JP2018087652A - Cooling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To utilize free cooling easily in comparison with a conventional one.SOLUTION: A second cooling system 100 comprises: a second cooling tower 104; a heat exchanger 106 connected to the second cooling tower via a pre-cooling side circulation passage 108; a pull-in passage 112 being connected to a load side exhaust passage 20b to which cooling water W2 having passed a load heat exchanger 26 returns to a refrigerator 12 and pulling the cooling water into the heat exchanger; and a pull-in pump 114 being provided in the pull-in passage for circulating the cooling water so as to be circulated in the load side exhaust passage, through the pull-in passage in the heat exchanger.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling device used for free cooling.

  Conventionally, a cooling system using free cooling includes a refrigerator and a first cooling tower, and cooling water circulates through a refrigerator-side circulation path connected to the refrigerator and the first cooling tower. And the cooling water heated up with the refrigerator is cooled by the 1st cooling tower, and is again introduced into the refrigerator.

  The refrigerator is connected to a load heat exchanger used for article cooling and cooling (air conditioning) via a load-side circulation path. The load-side heat medium circulates in the load-side circulation path, and the load-side heat medium whose temperature has been raised by the load heat exchanger is cooled by the refrigerator and introduced again into the load heat exchanger.

  Further, a pre-cooling heat exchanger is provided in the load side circulation path. A second cooling tower is connected to the precooling heat exchanger via a precooling side circulation path. In the pre-cooling heat exchanger, heat is exchanged between the load-side heat medium heading from the load heat exchanger toward the refrigerator and the cooling water circulating in the pre-cooling side circulation path.

  According to said structure, operation | movement of a refrigerator can be stopped when cooling of the load side heat medium which circulates through a load side circulation path only in the winter etc. is enough. Moreover, when the operation of the refrigerator is necessary, the energy consumption of the refrigerator can be suppressed by introducing the cooling water pre-cooled by the pre-cooling heat exchanger into the refrigerator (for example, Patent Document 1). .

JP 2004-132651 A

  By the way, in the existing cooling system, only the refrigerator and the first cooling tower are provided. In order to use free cooling in these cooling systems, it is necessary to newly arrange a precooling heat exchanger and a second cooling tower, and to install a precooling side circulation path. Moreover, it is necessary to connect a load side circuit to the precooling heat exchanger. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide a plurality of valves for distributing the load-side heat medium to the pre-cooling heat exchanger in the load-side circulation path.

  As described above, in the cooling system provided with only the refrigerator and the first cooling tower, when trying to use free cooling, various steps are required to install the equipment for performing free cooling, and it is easy to use free cooling. It was difficult to use cooling.

  In view of such a problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device that can use free cooling more easily than conventional ones.

  In order to solve the above problems, a cooling device of the present invention includes a cooling tower, a heat exchanger connected to the cooling tower via a pre-cooling side circulation path, and a cooling medium that has passed through the load heat exchanger. Connected to a load side discharge path that returns to the refrigerator, a drawing path for drawing a cooling medium into the heat exchanger, and a cooling medium provided on the drawing path and flowing through the load side discharge path are connected to the drawing path. And a lead-in part that circulates through the heat exchanger.

  Moreover, the said drawing part is good in it being a drawing pump which draws in the cooling medium which distribute | circulates the said load side discharge path in the said drawing path.

  Moreover, it is good to provide the control part which controls the said cooling tower and the said drawing-in part.

  Moreover, the said control part is good to control the said cooling tower and the said drawing-in part independently of the said refrigerator.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to use free cooling more easily than in the past.

It is a figure explaining a cooling system. It is a figure explaining an example of control by a control part. It is a figure explaining an example of control by a control part. It is a figure explaining the cooling system in other embodiments.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a cooling system 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling system 1 includes a first cooling device 10 and a second cooling device (cooling device) 100. The first cooling device 10 includes a refrigerator 12, a first cooling tower 14, a refrigerator side circulation path 16, a refrigerator side pump 18, a load side circulation path 20, a load side pump 22, a load valve 24, and a load heat exchanger 26. It is comprised including.

  In the first cooling device 10, the refrigerator 12 and the first cooling tower 14 are connected via the refrigerator-side circulation path 16, and the cooling water W <b> 1 is connected to the refrigerator 12 and the first through the refrigerator-side circulation path 16. It circulates between 1 cooling tower 14. The refrigerator side circulation path 16 includes a refrigerator side discharge path 16a through which the cooling water W1 is discharged from the refrigerator 12 toward the first cooling tower 14, and a cooling water W1 from the first cooling tower 14 toward the refrigerator 12. And the refrigerator side supply path 16b.

  In the first cooling device 10, the refrigerator 12 and the load heat exchanger 26 are connected via the load-side circulation path 20, and the cooling water W <b> 2 is connected to the refrigerator 12 and the load via the load-side circulation path 20. It circulates between the heat exchangers 26. The load side circulation path 20 discharges the cooling water W2 from the refrigerator 12 toward the load heat exchanger 26 and the load side supply path 20a to which the cooling water W2 is supplied from the load heat exchanger 26 toward the refrigerator 12. The load side discharge path 20b is configured.

  The refrigerator 12 cools the cooling water W2 circulating in the load side circulation path 20, and transmits heat generated by cooling the cooling water W2 to the cooling water W1.

  The first cooling tower 14 includes a housing 30, a nozzle group 32, a fan 34, a water storage tank 36, and a motor 38, and the nozzle group 32, the fan 34, the water storage tank 36, and the motor 38 are accommodated in the housing 30. Has been.

  The nozzle group 32 is connected to the refrigerator side discharge path 16 a and sprays the cooling water W <b> 1 into the housing 30.

  The fan 34 is provided above the nozzle group 32 in the housing 30 and is rotationally driven by a motor 38. The fan 34 is rotationally driven to expose the cooling water W1 sprayed from the nozzle group 32 to the outside air, thereby cooling the cooling water W1. Then, the cooling water W1 sprayed from the nozzle group 32 and cooled by being exposed to the outside air by the fan 34 is stored in a water storage tank 36 provided in the lower part of the housing 30.

  A refrigerator side supply path 16 b is connected to the water storage tank 36. A refrigerator-side pump 18 is provided in the middle of the refrigerator-side supply path 16 b, and the cooling water W <b> 1 stored in the water storage tank 36 is supplied into the refrigerator 12 by the refrigerator-side pump 18.

  The load heat exchanger 26 is a heat exchanger for cooling a heat generating device or an article, or a cooling for cooling air, and one or a plurality of the heat exchangers are provided. The load heat exchanger 26 is connected to the load side supply path 20a via the load valve 24, and is connected to the load side discharge path 20b. A load-side pump 22 is provided in the middle of the load-side supply path 20a, and the cooling water W2 is supplied from the refrigerator 12 to the load heat exchanger 26 by the load-side pump 22.

  The load heat exchanger 26 performs heat exchange between the cooling water W2 supplied from the load-side supply path 20a and a cooling target such as a heating device, an article, or air, and cools the cooling target. The cooling water W2 warmed by cooling the object to be cooled is discharged to the refrigerator 12 through the load side discharge path 20b. The load valve 24 is provided for each load heat exchanger 26, and switches between supply and non-supply of the cooling water W2 to the load heat exchanger 26.

  In the first cooling device 10 having such a configuration, the refrigerator 12, the first cooling tower 14, the refrigerator-side pump 18, and the load-side pump 22 are controlled by a control unit (not shown). And in the 1st cooling device 10, the temperature of the cooling water W2 supplied to the load heat exchanger 26 from the refrigerator 12 is always maintained at a fixed temperature (target temperature).

  Here, in the case where a new cooling device is later deployed to use the free cooling for the facility provided with only the first cooling device 10, it has been conventionally necessary to perform a large-scale construction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, by providing the second cooling device 100 with respect to the existing first cooling device 10, it is possible to easily use free cooling.

  The second cooling device 100 includes a gantry 102, a second cooling tower (cooling tower) 104, a heat exchanger 106, a precooling side circulation path 108, a cooling side pump 110, a drawing path 112, a drawing pump 114, a control unit 116, a thermometer. 118, a hygrometer 120, a pre-retraction thermometer 122, and a post-retraction thermometer 124.

  On the gantry 102, the second cooling tower 104, the heat exchanger 106, the precooling side circulation path 108, the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, the control unit 116, the thermometer 118 and the hygrometer 120 are placed. 2 The cooling device 100 is packaged as a whole.

  In the second cooling device 100, the second cooling tower 104 and the heat exchanger 106 are connected via the precooling side circulation path 108, and the cooling water W3 as the cooling medium is supplied via the precooling side circulation path 108. It circulates between the cooling tower 104 and the heat exchanger 106. The precooling side circulation path 108 includes a cooling side discharge path 108a through which the cooling water W3 is discharged from the heat exchanger 106 toward the second cooling tower 104, and a cooling water W3 from the second cooling tower 104 toward the heat exchanger 106. The cooling side supply path 108b is supplied.

  The second cooling tower 104 includes a housing 130, a nozzle group 132, a fan 134, a water tank 136, and a motor 138. The nozzle group 132, the fan 134, the water tank 136, and the motor 138 are accommodated in the housing 130. Has been.

  The nozzle group 132 is connected to the cooling side discharge path 108 a and sprays the cooling water W <b> 3 into the housing 130.

  The fan 134 is provided above the nozzle group 132 in the housing 130 and is driven to rotate by a motor 138. The fan 134 is rotationally driven to expose the cooling water W3 sprayed from the nozzle group 132 to the outside air, thereby cooling the cooling water W3. Then, the cooling water W <b> 3 sprayed from the nozzle group 132 and exposed to the outside air by the fan 134 and cooled is stored in a water storage tank 136 provided at the lower part of the housing 130.

  A cooling side supply path 108 b is connected to the water storage tank 136. A cooling side pump 110 is provided in the middle of the cooling side supply path 108 b, and the cooling water W 3 stored in the water storage tank 136 is supplied into the heat exchanger 106 by the cooling side pump 110.

  The heat exchanger 106 performs heat exchange between the cooling water W3 that circulates in the pre-cooling side circulation path 108 and the cooling water W2 that circulates in the inlet path 112 described later, and the cooling water that circulates in the inlet path 112. The heat of W2 is transmitted to the cooling water W3 circulating in the pre-cooling side circulation path. Thereby, the heat exchanger 106 cools the cooling water W <b> 2 that circulates in the drawing-in path 112.

  The drawing path 112 is constituted by a drawing supply path 112 a and a drawing discharge path 112 b, and is connected in the middle of the load side discharge path 20 b in the first cooling device 10. The lead-in supply path 112a connects the upstream branch point 20c in the middle of the load side discharge path 20b and the heat exchanger 106, and a part or all of the cooling water W2 flowing through the load side discharge path 20b is used as the heat exchanger. Lead to 106. The lead-in discharge path 112b connects the downstream branch point 20d downstream of the upstream branch point 20c in the load-side discharge path 20b and the heat exchanger 106, and loads the cooling water W2 discharged from the heat exchanger 106 with a load. Return to the side discharge path 20b.

  In the middle of the upstream branch point 20c, a drawing pump 114 as a drawing unit is provided, and the drawing pump 114 draws (circulates) the cooling water W2 flowing through the load side discharge passage 20b into the heat exchanger 106. Valves 140 and 142 for stopping the supply of the cooling water W2 to the heat exchanger 106 are provided in the middle of the drawing supply path 112a and the drawing discharge path 112b, respectively.

  The control unit 116 is a microcomputer including a central processing unit (CPU), a ROM storing a program, a RAM as a work area, and the like, and controls the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138.

  The controller 116 includes a thermometer 118 that measures the outside air temperature, a hygrometer 120 that measures the humidity of the outside air, and a pre-retraction that measures the temperature of the cooling water W2 upstream from the upstream branch point 20c in the load side discharge path 20b. A thermometer 122 and a post-drawing thermometer 124 for measuring the temperature of the cooling water W2 downstream from the downstream branch point 20d in the load side discharge path 20b are connected.

  Then, the control unit 116 controls the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138 based on the temperature and humidity measured by the thermometer 118, the hygrometer 120, the pre-pull-in thermometer 122, and the post-pull-in thermometer 124. To do. Hereinafter, the control by the control unit 116 will be described together with specific numerical values.

  2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining an example of control by the control unit 116. FIG. The control unit 116 measures in advance or measures the temperature of the cooling water W2 supplied to the load heat exchanger 26 in the first cooling device 10, that is, the temperature (target temperature) of the cooling water W2 discharged from the refrigerator 12. Get by.

  Then, the control unit 116 derives the wet bulb temperature based on the outside air temperature measured by the thermometer 118 and the outside air humidity measured by the hygrometer 120. Moreover, the control part 116 derive | leads out the temperature difference which can reduce the temperature of the cooling water W3 by the 2nd cooling tower 104 based on the derived wet bulb temperature and external temperature (dry bulb temperature).

  Moreover, the control part 116 acquires the temperature of the cooling water W2 upstream from the upstream branch point 20c measured by the thermometer 122 before drawing. And the control part 116 determines whether the temperature of the cooling water W2 upstream from the upstream branch point 20c can be reduced by the heat exchanger 106 based on these conditions.

  The controller 116 determines that the cooling water W2 cannot be cooled by the heat exchanger 106 at a time when the outside air temperature is high, such as in summer. In such a case, the control unit 116 stops the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138. Therefore, in the cooling system 1, the cooling water W2 that circulates through the load-side circulation path 20 is cooled only by the refrigerator 12 when the outside air temperature is high such as in summer.

  On the other hand, the control unit 116 determines that the cooling water W2 can be cooled by the heat exchanger 106 at a time when the outside air temperature is low such as in winter. In such a case, the control unit 116 drives the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138.

  Specifically, the control unit 116 is driven to keep the flow rate of the cooling water W2 supplied to the heat exchanger 106, that is, the flow rate of the cooling water W2 drawn by the drawing pump 114 constant. Moreover, the control part 116 drives the cooling side pump 110 and the motor 138 to the maximum in the range in which the temperature of the cooling water W2 measured by the thermometer 124 after drawing does not fall below target temperature.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the target temperature is 18 ° C., the temperature difference that can lower the temperature of the cooling water W 3 by the second cooling tower 104 is 3 ° C., and the wet bulb temperature is 5 ° C. It is assumed that the temperature of the cooling water W2 upstream from the upstream branch point 20c is 21 ° C.

  In such a case, the control unit 116 determines that the cooling water W3 can be cooled by the heat exchanger 106, and drives the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138. And the control part 116 drives the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138 to the maximum, for example, the temperature of the cooling water W2 is cooled by the heat exchanger 106 to 19 degreeC, and the thermometer 124 after drawing is shown. Suppose that the temperature of the cooling water W <b> 2 measured by the above reaches 19 ° C. In this case, the refrigerator 12 only needs to reduce the temperature of the cooling water W2 by 1 ° C., which is more than the case where the second cooling device 100 is not provided (in this case, 21 ° C.−18 ° C. = 3 ° C.). It can be driven with a low cooling capacity.

  Further, for example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the target temperature is 18 ° C., the temperature difference at which the temperature of the cooling water W3 can be lowered by the second cooling tower 104 is 3 ° C., and the wet bulb temperature is 5 It is assumed that the temperature of the cooling water W2 upstream of the upstream branch point 20c is 19 ° C.

  In such a case, the control unit 116 determines that the cooling water W3 can be cooled by the heat exchanger 106, and drives the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138. Then, the control unit 116 drives the cooling side pump 110, the drawing pump 114, and the motor 138 as much as possible, for example, the temperature of the cooling water W2 is cooled to 18 ° C. by the heat exchanger 106, and the post-pull thermometer 124 is drawn. Suppose that the temperature of the cooling water W <b> 2 measured by is 18 ° C. In this case, the refrigerator 12 does not need to reduce the temperature of the cooling water W2, and does not need to be driven.

  As described above, when the second cooling device 100 is operated, the cooling system 1 cools the cooling water W <b> 2 that circulates through the load-side circulation path 20 using the refrigerator 12 and the heat exchanger 106. And by operating the 2nd cooling device 100, the cooling power consumption by the refrigerator 12 can be reduced, and power consumption can be reduced as the cooling system 1 whole.

  As described above, when the cooling system 1 connects the second cooling device 100 to the existing first cooling device 10 later, a simple operation of connecting the lead-in path 112 to the load-side discharge path 20b. Thus, free cooling can be used easily.

  Moreover, the control part 116 of the 2nd cooling device 100 does not need to change the control system of the existing 1st cooling device 10 by performing control independent of the 1st cooling device 10 (refrigerator 12), Free cooling can be used easily.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a cooling system 200 according to another embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the cooling system 200 according to another embodiment includes a first cooling device 210 and a second cooling device 220. In other embodiments, the same components as those of the cooling system 1 in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the first cooling device 210, a switching valve 212 is provided between the upstream branch point 20c and the downstream branch point 20d in the load side discharge path 20b. The second cooling device 220 is provided with a three-way valve 222 in place of the drawing pump 114 in the second cooling device 100 of the above embodiment. The three-way valve 222 as a drawing-in portion causes the cooling water W2 flowing into the drawing-in path 112 from the upstream branch point 20c to flow into one or both of the upstream and downstream of the heat exchanger 106. The controller 116 closes the switching valve 212 when the cooling water W2 is drawn into the drawing-in path 112. And the control part 116 adjusts the flow volume of the cooling water W2 which distribute | circulates to the heat exchanger 106 by adjusting the opening degree of the three-way valve 222. FIG. Thus, the drawing-in pump 114 of the said embodiment, the three-way valve 222 of other embodiment, etc. are applicable to the drawing-in part which distribute | circulates the cooling water W2 to the heat exchanger 106. FIG. However, the pull-in pump 114 is more preferable from the viewpoint of flow resistance and the like.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the second cooling device 100 is installed with respect to the existing first cooling device 10 has been described. However, when the first cooling device 10 is newly installed, the second cooling device 100 is installed. May be installed together.

  Further, the control of the control unit 116 in the above-described embodiment is merely an example, and may be controlled by another control method.

  The present invention can be used for a cooling device used for free cooling.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooling system 10 1st cooling device 12 Refrigerator 20b Load side discharge path 26 Load heat exchanger 100 2nd cooling device (cooling device)
104 Second cooling tower (cooling tower)
106 Heat exchanger 108 Precooling side circulation path 112 Intake path 114 Intake pump 116 Control unit

Claims (4)

A cooling tower,
A heat exchanger connected to the cooling tower via a pre-cooling circuit,
A cooling medium that has passed through the load heat exchanger is connected to a load-side discharge path that returns to the refrigerator, and a drawing path for drawing the cooling medium into the heat exchanger;
A lead-in part that is provided on the lead-in path and circulates the cooling medium flowing through the load-side discharge path to the heat exchanger via the pull-in path;
A cooling device comprising: The pull-in part is
The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the cooling medium is a drawing pump that draws the cooling medium flowing through the load side discharge passage into the drawing passage.   The cooling device according to claim 1 or 2 provided with a control part which controls said cooling tower and said drawing-in part.   The said control part is a cooling device of Claim 3 which controls the said cooling tower and the said drawing-in part independently of the said refrigerator.

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