wraps around the front surface 11a on the suction side of the rack 11 as indicated by an arrow 11e. It becomes.
Further, in the region 11f on the rear surface 11b of the rack 11, the entire return air temperature rises due to the influence of the return air from the area where the heat generation amount is high on the low load side. As the temperature rises and becomes high temperature, the supply air temperature of the front surface 11a of the rack 11 becomes high, and it becomes easy to mix from the region 11f, so that the exhaust heat from the region 11f of the back surface 11b is indicated by the arrow 11e. Will wrap around the front surface 11a.
And the air conditioner 10 has only one cooling coil, and has an air conditioner configuration in which it is difficult to use the outside air free cooling, and the temperature of the refrigerant flowing through the coil is not particularly noted.

Therefore, in order to improve the cooling capacity by appropriately supplying cool air to the indoor information processing equipment while suppressing the increase of energy consumption for cooling, it is possible to maintain the installation environment of the information processing equipment having a high heat generation load. There is a need for a possible cooling system for data centers.
Thus, for example, a rack is disclosed in which an air curtain that prevents hot air on the hot aisle side from flowing around is installed upward on the upper surface of the server rack (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In addition, a technique of providing an air curtain for separating hot aisle and cold aisle is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent No. 4510503 JP 2011-176135 A

However, in the rack of Patent Document 1, air blown upward from the air curtain circulates air in the room under the ceiling without causing the air inlet airflow to be sucked into the ceiling suction port, and the air curtain blows out at a high speed. The cold aisle side and the hot aisle side are actively mixed by attracting surrounding air or generating vortices by the air flow.
In addition, the air flow blown out as an air curtain air flow is sucked into the air curtain fan again, but if such a circulation is made, the air is heated by the air curtain fan that generates a lot of heat from the fan, and wasteful heat is generated toward the cold aisle side. Will be transmitted, which will supply high-temperature air to information processing equipment.
In this way, the air curtain airflow is circulated indoors without considering the handling of the cold air, and the exhaust of the heat generated information processing equipment cannot be returned to the effective ceiling vents.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, when cold air is blown out from the cold air discharge port 11 on the lower surface of the duct surrounded by the heat insulating side wall 12 covering the upper part of the cold air region 14 corresponding to the cold aisle at the upper part of the electric control panel row 7, 12 There is a partition part 13 that blows out cool air from the lower outlet to the front upper part of the electric control panel row 7 to form an air curtain. In this case, an air curtain that blows out cool air from the top to the bottom at high speed In particular, there is no suction to pull on the blowout side. Therefore, much cool air is used for the airflow of the high-speed air curtain, and warm air and mixing above the electric control panel row 7 occur in the boundary region, and the cool air is wasted. In addition, since the cold air curtain faces downward and the warm air exhaust surface 9 is above the electric control panel row 7 and is in an upward flow, there may be a problem that vortex is generated and mixing is actively generated.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and its purpose is to positively use a return air vent on the ceiling in order to suppress an increase in energy consumed for cooling information processing equipment. By providing the air curtain air flow, a strong air partition is created upward at the rack end, and an air conditioning system that can prevent the exhaust heat from wrapping around is provided.
Furthermore, in order to cope with the premise of suppressing the increase in energy consumed for cooling information processing equipment and the high heat generation information processing equipment rows such as high heat generation rack rows, the refrigerant flowing through the cooling coil of the local air conditioner An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning system that raises the temperature from health air conditioning, raises the evaporation temperature of the refrigerator, improves the coefficient of performance COP, and effectively uses outside air free cooling.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with their front and back sides aligned and disposed opposite to each other across a passage, and the information processing devices are supplied with air from the front side where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned. A plurality of rack rows exhausting the heated air from the back side of the equipment, an air conditioner that blows air through a double floor and a floor outlet between the rack rows, and a ceiling A ceiling internal air passage that sends return air to the air conditioner through a return air port, and cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is from the front of the row of the racks. In the air conditioning system that is sucked and cooled down after the information processing device is cooled and then sucked again into the ceiling return port above the passage on the back side of the rack row, on the hot aisle side that is the passage on the back side of the rack row At the top of the row of racks An air curtain generating unit that forms an curtain is provided, and the ceiling return air port is provided to face the air curtain generating unit, and the fan of the air conditioner is more than the amount of air blown from the air curtain generating unit. A partition by air is formed by push-pull airflow at the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side by increasing the amount of air sucked at the ceiling return air port.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with their front and back sides aligned and disposed opposite to each other across a passage, and the information processing devices are supplied with air from the front side where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned. A plurality of rack rows exhausting the heated air from the back side of the equipment, an air conditioner that blows air through a double floor and a floor outlet between the rack rows, and a ceiling A ceiling internal air passage that sends return air to the air conditioner through a return air port, and cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is sucked from the front of the rack row In the air conditioning system in which the information processing device is cooled and then sucked back into the ceiling return port above the passage on the back side of the row of racks, the hot aisle side that is the passage on the back side of the row of racks At the top of the rack row, An air curtain generating unit that forms a ten is provided, and the ceiling return air outlet is provided so as to face the air curtain generating unit, and a local air conditioner that communicates with a part or all of the ceiling return air outlet through a duct is provided. Push-pull airflow at the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side by increasing the amount of air sucked at the ceiling return port by the fan of the local air conditioner than the amount of air blown by the air curtain generating unit Thus, an air partition is formed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with their front and back sides aligned and disposed opposite to each other across a passage, and the information processing device is supplied with air from the front surface where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned. A plurality of rack rows exhausting the heated air from the back side of the equipment, an air conditioner that blows air through a double floor and a floor outlet between the rack rows, and a ceiling A ceiling internal air passage that sends return air to the air conditioner through a return air port, and cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is from the front of the row of the racks. In the air conditioning system that is sucked in and cooled down after the information processing device is cooled and then sucked back into the ceiling return port above the passage on the back side of the rack row, the air aisle system is on the hot aisle side that is the passage on the back side of the rack row At the top of the rack row, An air curtain generating unit for forming the air curtain, and the ceiling return air outlet is provided to face the air curtain generating unit, and a local air conditioner is provided that communicates with a part or all of the ceiling return air outlet through a duct. A vent is provided in the ceiling on the cold aisle side, which is a passage on the front side of the rack row, and the amount of air sucked into the ceiling return air by the fan of the local air conditioner is larger than the amount of air blown from the air curtain generating unit As a result, a partition by air is formed by push-pull airflow at the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side, and the heat load of the hot aisle sucked by the ceiling return port is increased. After cooling by the local air conditioner, air is supplied from the vent to the cold aisle side.

The invention according to claim 4 is the air conditioning system according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the local air conditioner is provided with two stages of direct expansion coils, and the natural expansion / compulsory direct expansion coil on the return air side. In addition, a double-coil air conditioner in which an evaporator direct expansion coil of the refrigeration cycle is installed on the air supply side, and the refrigerant natural / forced circulation direct expansion coil has refrigerant circulation with an outdoor unit located higher than the local air conditioner. Is characterized by switching between forced refrigerant circulation by a pump and natural refrigerant circulation due to a density difference depending on the temperature of the refrigerant under an outside air condition.
The invention according to claim 5 is the air conditioning system according to claim 4, wherein the condenser on the outdoor unit side is an evaporator condenser that increases the capacity by spraying water on the outside air side of the heat exchanger. To do.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with the front and back sides thereof aligned and opposed to each other with a passage therebetween, and the information processing device is supplied with air from the front surface where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned. A plurality of rack rows exhausting the heated air from the back side of the equipment, an air conditioner that blows air through a double floor and a floor outlet between the rack rows, and a ceiling A ceiling internal air passage that sends return air to the air conditioner through a return air port, and cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is from the front of the row of the racks. In the air conditioning system that is sucked in and cooled down after the information processing device is cooled and then sucked into the ceiling return air outlet above the passage on the back side of the rack row, a local area that communicates with a part or all of the ceiling return air through a duct Air conditioners are installed and in front of the rack row A vent is provided in the cold aisle ceiling, which is a side passage, and the hot air aspirated by the hot aisle sucked in the ceiling return air is cooled by the local air conditioner, and then the air is passed through the vent. Air is supplied to the cold aisle side, and the local air conditioner is provided with two stages of direct expansion coils, the natural expansion / recirculation refrigerant direct expansion coil on the return air side, and the refrigeration cycle evaporator direct expansion on the supply side The coil is a double coil air conditioner, and the refrigerant natural / forced circulation direct expansion coil is connected to a refrigerant circulation with an outdoor unit located higher than the local air conditioner, depending on the refrigerant forced circulation by the pump and the temperature of the refrigerant. It is characterized in that it is used by switching between natural refrigerant circulation due to density difference under the outside air condition.

According to the present invention, an air curtain generation unit is installed at the upper end located on the hot aisle side of the row of racks, and air is blown upward, and a strong air flow of push-pull is formed by sucking in the ceiling return air outlet. The exhaust heat can be prevented from wrapping around and the exhaust heat can be processed efficiently.
According to the present invention, in addition to exhaust heat treatment of the entire chamber, only the high load area can be individually cooled, so that the supply air temperature from the front of each rack row can be supplied appropriately and efficiently. The cooling of each information processing device is stabilized, and the reliability of the environment in which the information processing device is installed is improved.
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the cooling capability which can respond to the expansion accommodation of the information processing apparatus of a high heat generation load can respond by adding locally, without changing the existing access floor underfloor air conditioning equipment.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the temperature of the refrigerant | coolant which flows through the cooling coil of a local air conditioner can be raised from health air conditioning, the evaporation temperature of a refrigerator can be raised, and a coefficient of performance COP can be improved.
According to the present invention, the local air conditioner is provided with two stages of direct expansion coils, the refrigerant natural / forced circulation direct expansion coil on the return air side, and the evaporator direct expansion coil of the refrigeration cycle on the air supply side. By using the double-coil air conditioner, it is possible to perform the outside air free cooling that can effectively use the cold heat of the outside air, so that energy consumed for cooling can be saved.
According to the present invention, the condensation coil of the outdoor unit corresponding to the refrigerant natural / forced circulation direct expansion coil installed in the local air conditioner is an evaporator condenser that sprays water on the outside air side of the heat exchanger. The outside heat free cooling that can effectively use the latent heat of the can be performed, and the energy consumed for cooling can be saved.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the air conditioning system which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the row | line | column of the rack of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the air conditioning system which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the local air conditioner and outdoor unit which are used for the air conditioning system shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the air conditioning system which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the conventional air conditioning system.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
(First embodiment)
1 and 2 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an air conditioning system for a data center.
The data center 20 faces a row of a plurality of racks 22 each accommodating information processing equipment 23 such as servers, routers, gateways, and network devices that are peripheral devices of the server, facing the data center room 21 with a passage 24 therebetween. It is arranged. The data center room 21 is composed of a double floor 25 that supplies the cold air supplied by cooling the return air from the underfloor space by the air conditioner 32 through the floor outlet 27 on the floor side, and the data center room 21 on the ceiling side. It is composed of a double ceiling 28 that exhausts the exhaust heat from the room into a ceiling space 29 that is an air passage inside the ceiling through a return air port 30 located on the ceiling.

The underfloor space 26 and the ceiling space 29 are connected to an air conditioner 32 disposed in a machine room 31 adjacent to the data center room 21. The return air with exhaust heat discharged from the chamber sucked by the fan built in the air conditioner 32 into the ceiling space 29 through the return air port 30 located on the ceiling is sucked into the air conditioner 32 and cooled. Is done.
The rack 22 accommodates a plurality of internal information processing devices 23 with the front and back sides aligned, and the information processing devices 23 individually have cooling fans, and the front surface of the rack 22 with the front sides of the information processing devices 23 aligned. Cool air is cooled by an air conditioner 32 through a double floor 26 from 22a, and cool air supplied into the room through a floor outlet 27 is sucked in, and high-temperature exhaust is discharged from the rear surface 22b of the rack 22 where the back side of the information processing equipment 23 is aligned. Is configured to do.
For this reason, the space where the front surface 22a of the rack 22 contacts is cold aisle (the space in the data center room 21 where the air conditioner 32 sends out the cool air sucked by the information processing device 23) and the back surface 22b side is hot. Aisle (of the space in the data center room 21 is a space that collects only the exhaust heat of the information processing device 23). For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when two rows of racks 22 are arranged, the front aisles 22a of the racks 22 face each other to make a cold aisle.

A cross flow type push fan (air curtain generating unit) 33 for providing an air curtain 34 upward is provided at the upper end of the rear surface 22b of each rack 22 on the hot aisle side.
The cross-flow type push fan 33 is, for example, arranged in a circumferential direction of a plurality of circular support members arranged at predetermined intervals around a rotation shaft that extends from both ends of the motor shaft. The impeller with a large number of blades (blades) and a semicircular part on one side of the impeller are snail-shaped inside a long rectangular housing, and the velocity energy of the air coming out of the impeller is recovered and converted into pressure energy The inner casing is covered with a discharge port at the end of the casing, and the direction of suction and blowing in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis can be made straight.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of air curtains 34 are juxtaposed in parallel with the rows of racks 22 so that the heat can be exhausted to the return air port 30 provided in the double ceiling 28. Push-pull of push flow by the cross-flow type push fan 33 and pull flow by suction of the return air port 30 so that the row of the curtains 34 overlaps the end of the return air port 30 located above the end of the passage 24. By the flow, a curtain shape is formed at the upper end of the back side 22b of each rack 22 on the hot aisle side.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
First, a cold aisle is formed in a space where the front surfaces 22a of the racks 22 face each other in the rows of the racks 22 in the entire data center room 21 in which the rows of the racks 22 containing the information processing devices 23 are arranged side by side. 22 forms a hot aisle in the space where the back surface 22b of the rack 22 faces each other in a row, and supplies the cold air generated by the air conditioner 32 from the under floor space 26 through the floor outlet 27 installed in the cold aisle part. Then, the cool air is sucked in from the front surface 22a of the rack 22 by a cooling fan provided inside, the heat of the CPU and circuit of the information processing device 23 in the rack 22 is cooled, and the exhaust heat is heated from the back surface 22b of the rack 22 to the hot in the room 21. Drain into the aisle.

At this time, the cross-flow type push fan 33 sucks air heated by exhaust heat on the hot aisle side and creates an air flow so as to blow it upward. While increasing the amount of air sucked by the fan of the machine 32 and forming a push-pull air flow at the upper end of the hot aisle side of the back surface 22b of each rack 22, the air with exhaust heat of the hot aisle is also returned from the chamber as the remaining return air Discharge.
In this way, a uniform airflow (curtain-like airflow) is created between the hot-air side upper crossflow push fan 33 on the back surface 22b of each rack 22 and the end of the return air port 30, and the rack 22 The hot aisle is neatly formed by the invisible partition formed at the upper end of the hot aisle side of the back surface 22b.

The exhaust heat discharged to the hot aisle on the back surface 22b side of the rack 22 is returned to the return air outlet 30 of the double ceiling 28 by an upward air curtain 34 formed by a crossflow type push fan (air curtain generating unit) 33. The air is sucked and returned to the air conditioner 32.
The air returned to the air conditioner 32 is cooled by the air conditioner 32 and supplied again to the cold aisle in the data center room 21 via the underfloor space 26, and the cold aisle in the data center room 21 is used as the information processing device 23. Is operated to maintain a sufficiently cooled temperature.

According to the present invention, the ceiling return is provided by providing the crossflow type push fan (air curtain generating unit) 33 for providing the air curtain 34 upward at the upper end of the hot aisle rack on the back surface 22b of each rack 22. It becomes possible to form a push-pull type air curtain together with the air vent 30, and the partition between the hot aisle and the cold aisle can be formed properly, and the exhaust heat from the hot aisle side is prevented from entering the cold aisle side. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the exhaust heat from being re-sucked by the information processing device 23.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the cooling capacity capable of accommodating the additional storage of the information processing device 23 having a high heat generation load can be increased in the heat transfer of the refrigerant without changing the existing access floor underfloor air conditioner 32. Can only be added.

Moreover, according to this embodiment, the temperature of the indoor hot aisle side and the cold aisle side is stabilized, and the reliability of the environment in which the information processing device 23 is installed is improved.
Further, in this embodiment, the invisible partition in the air curtain 34 between the cold aisle on the front surface 22a side of the rack 22 and the hot aisle on the rear surface 22b side of the rack 22 is formed as a push-pull airflow at the ceiling return air outlet. Therefore, it is difficult to form a vortex flow in the room. Therefore, the air aisle air flow hardly mixes the cold aisle air and the hot aisle air.

(Second embodiment)
3 and 4 show a second embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an air conditioning system for a data center.
The data center 20A applied to the air conditioning system for the data center according to the present embodiment has a high heat load information on the right hot aisle shown in FIG. 3 rather than the hot aisle in the left rack 22 shown in FIG. A high-temperature hot aisle is formed in which exhaust heat from the row of racks 22 in which the processing equipment 23 is expanded and housed and generates a lot of heat is formed, so that the exhaust heat can be sucked from the return air inlet 30 in the region of the hot aisle. The local air conditioner 40 is different from the data center 20 applied to the data center air conditioning system according to the first embodiment in that a local air conditioner 40 is provided.
The local air conditioner 40 includes a free cooling (hereinafter referred to as “FC”) cooling coil 41 composed of an evaporator / cooler used for refrigerant circulation capable of forced refrigerant circulation or natural refrigerant circulation by a forced circulation pump 48, and a refrigeration cycle. The cooling coil 42 comprised with the evaporator of this and the fan 43 are provided at least. The cooling coil 41 for FC is higher than the local air conditioner 40, and is installed in an outdoor unit 59 installed in a position difference where the refrigerant naturally circulates in the circulation path due to a phase change or density difference due to the temperature of the refrigerant. The piping connected to the condenser 47 is provided with a forced circulation pump 48 so that the refrigerant can be circulated so that the pump 47 can be pumped in a period when the natural refrigerant cannot be circulated such as in summer when the outside air is not cooled.

  The FC cooling coil 41 is connected to the FC condenser 46 disposed in the outdoor unit 59 installed on the roof of the building including the data center 20 </ b> A via the refrigerant liquid pipe 44 and the refrigerant gas pipe 45. The refrigerant pipe 44 is provided with a natural circulation valve 47 and a forced circulation pump 48 in parallel. A differential pressure gauge 49 for measuring the differential pressure between the refrigerant liquid pipe 44 and the refrigerant gas pipe 45 is provided. The differential pressure gauge 49 communicates with a pressure controller (PIC) 50. The pressure controller (PIC) 50 inputs the measured value of the differential pressure gauge 49 and outputs a signal for starting the forced circulation pump 48 to the relay circuit (R) 51 when a necessary differential pressure cannot be obtained. The relay circuit (R) 51 closes the natural circulation valve 47 when the forced circulation pump 48 is activated to prevent the refrigerant in the bypass from circulating.

The cooling coil 42 is connected to a condenser 57 disposed in an outdoor unit 59 installed on the roof of a building via a refrigerant liquid pipe 54 provided with an expansion valve 58 and a refrigerant gas pipe 55 provided with a compressor 56. ing.
The outdoor unit 59 includes an outside air intake port 60, a heat exhaust fan 61, and a water sprayer 62 that sprays water onto the FC condenser 46 and the condenser 57. The FC condenser 46 and the condenser 57 serve as an evaporator condenser whose capacity is increased by water spraying on the surface by the water sprayer 62.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the push-pull is formed by increasing the suction air amount by the fan of the air machine 32 rather than the air flow amount of the cross-flow type push fan 33, and the cross-flow type push. A uniform air flow (uniform flow) is created between the fan 33 and the return air port 30, and an aisle (passage) is formed with air at the upper end of the hot aisle side of the row of racks 22.
Then, in the return air inlet 30 in the region where hot aisle higher than the hot aisle in the row of racks 22 is generated, the refrigerant liquid liquefied by the FC condenser 46 always flows down to the FC cooling coil 41. The refrigerant is naturally circulated by the difference in specific gravity with the return refrigerant gas vaporized by the FC cooling coil 41, and the air is cooled by the FC cooling coil 41.

At this time, the differential pressure gauge 49 measures the specific gravity difference between the refrigerant liquid liquefied by the FC condenser 46 and the return refrigerant gas vaporized by the FC cooling coil 41, and the measured value is used as a pressure controller (PIC) 50. To enter. The pressure controller (PIC) 50 outputs a signal for starting the forced circulation pump 48 to the relay circuit (R) 51 when the required differential pressure cannot be obtained, and the forced circulation pump 48 is started, and the natural circulation valve 47 is closed.
However, depending on the outside air conditions, air may not be sufficiently cooled by the FC cooling coil 41 alone. At this time, the air blown from the fan 43 of the local air conditioner 40 does not reach the set temperature. Therefore, in order to maintain the set temperature of the blown air from the fan 43 of the local air conditioner 40, the blown air temperature is measured by the thermometer 52 so that the blown air from the fan 43 of the local air conditioner 40 becomes the set temperature. The compressor 56 is activated via a temperature controller (TIC) 53 and is cooled by the cooling coil 42.

As described above, the air is sucked into the local air conditioner 40 from the return air inlet 30 in the region where the hot aisle at a high temperature as shown in the right side of FIG. 3 is generated, which is higher than the hot aisle in the row of the racks 22 as shown in the left side of FIG. The high temperature air of 35 ° C. to 40 ° C. with exhaust heat is generated by the FC cooling coil 41 in the previous stage, even if the FC condenser 46 is not an evaporator condenser but a simple condenser, and the refrigerant temperature is 34 ° C. in summer. Even if it is about, it is possible to exchange heat and cool the outside air free cooling, and then cooled by the cooling coil 42, which is the evaporator of the refrigeration cycle.
Furthermore, when the refrigerant temperature is close to the outside air temperature, for example, about 20 ° C. in the FC condenser 46 at a time other than the summer, cooling of the FC cooling coil 41 as the outside air free cooling may be almost completed. The compressor of the refrigeration cycle can be stopped. In this way, the cooling is reliably performed by the FC cooling coil 41 alone or by the FC cooling coil 41 and the cooling coil 42.

  The exhaust heat exhausted to the hot aisles in the remaining rows of the racks 22 is exhausted on the hot aisle side by the upward air curtain 34 formed by the crossflow type push fan 33, as in the first embodiment. An air flow is created so that the air heated by heat is sucked and blown upward, and the amount of air sucked by the fan of the air conditioner 32 is made larger than the amount of air blown by the cross-flow type push fan 33, and the back of each rack 22 While a push-pull air flow is formed at the upper end of the hot aisle side of 22b, air accompanied by exhaust heat of the hot aisle as the remaining return air is also sucked from the chamber to the return air port 30 and returned to the air conditioner 32.

Next, the evaporator capacitor in this embodiment will be described.
First, in order to use free cooling, the temperature and humidity conditions of the outside air are required. Here, the explanation will be given assuming the severest conditions in Tokyo in the summer (strict to use free cooling). It has a dry bulb temperature of 33 ° C. and a wet bulb temperature of 27 ° C.
In the evaporator condenser, as shown in FIG. 4, water is sprayed on the FC condenser 46 and the condenser 57 and the latent heat of vaporization is used, so that the vicinity of the heat exchanger surface of the FC condenser 46 and the condenser 57 is obtained. It is possible to bring the outside air to near the outside wet bulb temperature. That is, it is considered that the refrigerant temperature in the heat exchanger of the FC condenser 46 and the condenser 57 reaches about 28 ° C., even if the wet bulb temperature in summer assumed here is not 27 ° C. That is, it is assumed that the refrigerant temperature can be lowered to 28 ° C. even in summer.

Next, air is cooled by the cooling coil 41 for FC using this 28 ° C. refrigerant, but since the number of coils is limited, it cannot be cooled to the refrigerant temperature. It can be cooled to 30 ° C. Therefore, it is assumed that the air is cooled to 30 ° C. by free cooling.
On the other hand, it is assumed that the exhaust temperature from the high heat generating device in the information processing device 23 accommodated in the rack 22 will be about 35 ° C. to 40 ° C. Here, the temperature is 40 ° C. Further, the temperature to be kept on the cold aisle side is 26 ° C.
Therefore, the 40 ° C. exhaust is cooled to 30 ° C. by free cooling, and the remaining 4 ° C. is cooled by the refrigeration cycle, and it is assumed that 70% heat treatment is possible even in summer.

  The high heat generating devices in the information processing device 23 accommodated in the rack 22 are generally arranged in a form in which a rack 22 for accommodating server devices such as a 19-inch rack is arranged. Server equipment is stored. When a high-density device such as a blade server is fully mounted in a 19-inch rack, there is a possibility that the generated heat amount is 20 to 30 kW per rack. Therefore, it is necessary to process exhaust heat locally as in the present embodiment.

According to the present embodiment, there are the following advantages in addition to the effects of the first embodiment.
A local air conditioner 40 composed of a double coil type air conditioner is arranged in the double ceiling 28, and the heat source is a condensing unit with a free cooling function separately from the air conditioner system. It can also be operated with higher energy efficiency.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the operation is performed as the exhaust gas temperature rises, so that it is possible to perform the cooling aiming only around the information processing device 23 with a partly high load.

In addition, although the local air conditioner 40 demonstrated the case where it provided only around the information processing apparatus 23 with a partly high load, this invention is not limited to this, The local air conditioner 40 is provided to all the return air ports 30. It may be provided.
Also. In the present embodiment, a description will be given of a case where a local air conditioner 40 composed of a double coil air conditioner is arranged in the double ceiling 28 and a condensing unit with a free cooling function is used as a heat source separately from the air conditioner system. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an air conditioner that can be air-conditioned by a refrigeration cycle may be used.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an air conditioning system for a data center.
In the data center 20B to which the air conditioning system for the data center according to the present embodiment is applied, the cold air outlet 64 adjacent to the return air outlet 30 is connected to the cooling air outlet 64 of the local air conditioner 40 communicating with a part of the return air outlet 30. It differs from the data center 20A to which the air conditioning system for a data center according to the second embodiment is applied in that it is provided on the side.

According to the present embodiment, the exhaust heat sucked into the local air conditioner 40 from the return air inlet 30 in the region where hot aisle higher than the hot aisle in the row of racks 22 is generated is used as the FC cooling coil 41 alone. Or after cooling reliably with the cooling coil 41 for FC and the cooling coil 42, it can supply air to the cold aisle side from the blower outlet 64 via the piping 63. FIG.
The exhaust heat discharged to the hot aisles in the remaining rows of the racks 22 is caused by the upward air curtain 34 formed by the crossflow type push fan (air curtain generating unit) 33 as in the first embodiment. The air is sucked into the return opening 30 of the double ceiling 28 and returned to the air conditioner 32.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the exhaust heat sucked into the local air conditioner 40 from the return air inlet 30 in the region where hot aisle higher than the hot aisle in the row of racks 22 is generated is converted into FC. After cooling reliably by the cooling coil 41 alone or by the FC cooling coil 41 and the cooling coil 42, the air is supplied from the outlet 64 to the cold aisle side via the pipe 63, so exhaust of hot hot aisle is concentrated. Then, it is possible to cool directly by the FC cooling coil 41 alone or by the FC cooling coil 41 and the cooling coil 42, return to the room, and process a part of the load on the spot.

20, 20A, 20B Data center 21 Data center room 22 Rack 23 Information processing equipment 24 Passage 25 Double floor 26 Underfloor space 27 Vent 28 Double ceiling 29 Ceiling space 30 Return air port 31 Machine room 32 Air conditioner 33 Cross flow system Push fan (air curtain generation unit)
34 Air curtain 40 Local air conditioner 41 FC cooling coil 42 Cooling coil 43 Fans 44 and 54 Refrigerant liquid piping 45 and 55 Refrigerant gas piping 46 FC condenser 47 Natural circulation valve 48 Forced circulation pump 49 Differential pressure gauge 50 Pressure controller ( PIC)
51 Relay circuit (R)
52 Thermometer 53 Temperature Controller (TIC)
56 Compressor 57 Condenser 59 Outdoor unit 60 Outdoor air inlet 61 Waste heat fan 62 Water sprayer 63 Pipe 64 Air outlet

Claims (6)

A plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with the front and back sides aligned and disposed opposite to each other with a passage therebetween, and air is supplied from the front surface where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned, and the back surface of the information processing devices is aligned. Rows of racks that exhaust hot air,
An air conditioner that blows supply air through a floor outlet between the rows of racks through a double floor;
A ceiling internal air passage that sends the return air to the air conditioner through a ceiling return air outlet,
After cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is sucked in from the front of the row of racks and cools the information processing equipment, the above the passages on the back side of the rows of racks In the air conditioning system that is sucked into the ceiling return vent again,
An air curtain generating unit for forming an air curtain upward is provided at the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side which is a passage on the back side of the rack row, and
The ceiling return air port is provided to face the air curtain generating unit,
By increasing the amount of air sucked at the ceiling return port by the fan of the air conditioner than the amount of air blown by the air curtain generating unit, the push-pull airflow is applied to the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side. An air conditioning system characterized by forming an air partition. A plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with the front and back sides aligned and disposed opposite to each other with a passage therebetween, and air is supplied from the front surface where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned, and the back surface of the information processing devices is aligned. Rows of racks that exhaust hot air,
An air conditioner that blows supply air through a floor outlet between the rows of racks through a double floor;
A ceiling internal air passage that sends the return air to the air conditioner through a ceiling return air outlet,
After the cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is sucked in from the front of the rack row and cools the information processing equipment, the ceiling is returned above the passage on the back side of the rack row. In the air conditioning system that is sucked into the mouth again,
An air curtain generating unit for forming an air curtain upward is provided at the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side which is a passage on the back side of the rack row,
The ceiling return air port is provided so as to face the air curtain generating unit, and a local air conditioner that communicates with a part or all of the ceiling return air port through a duct is provided,
By increasing the amount of air sucked into the ceiling return port by the fan of the local air conditioner from the amount of air blown from the air curtain generating unit, a push-pull airflow is applied to the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side. An air conditioning system characterized by forming an air partition. A plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with the front and back sides aligned and disposed opposite to each other with a passage therebetween, and air is supplied from the front surface where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned, and the back surface of the information processing devices is aligned. Rows of racks that exhaust hot air,
An air conditioner that blows supply air through a floor outlet between the rows of racks through a double floor;
A ceiling internal air passage that sends the return air to the air conditioner through a ceiling return air outlet,
After cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is sucked from the front of the rack row and cools the information processing equipment, the ceiling above the passage on the back side of the rack row In the air conditioning system that is sucked into the return vent again,
An air curtain generating unit for forming an air curtain upward is provided at the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side, which is a passage on the back side of the rack row, and the ceiling return port faces the air curtain generating unit. Provided to
While providing a local air conditioner communicating with a part or all of the ceiling return air duct by a duct, and providing a vent on the cold aisle side ceiling that is a passage on the front side of the rack row,
By increasing the amount of air sucked into the ceiling return port by the fan of the local air conditioner from the amount of air blown from the air curtain generating unit, a push-pull airflow is applied to the upper end of the rack row on the hot aisle side. Forming a partition with air and supplying the hot aisle heated by the hot aisle sucked in the ceiling return vent to the cold aisle side after cooling with the local air conditioner. An air conditioning system characterized by In the air conditioning system according to claim 2 or claim 3,
The local air conditioner is provided with two stages of direct expansion coils, a refrigerant natural / forced circulation direct expansion coil on the return air side, and an evaporator direct expansion coil of the refrigeration cycle on the air supply side. age,
The direct expansion coil for natural / forced circulation of the refrigerant is used for refrigerant circulation with an outdoor unit located higher than the local air conditioner, forcibly circulating the refrigerant by a pump, and natural circulation of the refrigerant due to density difference depending on the temperature of the refrigerant. The air conditioning system is characterized by being switched between and used. The air conditioning system according to claim 4,
The air conditioner system characterized in that the condenser on the outdoor unit side is an evaporator condenser that increases the capacity by spraying water on the outside air side of the heat exchanger. A plurality of information processing devices are accommodated with the front and back sides aligned and disposed opposite to each other with a passage therebetween, and air is supplied from the front surface where the front sides of the information processing devices are aligned, and the back surface of the information processing devices is aligned. Rows of racks that exhaust hot air,
An air conditioner that blows supply air through a floor outlet between the rows of racks through a double floor;
A ceiling internal air passage that sends the return air to the air conditioner through a ceiling return air outlet,
After cooling air supplied from the air conditioner through the floor outlet is sucked from the front of the rack row and cools the information processing equipment, the ceiling above the passage on the back side of the rack row In the air conditioning system that is sucked into the return vent again,
A local air conditioner that communicates with a part or all of the ceiling return air duct by a duct, and a vent on the cold aisle side ceiling that is a passage on the front side of the row of racks,
After cooling the hot load of the hot aisle sucked in the ceiling return air with the local air conditioner, the air is supplied from the vent to the cold aisle side,
The local air conditioner is provided with two stages of direct expansion coils, a refrigerant natural / forced circulation direct expansion coil on the return air side, and an evaporator direct expansion coil of the refrigeration cycle on the air supply side. age,
The direct expansion coil for natural / forced circulation of the refrigerant is used for refrigerant circulation with an outdoor unit located higher than the local air conditioner, forcibly circulating the refrigerant by a pump, and natural circulation of the refrigerant due to density difference depending on the temperature of the refrigerant. The air conditioning system is characterized by being switched between and used.

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