JP5439562B2 - Air conditioning system - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an air conditioning system for adjusting a server room in which a server is installed to a predetermined temperature.

  There is a case where a room is a server room, and a plurality of computers such as servers are installed in this room. For example, when this computer is a server, such a server room is called a data center. Such a computer generates heat when it is operated, but if the number of servers installed like a data center increases, the amount of heat generated by the entire server increases. For example, cold air generated by an air conditioner is blown out from under the floor. Supply in the center. Further, a fan is provided in the server and the rack in which the server is arranged, and the server is cooled by sucking cold air by the fan. The air heated by the cooling of the server is discharged from the server as return air and discharged from the data center. The return air discharged from the data center is cooled by an air conditioner and supplied again to the data center as cold air or discharged into the outside air as exhaust air.

  For such data center air conditioning, a server is accommodated, and a sneak prevention device is used to prevent the return air from wrapping around the front using a rack that draws cool air from the front and exhausts the return air from the top or back. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In the technique described in Patent Document 1, a shielding plate is fixed to the upper surface of the rack, and the return air is prevented from being mixed with the cool air, so that the cool air can be used effectively.

  In addition, there is a technique for efficiently cooling the fan by improving the blower fan (for example, see Patent Document 2). In the technology described in Patent Document 2, a fan tower (blower) is provided in the server room so that air sucked from the lower space in the room is blown out in the upper space so that air is sucked into the upper part of the rack. . Thereby, since the cool air in the lower part of the room is sent to the upper part by the blower, the temperature of the air sucked from the upper part is lower than that in the prior art. Further, at the lower part of the rack, since the cool air is reduced, the temperature rises more than before, the temperature gradient in the height direction is reduced as a whole, and the variation in the intake air temperature is reduced. Furthermore, an opening having an adjuster that opens and closes on the bottom surface can be provided, and energy saving can be realized by suppressing variations in the cold air temperature.

  However, in the conventional technology, the air discharged from the fan is supplied to the rack, blown to the server by the fan attached to the rack to be cooled, exhausted from the rack as return air, and mixed with the cool air without being mixed with the cool air. Suctioned by a fan. That is, although there is a flow path resistance between the server and the air conditioner on the way, the airflow flows through a configuration connected by a single duct. On the other hand, since the airflow of this one duct is made to flow by three fans, the operations of the fans interfere with each other and the airflow is not stabilized, and there is a problem that wasteful power is consumed.

  In addition, when an induction motor without speed control is used as this fan, the fan can converge to a certain equilibrium flow rate according to the air volume balance of the fans. In order to insist, there is also a problem that the fan speed control interferes and hunts.

JP 2005-260148 A JP 2005-172309 A

  As described above, in the conventional technique, there is a problem in that the operations of a plurality of fans serving as blowing means interfere with each other and the airflow is not stabilized and wasteful power is consumed or hunting occurs.

  In view of the said subject, in embodiment of this invention, the air-conditioning system which controls a ventilation means stably and implement | achieves power saving is provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an air conditioning system according to an embodiment includes a cold area and a hot area that are separated, and a server is disposed between the cold area and the hot area, and air is supplied via the cold area. An air conditioning system connected to a server room that heats the cool air generated by the heat generated by the server and exhausts it as return air through the hot area, the air conditioner sending out the cool air supplied to the cold area, and the server A blower that generates airflow in the room and the air conditioning system; a sensor that measures a value of current or power consumed by the server; and a controller that controls the blower based on the measured value of the sensor.

1 is an overall view showing a configuration of an air conditioning system according to a first embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the power consumption utilized with the air conditioning system of FIG. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the air volume utilized with the air conditioning system of FIG. 1, and the rotation speed of a blower. It is a general view which shows the structure of the air conditioning system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the differential pressure utilized with the air conditioning system of FIG. 4, and power consumption.

  The air conditioning system according to each embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

<First Embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioning system 1a according to the first embodiment controls the supply of cold air for cooling to a server room 20 in which a computer such as a server that generates heat by operation is disposed.

  In the server room 20, different spaces of a cold area 21 and a hot area 22 are formed. Specifically, a rack 23 (23a to 23d) in which a computer such as a server (not shown) is stored is disposed in the server room 20, and the cold area 21 and the cold area 21 are separated by the rack 23 and the shielding plate. It is divided into hot areas 22.

  The rack 23 or the server has a fan 24 (24a to 24d). The rack 23 and the server take in the cold air existing in the cold area 21 by the rotation of the fan 24, cool the server that generates heat by the operation, and heat it. It arrange | positions so that it may discharge | emit to the hot area 22 as returned return air. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the floor on which the rack 23 is disposed is a double floor, and cold air from the air conditioner is supplied to the bottom of the floor, and the air suction side is disposed opposite to the floor opening. The cold air is supplied to the cold area 21 between the racks, and the cold air passes through the rack 23, and an air flow is formed so that the return air flows out to the hot area 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioning system 1 a includes an air conditioner 11 that cools the gas to supply cold air to the cold area, and a first blower 12 a that blows the cool air cooled by the air conditioner 11 to the server room 20. The second blower 12b that blows the air discharged from the hot area 22 to the air conditioner 11, the ammeter 13 that measures the value of the current consumed by the server in the server room 20, and the measured value of the ammeter 13 And a control device 14 for controlling the blowers 12a and 12b.

  In this way, in the air conditioning system 1a, the cool air cooled by the air conditioner 11 is sent to the server room 20 by the first blower 12a, and when it is discharged from the server room 20 as return air, it is cooled again by the air conditioner 11. By circulating to the server room 20, the server can be kept normal. When the load on the server increases, the heat generated by the server increases, and the rotational speed of the fan 24 increases accordingly. When the number of rotations of the fan 24 increases, the amount of gas that moves from the cold area 21 to the hot area 22 increases. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the amount of cold air that is sent to the cold area 21. Moreover, it is necessary to increase the amount of return air sent from the hot area 22 to the air conditioner 11 and stabilize the amount of gas circulating in the air conditioning system 1a.

  Therefore, the control device 14 predicts the server load by the ammeter 13, and controls the blowers 12a and 12b according to the predicted server load to adjust the amount of gas circulating through the air conditioning system 1a.

  Specifically, when a current value that is a measured value is input from the ammeter 13, the power specifying unit 141 of the control device 14 specifies the power consumption of the server from this current value. Specifically, the power specifying unit 141 stores mathematical formulas and tables in advance in order to obtain power consumption, and can use these mathematical formulas and tables to specify the power consumption from the current value.

  Thereafter, the air volume specifying unit 142 specifies the air volume generated by the fan 24 from the power consumption specified by the power specifying unit 141. In order to stabilize the amount of gas circulating in the air conditioning system 1 a and the server room 20, the air volume generated by the first blower 12 a and the air volume generated by the second blower 12 b need to be matched with the air volume generated by the fan 24. Specifically, the relationship between the power consumption and the air volume can be expressed as shown in FIG. 2, and the air volume specifying unit 142 stores mathematical formulas and tables in advance to obtain the air volume. The air volume can be obtained from the power consumption using mathematical formulas and tables. Further, the obtained air volume is the target air volume of the blowers 12a and 12b.

  Subsequently, the blower control means 143 obtains the rotational speeds of the blowers 12a and 12b for the blowers 12a and 12b to generate the target airflow specified by the airflow specifying means 142, and uses the blowers 12a and 12b at the obtained rotational speed. Control. Specifically, the relationship between the air volume and the rotation speed of the blower can be expressed as shown in FIG. 3, and the blower control means 143 stores a mathematical expression and a table in advance in order to obtain the rotation speed. In addition, the rotational speed can be obtained from the air volume using these mathematical formulas and tables. For example, when the control of the blowers 12a and 12b is controlled by the inverter rotational speed, the rotational speed obtained here becomes the rotational speed of the inverter rotational speed control.

  A power meter that measures the power consumption of the server may be used instead of the ammeter 13. When the wattmeter is used, the power specifying unit 141 is not necessary, and the air volume specifying unit 142 specifies the air volume using the power consumption measured by the wattmeter.

  Moreover, in the air conditioning system 1a shown in FIG. 1, although it has two blowers 12a and 12b as a ventilation means for producing the airflow of the air conditioning system 1a and the server room 20, the number of ventilation means is not limited. As long as the airflow of the air conditioning system 1a and the server room 20 can be generated, the number may be one or more than two.

  As described above, in the air conditioning system 1a according to the first embodiment, since the air volume can be adjusted by controlling the blowers 12a and 12b according to the air volume of the fan 24, the operations of the fan 24 and the blowers 12a and 12b are performed. The airflow can be stabilized without causing interference, and power is not wasted. Moreover, hunting can be prevented also when performing inverter rotation speed control.

<Modification>
In the air conditioning system 1a, in addition to the ammeter 13 and the wattmeter, an air flow meter (not shown) is used to measure the air volume of the cold air flowing into the first blower 12a and the air volume of the return air flowing into the second blower 12b. May be. When the air flow meter is used, the blower control unit 143 performs feedback control so that the deviation between the target air flow rate of the blowers 12a and 12b obtained by the air flow specifying unit 142 and the measured value of the air flow meter becomes predetermined.

  Specifically, the blower control means 143 determines the air flow value measured by the second air flow meter (not shown) installed in the front stage of the second blower 12b and the first blower 12a obtained by the air flow specifying means 142. The first blower 12a is feedback-controlled so that the deviation from the target air volume becomes a predetermined value. Further, the blower control means 143 includes an air volume value measured by a first air flow meter (not shown) installed at the front stage of the first blower 12a, and a target air volume of the second blower 12b obtained by the air volume specifying means 142. The second blower 12b is feedback-controlled so that the deviation of becomes constant. In this case, the blower control means 143 uses proportional control.

<Second Embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 4, the air conditioning system 1 b according to the second embodiment has a differential pressure between the cold area 21 and the hot area 22 instead of the ammeter 13 as compared with the air conditioning system 1 a described above with reference to FIG. 1. And a control device 14b that controls the blowers 12a and 12b using the measured value of the differential pressure meter 15 instead of the control device 14. The other configuration of the air conditioning system 1b is the same as that of the air conditioning system 1a. A server that generates heat in the server room 20 is cooled by the cold air generated by the air conditioner 11, and the return air is circulated to the air conditioner 11 to Gas is circulated in the server room 20.

  The amount of gas moving from the cold area 21 to the hot area 22 changes due to the change in the rotational speed of the fan 24, and the difference between the amount of cold air supplied to the cold area 21 and the amount of return air discharged from the hot area 22 is large. When this happens, the difference between the pressure in the cold area 21 and the pressure in the hot area 22 also increases. When the differential pressure between the cold area 21 and the hot area 22 increases, the gas flow in the entire air conditioning system 1b becomes unstable. Therefore, the control device 14b uses the measured value of the differential pressure gauge 15 to connect the blowers 12a and 12b. Control.

  Specifically, when the blower control means 143b of the control device 14b inputs a differential pressure value between the cold area 21 and the hot area 22 as measured values from the differential pressure gauge 15, this differential pressure value is set to a predetermined differential pressure. When the measured value of the differential pressure gauge 15 is larger than the differential pressure target as compared with the target differential pressure target, the rotational speed of the blowers 12a and 12b is decreased. On the other hand, when the measured value of the differential pressure gauge 15 is smaller than the differential pressure target, the blower control means 143b increases the rotational speed of the blowers 12a and 12b. In this case, the rotation speed is changed by proportional control.

  In this case, the target value of the differential pressure is determined using the relationship between the power consumption and the differential pressure. The relationship between the power consumption and the differential pressure can be expressed, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, and the blower control means 143b stores mathematical formulas and tables in advance in order to obtain the target value of the differential pressure, Using these mathematical formulas and tables, the target value of the differential pressure can be obtained from the power consumption of the server in the server room 20.

  If the blower control means 143b does not have means for measuring and predicting the power consumption of the server room (ammeter 13 or voltmeter, power specifying means 141, air volume specifying means 142, etc.), the blower control means 143b A predetermined value is set in advance as the target differential pressure, and this value is used regardless of the power consumption.

  Further, the differential pressure gauge 15 of the air conditioning system 1b measures not the differential pressure between the cold area 21 and the hot area 22, but the differential pressure between the server and the hot area 22 or the differential pressure between the rack 23 and the hot area 22. The power specifying means 141b can obtain the same effect even if the blower 12a, 12b is controlled by obtaining the power consumption from the measured differential pressure value.

  As described above, in the air conditioning system 1b according to the second embodiment, since the air volume can be adjusted by controlling the blowers 12a and 12b according to the air volume of the fan 24, the operations of the fan 24 and the blowers 12a and 12b are performed. The airflow can be stabilized without causing interference, and power is not wasted. Moreover, hunting can be prevented also when performing inverter rotation speed control. Even when the fan 24 is stopped and the server is operating, by using the differential pressure, the blower 12a, 12b is controlled to form a necessary air flow and to secure a necessary air volume. Can do.

1a, 1b ... air conditioning system 11 ... air conditioner 12a, 12b ... blower (air blowing means)
13 ... Ammeter (sensor)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14, 14b ... Control apparatus 15 ... Differential pressure gauge 20 ... Server room 21 ... Cold area 22 ... Hot area 23 ... Rack 24 ... Fan 141, 141b ... Electric power specific means 142 ... Air volume specific means 143 ... Blower control means

Claims (1)

A cold area and a hot area are separated, and a server is disposed between the cold area and the hot area, and the cool air supplied through the cold area is heated by the heat generated by the server as return air. An air conditioning system connected to a server room that exhausts through a hot area,
A blowing means for generating an air flow of the server room and the air conditioning system;
A differential pressure sensor for measuring a differential pressure between the cold area and the hot area, or a differential pressure in the hot area and the server or an area in the rack in which the server is stored;
A sensor for measuring a current or power value consumed by the server;
A target value of a differential pressure with respect to a measured value of current or voltage measured by the sensor is obtained using a predetermined relational expression, and the target value is compared with a measured value of the differential pressure sensor. Control means for controlling the air volume to be generated ;
An air conditioning system comprising:

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