초록 ▼

A data center cooling system includes an evaporative cooling system. The evaporative cooling system includes fans configured to circulate outside air at ambient conditions through an entry zone of a data center, and atomizers positioned upstream of the entry zone configured to spray atomized water i

A data center cooling system includes an evaporative cooling system. The evaporative cooling system includes fans configured to circulate outside air at ambient conditions through an entry zone of a data center, and atomizers positioned upstream of the entry zone configured to spray atomized water into the circulating outside air. The atomized water evaporates in an evaporation zone and cools the outside air to produce cooled air, which is directed through racks of computers positioned downstream of the evaporation zone.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A data center cooling system comprising: a plurality of fans arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns in a bank of fans, the plurality of fans configured to circulate outside air at ambient conditions through a human-occupiable workspace that includes an entry zone comprising an

1. A data center cooling system comprising: a plurality of fans arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns in a bank of fans, the plurality of fans configured to circulate outside air at ambient conditions through a human-occupiable workspace that includes an entry zone comprising an opening in an exterior wall of a data center;a plurality of atomizers positioned downstream of the entry zone and across an area substantially the same as the opening in the exterior of the wall of the data center, the plurality of atomizers configured to spray atomized water into the circulating outside air;an evaporation zone where the atomized water evaporates and cools the outside air to produce cooled air;a rack zone positioned downstream of the evaporation zone that comprises a plurality of computer racks arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel rows;wherein the plurality of fans are further configured to circulate the cooled air from the evaporation zone into the rack zone. 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a cool air plenum in fluid communication with the evaporation zone and configured to capture the cooled air and then to direct the cooled air into the rack zone at predetermined discrete locations. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the cool air plenum comprises one or more conduits positioned above and substantially sealed from the rack zone and is in fluid communication with one or more diffusers configured to direct the cooled air downwardly into the rack zone. 4. The system of claim 2, wherein the cool air plenum comprises one or more conduits positioned below and substantially sealed from the rack zone and is in fluid communication with one or more diffusers configured to direct the cool air upwardly into the rack zone. 5. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a hot air plenum in fluid communication with the rack zone and configured to capture heated air that has been circulated past electronic equipment in the rack zone. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the hot air plenum comprises one or more conduits positioned above a top level of the rack zone such that hot air vents upwardly into the hot air plenum. 7. The system of claim 5, wherein the hot air plenum comprises one or more conduits positioned beneath a bottom level of the rack zone, the system further comprising one or more fans configured to draw hot air from the rack zone downwardly into the hot air plenum. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the entry zone comprises a plurality of louvers extending across the opening. 9. The system of claim 8, further comprising: a filter system positioned inside the entry zone upstream of the plurality of fans to filter outside air entering the entry zone. 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a cool air plenum configured to capture the cooled air and to direct the cooled air into the rack zone, the cool air plenum comprising: a supply conduit in fluid communication with the evaporation zone that extends substantially the width of the rack zone and is configured to capture the cooled air from the evaporation zone;a plurality of delivery conduits connected to the supply conduit, each projecting in a substantially perpendicular direction from the supply conduit and extending substantially the length of the rack zone. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the cool air plenum is positioned above the rack zone and the plurality of delivery conduits are in sealed fluid communication with a plurality of diffusers configured to direct the cool air downwardly into the rack zone. 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the cool air plenum is positioned below a floor that supports equipment in the rack zone, and the plurality of delivery conduits are in sealed fluid communication with a plurality of diffusers configured to direct the cool air upwardly through perforations in the floor into the rack zone. 13. The system of claim 10, further comprising: one or more exhaust fans configured to draw, into a hot air plenum, heated air that has been circulated past electronic equipment in the rack zone; andthe hot air plenum configured to capture the heated air, comprising: an exhaust conduit that extends substantially the width of the rack zone and is configured to receive the hot air from a plurality of return conduits and to vent the hot air outside the data center; andthe plurality of return conduits connected to the exhaust conduit, each projecting in a substantially perpendicular direction from the exhaust conduit and extending substantially the length of the rack zone, wherein the return conduits include one or more apertures such that the hot air is drawn from the rack zone into the return conduit through the apertures and directed to the exhaust conduit;wherein the plurality of delivery conduits of the cool air plenum are arranged in parallel to the plurality of return conduits of the hot air plenum and alternate with each other across the width of the rack zone. 14. The system of claim 1, wherein: the entry zone comprises a plurality of louvers extending across the opening; andthe plurality of atomizers comprises atomizers spaced at intervals in rows extending across the bank of fans. 15. The system of claim 1, wherein: the entry zone comprises a plurality of louvers extending across the opening; andthe plurality of atomizers comprises atomizers spaced at intervals in a row positioned above and downstream of the plurality of fans. 16. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a control system comprising: a thermometer configured to measure a wet or dry bulb temperature, or both, of the outside air;a flow meter configured to measure a rate of flow of cooled air into the rack zone;a humidistat configured to measure a humidity level of the cooled air; anda controller configured to receive the measurements from the thermometer, flow meter, and humidistat, and to control the flow rate of water to the plurality of atomizers based on the measurements and a temperature and humidity set point for the rack zone. 17. The system of claim 16, further comprising: a supplemental cooling system for the data center that comprises: a cooling tower;a water-to-water heat exchanger in fluid communication with the cooling tower;an air-to-water heat exchanger in fluid communication with the water-to-water heat exchanger and positioned to receive hot air from the rack zonewherein: the supplemental cooling system is arranged to be activated to cool the hot air from the rack zone and to recirculate the cooled air back into the rack zone;the controller is further configured to selectively activate the supplemental cooling system to cool the rack zone based on the measurements and on the temperature and relative humidity set point for the rack zone. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein: the supplemental cooling system further comprises a chiller in fluid communication with the air-to-water heat exchanger; andthe controller is further configured to selectively activate the chiller based on the measurements and on the temperature and relative humidity set point for the rack zone. 19. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a control system comprising: a thermometer configured to measure the temperature of the cool air;a humidistat configured to measure the relative humidity of the cool air;a controller configured to receive the measurements from the thermometer and humidistat and to control the flow rate of water to the plurality of atomizers based on the measurements and a maximum allowable temperature and relative humidity for the rack zone. 20. The system of claim 19, further comprising: a supplemental cooling system for the data center that comprises: a cooling tower;a water-to-water heat exchanger in fluid communication with the cooling tower;an air-to-water heat exchanger in fluid communication with the water-to-water heat exchanger and positioned to receive hot air from the rack zonewherein: the supplemental cooling system is arranged to be activated to cool the hot air from the rack zone and to recirculate the cooled air back into the rack zone;the controller is further configured to selectively activate the supplemental cooling system to cool the rack zone based on the measurements and on the maximum allowable temperature and relative humidity for the rack zone. 21. The system of claim 20, wherein: the supplemental cooling system further comprises a chiller in fluid communication with the air-to-water heat exchanger; andthe controller is further configured to selectively activate the chiller based on the measurements and on the maximum allowable temperature and relative humidity for the rack zone. 22. The system of claim 1, wherein the rack zone is directly downstream of the evaporation zone, such that the outside air is passed directly from the evaporation zone to the rack zone. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the evaporation zone comprises a volume of space that is sufficient to allow atomized water sprayed by the plurality of atomizers to evaporate substantially completely, such that liquid water is inhibited from entering the rack zone. 24. The system of claim 1, wherein the opening in the wall of the data center is configured to receive outside air carried by naturally prevailing winds. 25. The system of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to control the flow rate of the water to the plurality of atomizers by determining the lower of: an atomizer flow rate that is sufficient to reduce the outside air temperature to the temperature set point of the rack zone; andan atomizer flow rate that is sufficient to raise the relative humidity of the outside air to the relative humidity set point of the rack zone. 26. The system of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to control the flow rate of the water to the plurality of atomizers by: reducing a current atomizer flow rate based on the temperature of the outside air being lower than the temperature set point of the rack zone;reducing the current atomizer flow rate based on the temperature of the outside air being greater than the temperature set point of the rack zone and the relative humidity of the outside air is greater than the relative humidity set point of the rack zone; orincreasing the current atomizer flow rate based on the temperature of the outside air being greater than the temperature set point of the rack zone and the relative humidity of the outside air being lower than the relative humidity set point of the rack zone. 27. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more exhaust fans configured to circulate heated air into a hot air plenum that has been circulated past the plurality of computer racks in the rack zone, the one or more exhaust fans configured to maintain a predetermined temperature rise across the plurality of computer racks. 28. The system of claim 1, wherein the bank of fans is oriented perpendicular to a direction of airflow entering the entry zone. 29. The system of claim 1, wherein the bank of fans has substantially the same area as the opening in the exterior wall of the data center.