Three dimensional air flow sensors for data center cooling
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
G01F-001/00
G01F-001/68
출원번호
US-0479797
(2009-06-06)
등록번호
US-8521449
(2013-08-27)
발명자
/ 주소
Hamann, Hendrik F.
Klein, Levente
출원인 / 주소
International Business Machines Corporation
대리인 / 주소
Vazken Alexanian
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
0인용 특허 :
19
초록▼
Techniques for airflow analysis are provided. In one aspect, a mobile sensing device is provided. The mobile sensing device includes an airflow sensing system having a plurality of airflow sensing units arranged in a grid. Each airflow sensing unit includes a first air passage that contains at least
Techniques for airflow analysis are provided. In one aspect, a mobile sensing device is provided. The mobile sensing device includes an airflow sensing system having a plurality of airflow sensing units arranged in a grid. Each airflow sensing unit includes a first air passage that contains at least one first airflow sensor; a second air passage perpendicular to the first air passage, wherein the second air passage contains at least one second airflow sensor; and a third air passage perpendicular to the first air passage and the second air passage, wherein the third air passage contains at least one third airflow sensor.
대표청구항▼
1. A mobile sensing device, comprising: an airflow sensing system having a plurality of airflow sensing units arranged in a grid, each of the airflow sensing units comprising: a first air passage that contains at least one first airflow sensor;a second air passage perpendicular to the first air pass
1. A mobile sensing device, comprising: an airflow sensing system having a plurality of airflow sensing units arranged in a grid, each of the airflow sensing units comprising: a first air passage that contains at least one first airflow sensor;a second air passage perpendicular to the first air passage, wherein the second air passage contains at least one second airflow sensor; anda third air passage perpendicular to the first air passage and the second air passage, wherein the third air passage contains at least one third airflow sensor, wherein each of the airflow sensing units is configured to measure airflow direction and velocity in three dimensions, wherein one or more of the at least one first airflow sensor, the at least one second airflow sensor and the at least one third airflow sensor comprise a thermal micro electro mechanical sensor having i) a central leg with a first heater incorporated into a constant temperature feedback loop and ii) a lateral leg with a second heater which, during operation, is powered at constant voltage, and wherein the thermal micro electro mechanical sensor is sensitive to airflow with a velocity distribution across a range of from about 1 cm/s to about 5 m/s; andwherein each of the airflow sensors is configured to be self-heating while having a total power consumption of less than about two milliwatts,wherein each of the airflow sensors comprises two heaters which are configured such that a differential signal is obtained based on a differential resistance between the two heaters which varies depending on a direction of the airflow, andwherein a change in the airflow due to heat dissipated by the airflow sensors does not affect an overall airflow measurement provided by the airflow sensing system. 2. The mobile sensing device of claim 1, wherein for each of the airflow sensing units the first air passage is positionable along an x-axis, the second air passage is positionable along a y-axis and the third air passage is positionable along a z-axis. 3. The mobile sensing device of claim 2, wherein for each of the airflow sensing units the first airflow sensor is configured to detect airflow direction and velocity along the x-axis, the second airflow sensor is configured to detect airflow direction and velocity along the y-axis and the third airflow sensor is configured to detect airflow direction and velocity along the z-axis. 4. The mobile sensing device of claim 1, wherein for each of the airflow sensing units each air passage comprises a tube having a diameter of from about 0.1 centimeters to about five centimeters. 5. The mobile sensing device of claim 1, wherein for each of the airflow sensing units each air passage contains a pair of airflow sensors. 6. The mobile sensing device of claim 5, wherein for each of the airflow sensing units each air passage contains a tilted blocking bar on which the pair of airflow sensors are positioned, the tilted blocking bar being configured to direct air flowing in a particular direction to a particular one of the pair of sensors such that during operation of the device, depending on a direction of an airflow one of the pair of airflow sensors will sense the airflow while another of the pair of airflow sensors will be idle. 7. The mobile sensing device of claim 1, wherein the airflow sensing units of the airflow sensing system have a same orientation along an x-axis, a y-axis and a z-axis as one another. 8. The mobile sensing device of claim 1, further comprising a metal bar grid on which the plurality of airflow sensing units are mounted. 9. The mobile sensing device of claim 8, further comprising wheels attached to a bottom of the metal bar grid. 10. The mobile sensing device of claim 1, wherein the grid comprises 10 different height levels with 10 lateral locations at each height level. 11. The mobile sensing device of claim 10, comprising the airflow sensing units in at least 100 different locations on the grid. 12. The mobile sensing device of claim 1, further comprising control electronics configured to control the airflow sensors, take readings from the airflow sensors, store data obtained from the airflow sensors and process data obtained from the airflow sensors. 13. A method for mapping the airflow of a room by taking airflow measurements of the room, the method comprising the steps of: placing a mobile sensing device at an initial location in the room, the mobile sensing device comprising an airflow sensing system having a plurality of airflow sensing units arranged in a grid, each of the airflow sensing units comprising a first air passage that contains at least one first airflow sensor; a second air passage perpendicular to the first air passage, wherein the second air passage contains at least one second airflow sensor; and a third air passage perpendicular to the first air passage and the second air passage, wherein the third air passage contains at least one third airflow sensor, wherein each of the airflow sensing units is configured to measure airflow direction and velocity in three dimensions, wherein one or more of the at least one first airflow sensor, the at least one second airflow sensor and the at least one third airflow sensor comprise a thermal micro electro mechanical sensor having i) a central leg with a first heater incorporated into a constant temperature feedback loop and ii) a lateral leg with a second heater which, during operation, is powered at constant voltage, and wherein the thermal micro electro mechanical sensor is sensitive to airflow with a velocity distribution across a range of from about 1 cm/s to about 5 m/s, and wherein each of the airflow sensors is configured to be self-heating while having a total power consumption of less than about two milliwatts, wherein each of the airflow sensors comprises two heaters which are configured such that a differential signal is obtained based on a differential resistance between the two heaters which varies depending on a direction of the airflow, and wherein a change in the airflow due to heat dissipated by the airflow sensors does not affect an overall airflow measurement provided by the airflow sensing system;measuring airflow direction and velocity using the mobile sensing device;moving the mobile sensing device to another location in the room; andrepeating the measuring and moving steps to obtain airflow measurements throughout the room thereby mapping the airflow of the room. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the room is a data center. 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: determining airflow direction and velocity between two points iteratively to determine an overall air path between any two points in the data center. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining step is performed after the airflow direction and velocity are measured at each location. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining step is performed after the airflow direction and velocity are measured at one or more locations in the data center. 18. A method for airflow analysis in a room, comprising the steps of: obtaining airflow direction and velocity measurements for a given location in the room from a mobile sensing device comprising an airflow sensing system having a plurality of airflow sensing units arranged in a grid, each of the airflow sensing units comprising a first air passage that contains at least one first airflow sensor; a second air passage perpendicular to the first air passage, wherein the second air passage contains at least one second airflow sensor; and a third air passage perpendicular to the first air passage and the second air passage, wherein the third air passage contains at least one third airflow sensor, wherein each of the airflow sensing units is configured to measure airflow direction and velocity in three dimensions, wherein one or more of the at least one first airflow sensor, the at least one second airflow sensor and the at least one third airflow sensor comprise a thermal micro electro mechanical sensor having i) a central leg with a first heater incorporated into a constant temperature feedback loop and ii) a lateral leg with a second heater which, during operation, is powered at constant voltage, and wherein the thermal micro electro mechanical sensor is sensitive to airflow with a velocity distribution across a range of from about 1 cm/s to about 5 m/s, wherein each of the airflow sensors is configured to be self-heating while having a total power consumption of less than about two milliwatts, wherein each of the airflow sensors comprises two heaters which are configured such that a differential signal is obtained based on a differential resistance between the two heaters which varies depending on a direction of the airflow, and wherein a change in the airflow due to heat dissipated by the airflow sensors does not affect an overall airflow measurement provided by the airflow sensing system;determining airflow direction and velocity between two points iteratively to determine an overall air path between any two points in the room, wherein the overall air path is determined based on correlating measurements taken in pairs from the airflow sensing units wherein a determination is made as to which of the airflow sensing units senses a larger airflow than one or more other of the airflow sensing units; andrepeating the obtaining and determining steps for n number of locations throughout the room to map airflow in the entire room. 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of: storing the airflow direction and velocity measurements; andrepeating the obtaining and storing steps for n number of locations throughout the room. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the room is a data center. 21. The method of claim 18, wherein the mobile sensing device further comprises control electronics having a memory and at least one processor device, coupled to the memory, the processor device operative to perform the obtaining, determining and repeating steps.
Yamada,Masamichi; Matsumoto,Masahiro; Nakano,Hiroshi; Watanabe,Izumi; Nakada,Keiichi, Thermal fluid flow meter having heat-generating resistor and temperature adjuster therefor.
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