The present disclosure relates to a method and system for controlled airflow cooling.
Data centers and other similar facilities require secure, stable, and adequate amounts of electricity to maintain their information technology (IT) resources and components. Electricity power surges, sags, and outages however can damage the valuable IT resources and components within these facilities as well as halt production. Operators of such data centers or other facilities which require large amounts of power require certain power protection systems, such as an uninterruptible power system (UPS). UPSs provide power condition and backup power when utility power fails in facilities to allow critical equipment to shut down smoothly. UPSs may employ other mechanisms, such as generators, to provide a secondary alternating current (AC) source. UPSs also condition incoming power so that sags and surges don't damage sensitive components or resources. Different types of UPSs exist each with different pros, cons, and costs.
Although UPSs may provide a way for facilities to enable a protection system for their components, UPSs are not without problems. For example, for large UPS systems that include multiple functional blocks that are parallel for capacity, the amount of fans required to cool the components of the UPSs may be large thereby increasing costs. Moreover, providing redundancy in such systems can require a doubling of the number of fans. This can require the fans to be stacked thus increasing the footprint of the UPS.
Moreover, conventional cooling mechanisms for UPSs introduce complicated control schemes that need to balance power demand vs. cooling needs. Cooling systems associated with UPSs may utilize a singular control system which may lock or fail which results in the cooling system not having a way to compensate for the failure or locking of components.
Conventional cooling architectures also require fans to be directly adjacent to a corresponding functional block or individual ducting for each cooling circuit which exacerbates the issues noted above. Alternative cooling systems may use a singular large fan for all the functional blocks of a UPS which may reduce the overall number of fans in the system but must be oversized to account for airflow through inactive functional blocks. Additionally, the cooling provided by one large oversized fan cannot be granularly controlled.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a controlled cooling system for one or more functional blocks of a power system that includes: one or more dampers that are each connected to at least one of the one or more functional blocks of a power system; a pressurized intake plenum comprising one or more walls and one or more openings, the one or more dampers aligned with the one or more openings; one or more intake fans in communication with the pressurized intake plenum and the one or more walls of the pressurized intake plenum; and a system control, wherein the one or more intake fans are configured to force cooling air through the pressurized intake plenum and the one or more functional blocks of the power system via the one or more dampers. The system control is configured to send signals to the one or more intake fans to change a speed of the one or more intake fans.
The system of an embodiment may further include a fan control system and a flow control system, wherein the fan control system is configured to communicate with the one or more intake fans and control a current speed of the one or more intake fans based on the signals between the one or more intake fans, the system control, and the fan control system.
In an embodiment, the flow control system is configured to communicate with the one or more dampers, wherein the flow control system is configured to communicate with the one or more dampers and control a current position of the one or more dampers based on the signals between the one or more dampers, the system control, and the flow control system.
In an embodiment, the system control, fan control system, and flow control system receive from the one or more intake fans, the one or more dampers, or the one or more functional blocks of the power system an operating mode of the one or more functional blocks, a temperature associated with the one or more functional blocks, a load level of the one or more functional blocks, a current speed of the one or more fans, and a current position of the one or more dampers.
In an embodiment, the system control or the flow control system update the current position of the one or more dampers to a greater degree of opening in response to the signals from the fan control system indicating a failure of one of the one or more intake fans.
In an embodiment, the system control or the flow control system update the current position of the one or more dampers to a greater degree of opening in response to not receiving the signals from the fan control system.
In an embodiment, the system control or the fan control system update the current speed of the one or more intake fans to increase the speed of the one or more intake fans in response to the signals from the flow control system indicating a failure of one of the one or more dampers.
In an embodiment, the system control or the fan control system update the current speed of the one or more intake fans to increase the speed of the one or more intake fans in response to not receiving the signals from the flow control system.
In an embodiment, the power system is an uninterruptible power system (UPS), and wherein the one or more functional blocks include at least a rectifier, inverter, and booster.
The system of an embodiment may further include one or more ducts in communication with the one or more dampers and the one or more functional blocks, the one or more ducts located in between the one or more dampers and the one or more functional blocks.
The system of an embodiment may further include one or more ducts in communication with the one or more dampers and the pressurized intake plenum, the one or more ducts located in between the one or more dampers and the pressurized intake plenum.
The system of an embodiment may further include one or more fan control systems and one or more flow control systems, wherein the one or more fan control systems are configured to communicate with the one or more intake fans and control a current speed of the one or more intake fans based on the signals between the one or more intake fans, the system control, and the one or more fan control systems.
In an embodiment, the one or more flow control systems are configured to communicate with the one or more dampers, wherein the one or more flow control systems are configured to communicate with the one or more dampers and control a current position of the one or more dampers based on the signals between the one or more dampers, the system control, and the one or more flow control systems.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a controlled cooling system for one or more functional blocks of a power system including: one or more dampers each connected to at least one of the one or more functional blocks of the power system; a pressurized exhaust plenum comprising one or more walls and one or more openings, the one or more dampers aligned with the one or more openings; one or more exhaust fans in communication with the pressurized exhaust plenum and the one or more walls of the pressurized exhaust plenum; and a system control, wherein the one or more exhaust fans are configured to pull cooling air through the pressurized exhaust plenum and the one or more functional blocks of the power system via the one or more dampers, and force warm air out of the pressurized exhaust plenum. The system control is configured to send signals to the one or more exhaust fans to change a speed of the one or more exhaust fans.
The system of an embodiment may further include a fan control system and a flow control system, wherein the fan control system is configured to communicate with the one or more exhaust fans and control a current speed of the one or more exhaust fans based on the signals between the one or more exhaust fans, the system control, and the fan control system.
In an embodiment, the flow control system is configured to communicate with the one or more dampers, wherein the flow control system is configured to communicate with the one or more dampers and control a current position of the one or more dampers based on the signals between the one or more dampers, the system control, and the flow control system.
In an embodiment, the power system is a semiconductor switch, and wherein the one or more functional blocks include a source alternating current (AC) switch.
The system of an embodiment may further include one or more ducts in communication with the one or more dampers and the one or more functional blocks, the one or more ducts located in between the one or more dampers and the one or more functional blocks.
The system of an embodiment may further include one or more ducts in communication with the one or more dampers and the pressurized exhaust plenum, the one or more ducts located in between the one or more dampers and the pressurized exhaust plenum.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method, including: receiving, by a control system of a power system, signals from a fan control system and a flow control system, the control system configured to communicate with one or more intake fans and one or more dampers, the one or more intake fans in communication with a pressurized intake plenum, the pressurized intake plenum comprising one or more walls and one or more openings, the one or more dampers each connected to at least one of the one or more functional blocks and aligned with the one or more openings, wherein the one or more intake fans are configured to force cooling air through the pressurized intake plenum and the one or more functional blocks of the power system via the one or more dampers; comparing, by the control system, a temperature included in the signals to a threshold temperature; and adjusting, by the control system via instructions transmitted to the fan control system and the flow control system, a current speed of the one or more intake fans and a current position of the one or more dampers based on the temperature exceeding the threshold temperature.
The present disclosure will be described in even greater detail below based on the exemplary figures. The disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments. All features described and/or illustrated herein can be used alone or combined in different combinations in embodiments of the disclosure. The features and advantages of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent by reading the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings which illustrate the following:
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and system for controlled airflow cooling of components. While the present disclosure is described primarily in connection with UPSs or semiconductor switches, such as static transfer switches (STSs), as would be recognized by a person of ordinary skill in the art, the disclosure is not so limited and inventive features apply to other components or systems which require controlled airflow cooling.
According to aspects of the present disclosure, a novel cooling system is described which provides solutions to problems associated with conventional cooling systems for UPSs or semiconductor switches. For example, the cooling system described herein provides an architecture which enables the overall number of fans required to achieve cooling needs for components of a UPS or semiconductor switch to be reduced while still allowing for cooling to be focused or controlled on active functional blocks. In an exemplary embodiment, the system provides independent control for components such as dampers and fans such that one can compensate if the other one fails. Further, the system provides for greater redundancy of fans via the use of the plenum in the cooling system as described herein. Greater flexibility of component placement within cooling systems is also achieved as exemplary embodiments do not require individual ducts.
As such, the present disclosure enables a highly customizable and flexible cooling system that can provide controlled airflow cooling to multiple systems such as UPSs or semiconductor switches while solving problems typically associated with cooling systems associated with such systems. Not only does this novel mechanism provide practical benefits to operators of facilities which utilize UPSs or semiconductor switches (e.g., data centers)—such as, enabling labor- and cost-effective installation and upgrades to cooling systems as well as reducing the foot print of cooling systems within said facilities, but it also provides technical improvements over conventional cooling architectures and systems. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure enable more reliable redundancy to be introduced to cooling systems, granular airflow control to components which require cooling, and faster response times to failures in components of the cooling systems compared to conventional cooling systems.
A double-conversion UPS may convert power twice by using an input rectifier (rectifier 102) which converts AC power into direct current (DC) power and feeds it to an output inverter (inverter 104). The output inverter (inverter 104) may convert the power back to AC power before sending it on to components such as a server rack. A double-conversion UPS may, in normal operation, process power twice. However, if an AC input supply falls out of a range of predefined limits, the rectifier 102 may shut off and the inverter 104 may continue to operate as normal but draw power from a battery instead. The booster 106 may be used to power the battery or otherwise interact with the battery to provide power to the inverter 104. UPSs may also utilize a bypass path that uses an unconditioned AC power source to support loads to components of a facility should the UPS fail.
As depicted in
The architecture and systems depicted in
Similarly, the intake fans 212 may be controlled and/or provide information to fan control 208 and system control 206. The fan control 208 and/or system control 206 may provide instructions to increase or decrease the speed of the intake fans thereby generating more or less air flow being provisioned to the components 200-204. In embodiments, the system control 206 may be configured to utilize various data and information from the components of the UPS 200-204 and from the cooling system (212, 214-218, 208, and 226) to compare to one or more thresholds, which results in responses by the components of the cooling system according to instructions generated and transmitted to the flow control 226, fan control 208, or directly to the intake fans 212 or dampers 214-218. For example, the system control 206, fan control 208, and flow control 226 may receive and transmit information or data such as operating mode of the components 200-204 or intake fans 212 and dampers 214-218, temperature of components such as rectifier 200, inverter 202, or booster 204, load level of components 200-204, or temperatures of fans 212, pressurized intake plenum 210, or dampers 214-218. Redundancy is also achieved or further fail safes are accomplished in the cooling system of
In embodiments, temperature sensors may be associated with the intake fans 408, dampers 406, the pressurized intake plenum 410, and/or the components 400-404 of the UPS or semiconductor switch. The system control 412, fan control 416, and/or the flow control 414 may compare the temperatures received from the temperature sensors to one or more threshold temperatures and respond by providing more or less air flow to certain components by at least: updating the speed of rotation of intake fans 408; and/or closing or opening the dampers 406 to a greater or lesser degree. Separate temperature thresholds may be maintained and compared for the intake fans 408, dampers 406, the pressurized intake plenum 410, and/or the components 400-404. For example, a temperature threshold for dampers 406 may be greater than a temperature threshold for the intake fans 408.
The system control 512 and/or flow control 516 can further restrict or provide more air flow to components 502-506 by opening or closing dampers 510 to a greater or lesser degree than a current degree in response to information from components 502-506, 508, 510, or sensors associated with each of these components. Redundancy for the components of the cooling system depicted in
The cooling system illustrated in
Similar to the systems described in
At steps 1002 and 1004 the system control determines or otherwise receives signals indicating whether the UPS is in double conversion. In scenarios where the UPS is running in double conversion mode, the system control determines whether all fans are working at step 1006. If the fan control provides data or signals which indicate that all fans are working then the process 1000 continues to step 1008 where the system control determines whether the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) temperature for the functional blocks of an associated UPS are within a certain threshold temperature range (e.g., normal operating temperature range). The IGBT temperature may be communicated to the system control via temperature sensors associated with each functional block, in embodiments. If any of the IGBT temperatures are not within a certain temperature range then the process 1000 continues by determining which functional block of the UPS is having an issue at 1010, 1012, and 1014.
The process 1000 includes responses that the system control, fan control, and/or flow control take in response to determining which functional block has an IGBT temperature that is outside of a threshold temperature range or based on a comparison of the IGBT temperature to one or more threshold temperatures. For example, at step 1016, in response to determining that the IGBT temperature is associated with an issue for a corresponding inverter, the process may include the system control, fan control, and flow control providing instructions to open certain dampers to certain positions (e.g., to certain degrees from a current degree of openness), and set the intake fans or exhaust fans to certain speeds (e.g., increase or decrease fan speeds). Similarly, at steps 1018 and 1020, the system control, fan control, and flow control may provide instructions for updating positions of dampers and changing the speeds of fans within the cooling system depending on whether the issue is associated with a rectifier (1012) or with both the rectifier and inverter (1014). At step 1022 if none of the issues are associated with a particular functional block yet the IGBT temperature indicates that the UPS or functional blocks of the UPS are operating at too high of a temperature, the system control, fan control, and/or flow control may switch to full throttle mode which increases the fan speeds to maximum speed and opens dampers to the maximum opening degree. The process 1000 includes step 1024 which sends an alarm to an event log in response to switching to full throttle operating mode at step 1022.
In response to the system control determining that the UPS is not in double conversion, the system control may determine whether the UPS is on the booster (e.g., drawing power from an associated battery) at step 1026 of process 1000. The process 1000 includes at step 1028 updating the dampers to certain positions and changing the speeds of the fans of the cooling system in response to the determination at step 1026 by signals or communications from the system control, fan control, and/or flow control. The process 1000 also includes step 1030 where the system control determines whether the UPS is on static bypass mode. If it is not on static bypass mode then the system control, fan control, and flow control switch to full throttle mode at 1022. Going back to step 1006, if the system control and/or fan control determine that not all fans are working within the cooling system, the process includes at steps 1032 and 1034 whether a certain fan or certain fans are not working. This can be in response to signals transmitted from the fans to fan control or directly from the fans to the system control. The process 1000 includes at steps 1036 and 1038 responses by the system control, fan control, and flow control to update the position of the dampers as well as change the speed of the remaining operating fans in the cooling system in response to determinations made at 1032 and 1034.
The process 1000 includes at step 1040 sending an alarm event to the log in response to determining that one of the fans in the cooling system is not operating or not communicating with the fan control and/or system control and taking one of the responses at steps 1036 and 1038. Referring back to step 1008 if the system control determines that the IGBT temperatures are okay for each functional block of the UPS, the process 1000 includes, at steps 1042, 1044, and 1046 the amount of load that the UPS is processing. Based on a determination of the load being processed by the UPS and associated functional blocks the process includes several responses to each load amount being processed at steps 1048, 1050, and 1052. Each response at steps 1048, 1050, and 1052 includes updates to the positions of dampers and changes to speeds of the fans of the associated cooling system, each of which is tailored to respond to the amount of load being processed by the UPS. The process 1000 includes an end step at step 1054. It should be noted that although process 1000 refers to components and steps taking by a cooling system associated with a UPS embodiments of the current disclosure are not limited to such systems. The cooling air flow system described herein may perform similar functions in an environment where the cooling system is associated with a semiconductor switch(es).
The process 1100 depicts the improved redundancy provided by the cooling system air flow described herein by including independent checks and operations for different components of a cooling system interacting with a UPS. At steps 1002 and 1004 the system control determines or otherwise receives signals indicating whether the UPS is in double conversion. It should be noted that although process 1100 refers to components and steps taken by a cooling system associated with a UPS, embodiments of the current disclosure are not limited to such systems. The cooling air flow system described herein may perform similar functions in an environment where the cooling system is associated with a semiconductor switch(es). Steps 1102 and 1104 of process 1100 begin by determining whether the fans of a cooling system are working. If the system control and/or fan control determines that the fans are not working at 1106 then the system control and/or fan control moves to failure handling 1108 which may involve changing the position of associated dampers and updating an operating speed of any remaining operating fans as described above with reference to
If the system control and/or fan control determine that the fans are working at step 1104 then the process 1100 includes, at step 1110, setting the speeds of the fans of the cooling system based on an operating load of the associated UPS. The process 1100 includes a step for receiving or otherwise obtaining, by the system control, information or data which indicates the UPS load of the associated UPS which may include output, charging amount, grid support status, etc., at step 1112. Process 1100 includes an end step at 1114 for the speed control portion of the cooling system. Steps 1116 and 1118 of process 1100 begin by determining whether the dampers of the cooling system are working. Similar to the speed control steps 1102 and 1104, if the system control and/or flow control determine that the dampers are not working then the process 1100 continues to steps 1106 and 1108 with failure handling which may include changes to fan speeds and damper positions as well as generating alarms or updates to logs of errors for the cooling system.
Process 1100 includes, based on a determination that the dampers are working at step 1118, setting or updating damper positions of the cooling system based on a UPS operating mode at 1120. The process 1100 includes a table 1122 which represents certain positions for each damper that is associated with a different functional block of a UPS such as a rectifier, inverter, and booster. Based on the operating mode of the UPS, certain dampers may be opened more or less based on whether their corresponding functional block is under greater or less load strain in the UPS system operating in a certain UPS mode. In embodiments, the system control and/or flow control may update the positions of the dampers of a cooling system based on input derived from a table or predefined responses such as table 1122. Process 1100 includes an end step at 1124 for the flow control portion of the cooling system.
While the disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill within the scope of the following claims. In particular, the present disclosure covers further embodiments with any combination of features from different embodiments described above and below. Additionally, statements made herein characterizing the disclosure refer to an embodiment of the disclosure and not necessarily all embodiments.
The terms used in the claims should be construed to have the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the foregoing description. For example, the use of the article “a” or “the” in introducing an element should not be interpreted as being exclusive of a plurality of elements. Likewise, the recitation of “or” should be interpreted as being inclusive, such that the recitation of “A or B” is not exclusive of “A and B,” unless it is clear from the context or the foregoing description that only one of A and B is intended. Further, the recitation of “at least one of A, B and C” should be interpreted as one or more of a group of elements consisting of A, B and C, and should not be interpreted as requiring at least one of each of the listed elements A, B and C, regardless of whether A, B and C are related as categories or otherwise. Moreover, the recitation of “A, B and/or C” or “at least one of A, B or C” should be interpreted as including any singular entity from the listed elements, e.g., A, any subset from the listed elements, e.g., A and B, or the entire list of elements A, B and C.