JPH01269113A - Cooler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a system as a whole from stopping a function and to operate a continuous system by detecting the temperature and flow quantity of water or air which is a second refrigerant to cool a refrigerant, and suppressing the number of units to cut a power source in accordance with the extent to minimum when the temperature and flow quantity is outside the range of a specified value. CONSTITUTION:The title device is a circulating type cooler 1 to cool a first refrigerant to cool plural units 10-13 to mount a heating element by a second refrigerant with a heat exchanger 2 and to return to the units 10-13 again, and provides a sensor 4 to detect the cooling capacity (temperature or flow quantity or both) of the second refrigerant and a control part 23 to input the output signal of the sensor 4, determine the device to operate and the device to stop the operation out of the units 10-13 by the size of the cooling capacity of the second refrigerant and control the operation or stop of the units 10-13. Thus, even when the cooling water and cooling window slip off from the specified value, all units are not stopped, a special unit can continue to operate, repairing is executed during the operation time and the normal condition to operate all units can be returned.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a cooling device for cooling electronic devices such as computers, and particularly to a cooling device that takes safety measures when the cooling capacity decreases.

[Prior Art] A conventional cooling device of this type is shown in FIG. 4 so as to mainly clarify the relationship between a controller and a device to be cooled.

In FIG. 4, each unit 10 to 13 includes a heating element 14 and a power source 15, and is a cooled device cooled by a refrigerant supplied from a cooling device 1. Cooling device 1 and each unit) 1
0 to 13 are connected by a refrigerant supply pipe 5 through which the refrigerant flows inside, and a refrigerant return pipe 6 (only a part of which is shown and not all of it is shown due to omission) that returns the refrigerant after cooling. .

The cooling device 1 includes a water-cooled heat exchanger 2 and each unit 10 to 13.
It is composed of a pump 3 that sends refrigerant to the refrigerant, and a controller 16. The water-cooled heat exchanger 2 cools the refrigerant whose temperature has increased by removing heat from the heating element 14, and exchanges heat with cold water supplied from the chiller 7. The chiller 7 and the cooling device 1 are connected by a cold water supply pipe 8 and a cold water return pipe 9, and the cold water circulates and flows to the water-cooled heat exchanger 2. In the cooling device 1, the discharge side of the pump 3 is branched into four systems, and the return side is also branched into four systems, so that a maximum of four units can be cooled. The arrows in FIG. 4 indicate the flow direction of the refrigerant and cold water.

Although the controller 16 has the functions of controlling the operation of the entire cooling device 1 and monitoring abnormalities, only the control related to the present invention will be described here. The signal from the refrigerant temperature sensor 4 is input to the controller 16 via the sensor signal line 4-1, and if the refrigerant temperature becomes abnormally high, all units 10 to 13 are stopped via the power supply control line 17. send a signal. Therefore, when the refrigerant temperature becomes high due to a decrease in cooling capacity due to some reason, the power supply 15 of all units is cut off.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned conventional cooling device has the disadvantage that all the units are stopped due to temperature abnormality, so all functions of the system are stopped. For example, in systems such as electronic computers that require non-stop operation, it is a serious problem that all functions may stop, even if only temporarily.

[Failure to solve the problem]

The present invention is equipped with a heating element. In a circulating type cooling device, a first refrigerant in a tank for cooling a plurality of devices is cooled by a second refrigerant in a heat exchanger and returned to the device again, in which the cooling capacity (temperature or flow rate or both)
A sensor for detecting a and a control section for controlling the control section.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a cooling system using a water-cooled heat exchanger according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a cooling system using an air-cooled heat exchanger according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram. In FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment of the present invention, the fourth
Similar to the conventional cooling device shown in the figure, each unit 10 to 1
3 includes a heating element 14 and an electric current 15, and is cooled by a refrigerant supplied from a cooling device 1. The cooling device 1 and each of the units IO to 13 are connected through a refrigerant supply pipe 5 and a refrigerant return pipe 6 (only a portion of which is shown).

The cooling system W1 includes a water-cooled heat exchanger 2. It is composed of a pump 3 and a controller 23, and cools the refrigerant with cold water supplied from the teller 7. The chiller 7 is connected to the cooling device 1 through a cold water supply pipe 8 and a cold water return pipe 9, and cold water circulates and flows to the water-cooled heat exchanger 2. Inside the cooling device 1, refrigerant sending/return piping branches into four systems, and refrigerant is distributed to each unit 10-13.

A cold water temperature sensor 21 is installed in the middle of the cold water intake pipe, and an output signal is sent to the controller 23 through a water temperature signal line 25-1. A signal for power supply control corresponding to each unit 10 to 13 is provided as an output of the controller 23, and a power supply control line 24 for each unit is provided to each unit. If the water temperature becomes higher than the specified value due to a failure of H2-7, the cooling capacity of the cooling device decreases and the temperature of the refrigerant increases. Therefore, the controller 23 calculates the number of operable units based on the output level of the water temperature sensor 21, and sends a disconnection signal to the unit whose cooling capacity is insufficient through the power control line 24.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the portion of the controller 23 relating to main control and the principle of control. In FIG. 3(a), the controller 23 inputs the converted digital signal to the A-D converter 31 which converts the output signal of the chilled water temperature converter 21 from analog to digital signal through the input port 32, and operates the controller 23. Microprocessor 33 that calculates and determines possible units
, an output port 34 and an address translation section 35.

The information on the operable units is recognized by the address converter 35 through the output port 34, and a power cut signal is output to the unit corresponding to n1.

In FIG. 3(b), when the cold water temperature is below the temperature T1 at which four units can be operated, the controller 23 sends a power-on signal to all units 11-13. Terror 7
An abnormality occurs and the cold water temperature is high (temperature T1 to T2 range).
, when the cooling capacity decreases.

A cut signal is sent to the unit 13 to reduce the amount of heat to be cooled and keep the temperature of the refrigerant within a specified value. Similarly, when the cold water temperature is T2~Ts or Ts~T4, a disconnection signal is sent to 2 (unit 12.13) and 3 (unit 11.12゜13) units, and all units do not stop. . The above operations are controlled according to procedures stored in the ROM 36 connected to the microprocessor 33.

However, even when the chilled water temperature exceeds temperature 14 and only one unit 10 is operating, when the refrigerant temperature reaches the specified value or higher, the signal from the refrigerant temperature sensor 4 causes the sensor signal line 4- 1 causes the controller 22 to turn off the power to all units 10-13.

Above, an embodiment has been described in which the number of operating units is limited depending on the temperature of the chilled water, but as shown in FIG. It is more reliable to control the number of operating units by sending a signal to the device 23 by a combination of both temperature and flow rate.

Next, in FIG. 2 showing the second embodiment, a case where the heat exchanger is of an air-cooled type will be described. An air-cooled heat exchanger 26 is used in place of the water-cooled heat exchanger 2 used in the first embodiment, and an air temperature unit 29 is used in place of the chilled water temperature unit 21, and a fan blows air to the air-cooled heat exchanger 26. 27 is provided, it is completely the same as the first fruit &i example shown in FIG.

Since the cooling capacity differs depending on the temperature of the cold air sent into the inside of the cooling device 1, if the temperature rises due to a failure of the air conditioner in the installation room, the level of the air temperature sensor 29 changes, and the air temperature sensor signal m29-1 changes. The signal is sent to the controller 28, and the unit to be cut off is determined based on the signal level of the air temperature sensor 29, as described in the first embodiment, and a power cut signal is sent to the corresponding unit. The unit continues to operate within the range that can be cooled, and all system functions do not stop.

In addition, if multiple fans are installed, sending a fan abnormality signal through fan signal #27-1 will make the controller 28 recognize the decrease in cooling capacity, and it will be more reliable if a power cut signal is given to a specific unit. become. Although a method using fan abnormality detection has been described here, a sensor for detecting air volume may be provided, and the method is not limited to fan abnormality detection.

As described in the first and second embodiments, even if the amount of cold water or cold air deviates from the specified value, a specific unit can continue to operate without stopping all the units. In addition, we can repair the chiller or air conditioner during the operating hours to the extent possible and return all units to normal operation.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention provides a unit that detects the temperature and flow rate of water or air, which is the second refrigerant that cools the refrigerant, and cuts off the power depending on the degree when the temperature and flow rate of water or air that is the second refrigerant cools the refrigerant. By keeping the number to a minimum, it is possible to prevent the entire system from stopping and enable continuous system operation. Particularly in systems that cannot tolerate a complete shutdown, such as a computer, although there may be a slight drop in performance due to the shutdown of a specific unit, it is possible to perform a certain amount of processing in tandem, minimizing damage to the entire system. It can be suppressed. In addition, while the unit is operating as much as possible, repairs can be made to the teller and air conditioner to return the system to a state where it can perform at its maximum, thereby avoiding the worst-case scenario of a system failure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the structure of an embodiment of the whistle 1 of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a block diagram of the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
1. (a) and (b) are a block diagram of the configuration of the controller 23 shown in FIG. 1 and a graph showing the principle of control, respectively, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the configuration of a conventional cooling device. 1... Cooling device, 2... Water-cooled heat exchanger, 3... Pump, 4... Refrigerant temperature sensor, 4-1...・Sensor signal line, 5...
Refrigerant supply pipe, 6... Refrigerant return pipe, 7...
・Chiller, 8...Cold water supply pipe, 9...
Cold water return pipe, 10-13...Unit, 14.
... Heat generating element, 15 ... Power supply, 16 ...
...Controller, 17...Power control line, 21.
...Cold water temperature sensor, 22...Cold water flow rate sensor, 23...Controller, 24...Power control line for each unit, 25-1... ...Water temperature signal line, 25-2...Flow rate signal line, 26...
・Air-cooled heat exchanger, 27...Fan, 27-1
...7A/abnormal signal line, 28...Controller, 29...Air temperature sensor, 29-1...
... Temperature signal line, 31 ... A/D converter, 32 ... Input board, 33 ... Microprocessor, 34 ... Output port, 35
...Address translation section. Agent Patent Attorney Susumu Uchihara Figure 1 27-1 Fan abnormality 4V line Figure 2 Micro Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a circulation type cooling device for cooling a plurality of devices equipped with heating elements, a first refrigerant is cooled by a second refrigerant in a heat exchanger and returned to the device again, the cooling capacity of the second refrigerant. a sensor for detecting a A cooling device comprising: a control section for controlling the cooling device.