Cooling system
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsChandrakant D. Patel, Cullen E. Bash
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for cooling a room configured to house a plurality of computer systems. A heat exchanger unit is configured to receive air from the room and to deliver air to the room. The heat exchanger unit is supplied with cooling fluid operable to cool the received air in the heat exchanger unit. At least one of the temperature of the cooling fluid supplied to the heat exchanger unit and the air delivery to the room may be controlled in response to temperatures sensed at one or more locations in the room.
Claims23
A method for cooling a room configured to house a plurality of computer systems, said method comprising:
- providing a heat exchanger unit configured to receive air from said room and to deliver air to said room;
- supplying said heat exchanger unit with cooling fluid from an air conditioning unit having a refrigeration loop including a variable capacity compressor and a refrigerant;
- cooling said received air through heat exchange with the cooling fluid in the heat exchanger unit;
- detecting a level of operation of the heat exchanger unit;
- communicating the level of operation of the heat exchanger unit to a controller of the air conditioning unit;
- and
- controlling the capacity of the variable capacity compressor to vary the temperature of said cooling fluid in response to the communicated level of operation of the heat exchanger unit.
A system for cooling a room containing one or more computer systems, said system comprising:
- a heat exchanger unit configured to receive cooling fluid through a cooling fluid line from an air conditioning unit and to receive air through an opening in the heat exchanger unit, wherein said air is cooled through heat transfer with said cooling fluid in the heat exchanger unit;
- said air conditioning unit having at least one of a variable capacity compressor, a heat exchanger, and a chiller;
- said heat exchanger unit having at least one fan configured to cause air to flow into and flow out of the heat exchanger unit;
- a heat exchanger controller operable to control a supply of said cooling fluid to said heat exchanger unit, to control the speed of the at least one fan, and to detect a level of operation of the heat exchanger unit;
- said heat exchanger unit being configured to communicate the level of operation of the heat exchanger unit to an air conditioning unit controller, wherein the air conditioning unit controller is configured to operate the air conditioning unit to vary the temperature of the cooling fluid in response to the communicated level of operation of the heat exchanger unit.
A system for cooling computer systems housed in one or more racks, said racks being maintained in a room, said system comprising:
- means for receiving air from the room;
- means for cooling the received air in the means for receiving air, said means for cooling including means for receiving cooling fluid from an air conditioning unit having a variable capacity compressor;
- means for delivering cooled air to said computer systems;
- means for detecting a level of operation of the means for delivering cooled air;
- means for communicating the level of operation of the means for delivering cooled air to a means for controlling the air conditioning unit;
- and
- means for controlling the air conditioning unit includes means for controlling the temperature of said cooling fluid based upon the communicated level of operation of the means for delivering cooled air.
A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method for cooling a room configured to house a plurality of computer systems, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for:
- supplying a heat exchanger unit configured to receive air from the room and to deliver air to the room with cooling fluid from an air conditioning unit having a refrigeration loop including a variable capacity compressor and a refrigerant;
- cooling said received air through heat exchange with the cooling fluid in the heat exchanger unit;
- detecting a level of operation of the heat exchanger unit;
- communicating the level of operation of the heat exchanger unit to a controller of the air conditioning unit;
- and
- controlling the capacity of the variable capacity compressor to vary the temperature of said cooling fluid in response to the communicated level of operation of the heat exchanger unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.