IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0371344
(2009-02-13)
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등록번호 |
US-8146374
(2012-04-03)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
9 인용 특허 :
9 |
초록
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A system and method for improving the efficiency of an existing utility plant by constructing a data center nearby and retrofitting the utility plant to provide electric power and cooling to the data center. The system and method for cooling the data center uses a cooling fluid cooled using energy o
A system and method for improving the efficiency of an existing utility plant by constructing a data center nearby and retrofitting the utility plant to provide electric power and cooling to the data center. The system and method for cooling the data center uses a cooling fluid cooled using energy obtained from a heating fluid. The heating fluid is received from the utility plant. The system and method uses the cooling fluid to dissipate heat from electrical components contained in the data center, including a plurality of computer servers.
대표청구항
▼
1. A method of retrofitting a utility plant comprising: constructing a data center within three miles of the utility plant, the utility plant distributing an average of at least fifty percent of the electrical power it generates to a power grid, the utility plant having been commissioned before the
1. A method of retrofitting a utility plant comprising: constructing a data center within three miles of the utility plant, the utility plant distributing an average of at least fifty percent of the electrical power it generates to a power grid, the utility plant having been commissioned before the construction of the data center begins;installing a first pipe system configured to divert a heating fluid from the utility plant to a fluid plant that uses the heating fluid to produce a cooling fluid; andinstalling a second pipe system to connect the fluid plant to a data center and to circulate the cooling fluid between the fluid plant and the data center;wherein the steps of constructing the data center, installing the first pipe system, and installing the second pipe system are performed as a retrofit to the utility plant, such that plans for the utility plant submitted for regulatory approval before the utility plant was commissioned do not include the data center, the first pipe system, or second pipe system; andwherein the data center comprises electrical components including a plurality of servers, the electrical components contained in the data center generating heat that is dissipated using the cooling fluid, the computer servers being configured to execute instructions and store and access data in a memory, wherein the computer servers are connected to a computing network. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data center is located within a distance of about one mile from the utility plant. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data center is located on property owned by an owner of the utility plant. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the data center to receive electric power via at least one of an electrical line from the utility plant that does not pass through the power grid and an electrical line from the power grid, wherein electric power from the power grid is used if electric power from the utility plant is unavailable, and wherein the data center is not provided with a separate backup generator. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the data center to receive electric power via two electrical lines from the power grid. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling fluid is water. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the heating fluid is steam. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the heating fluid is hot water. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the heating fluid is low pressure steam extracted from a steam turbine. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein a pressure of the low pressure steam is less than about thirty pounds per square inch gauge. 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the low pressure steam used to cool the cooling fluid is steam that, prior to the retrofitting, is used for heating boiler feedwater. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling fluid is cooled using an absorption chiller. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the heating fluid is steam, wherein a pressure of the steam is higher than a maximum pressure of the absorption chiller, wherein water is added to the steam until the pressure of the steam is lower than the maximum pressure of the absorption chiller. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the heating fluid is steam, wherein a pressure of the steam is higher than a maximum pressure of the absorption chiller, wherein the pressure of the steam is reduced by introducing the steam to cooling fluid returned from the data center until it is lower than the maximum pressure of the absorption chiller. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling fluid is cooled using a steam-driven chiller. 16. A system comprising: an enclosure located adjacent to a utility plant and configured to contain a plurality of electrical components, wherein the utility plant is a preexisting utility plant that was commissioned before the beginning of construction of the enclosure, wherein the utility plant operates on average at least eighty percent of the time, the electrical components including a plurality of computer servers, the computer servers being configured to execute instructions and store and access data in a memory, wherein the computer servers are connected to a computing network; anda cooling system configured to dissipate heat from the electrical components using a cooling fluid, wherein the cooling fluid is received from a fluid cooler configured to cool the cooling fluid using thermal energy obtained from a heating fluid, wherein the heating fluid is received by the fluid cooler from the utility plant;wherein the utility plant is retrofitted to provide heating fluid to the fluid cooler, such that plans for the utility plant submitted for regulatory approval before the utility plant was commissioned do not include a pipe system configured to transport heating fluid from the utility plant to the fluid cooler. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the enclosure is located within a distance of about three miles from the utility plant. 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the electrical components are powered using electric power received via at least one of an electrical line from the utility plant that does not pass through the power grid and an electrical line from the power grid, wherein electric power from the power grid is used if electric power from the utility plant is unavailable, the electric power from the power grid being used as back up instead of power from a backup generator. 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the heating fluid is low pressure steam extracted from a steam turbine. 20. The system of claim 19, wherein a pressure of the low pressure steam is less than about thirty pounds per square inch gauge. 21. The system of claim 16, wherein the fluid cooler is an absorption chiller. 22. The system of claim 16, wherein the heating fluid is steam, wherein a pressure of the steam is higher than a maximum pressure of the fluid cooler, wherein water is added to the steam until the pressure of the steam is lower than the maximum pressure of the fluid cooler. 23. The system of claim 16, wherein the heating fluid is steam, wherein a pressure of the steam is higher than a maximum pressure of the fluid cooler, wherein the pressure of the steam is reduced by introducing the steam to fluid returned from the data center until it is lower than the maximum pressure of the absorption chiller. 24. A system for using steam from a utility plant, comprising: a data center configured to contain a plurality of electrical components, the electrical components including a plurality of computer servers, the computer servers being configured to execute instructions and store and access data in a memory, wherein the computer servers are connected to a computing network, the data center being located adjacent to the utility plant at a distance less than about three miles from the utility plant, wherein the utility plant is a preexisting utility plant that was commissioned prior to the construction of the data center, wherein the utility plant operates on average at least eighty percent of the time, wherein the utility plant is configured to generate at least 50 Megawatts of electrical power, wherein the utility plant distributes an average of at least fifty percent of the electrical power it generates to a power grid;a water plant, the water plant configured to receive low-pressure steam through steam pipes from the utility plant, the low-pressure steam having a pressure of less than about thirty pounds per square inch gauge, wherein the low-pressure steam is extracted from an extraction port at a low-pressure stage of a steam turbine in the utility plant, the water plant further configured to cool water with the low-pressure steam using absorption chillers, the water plant further configured to send the cooled water through water pipes to the data center, the water plant further configured to send condenser water from the absorption chillers to boilers in the utility plant;a water cooling system configured to receive the water from the water plant and dissipate heat from the electrical components using the water, the water cooling system further configured to return the water to the water plant for cooling by the absorption chillers; andan electrical substation configured to receive electricity to power the electrical components, the electrical substation configured to receive electric power via at least one of an electrical line from the utility plant that does not pass through the power grid and an electrical line from the power grid, wherein electric power from the power grid is used if electric power from the utility plant is unavailable;wherein construction of the steam pipes from the utility plant to the water plant are performed as a retrofit to the utility plant, such that plans for the utility plant submitted for regulatory approval before the utility plant was commissioned do not include the steam pipes from the utility plant to the water plant. 25. A method of using thermal energy from a utility plant, comprising: extracting heating fluid at the utility plant, the heating fluid being at least one of steam and hot water; andsending the heating fluid to a fluid cooler, the fluid cooler configured to use the heating fluid to cool water, the water being received by a data center located adjacent to the utility plant, the data center containing electrical components, the water being used to dissipate heat from the electrical components, the electrical components including a plurality of computer servers, the computer servers being configured to execute instructions and store and access data in a memory, wherein the computer servers are connected to a computing network;wherein at least fifty percent of the electrical power generated by the utility plant is used by consumers located greater than three miles from the utility plant, the utility plant having been commissioned before the beginning of construction of the data center, wherein the utility plant is retrofitted to send the heating fluid from the utility plant to the fluid cooler, such that plans for the utility plant submitted for regulatory approval before the utility plant was commissioned do not include a pipe for sending the heating fluid from the utility plant to the fluid cooler. 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the data center is located within a distance of about three miles from the utility plant.
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