Cooling method for a data center in a shipping container

A method for controlling a plurality of fans operatively disposed in a shipping container, the fans being arranged in a plurality of banks within a closed fluid path, each bank having a sub-set of the fans arranged in a plurality of horizontal layers, two banks forming an adjacent pair in the closed fluid path if a fluid exiting one of the two banks next enters the other of the two banks, the method comprising:

• determining an apparent fluid temperature for each of the layers;
• determining a proposed fluid flow rate for each of the layers based on a difference between the apparent fluid temperatures and a desired temperature, wherein the apparent fluid temperature for one of the layers is one of a maximum fluid temperature measured within that layer and an average of fluid temperatures measured within that layer;
• determining a proposed fluid flow rate for each of the banks based on the fluid flow rates of the corresponding layers of each of the banks;
• modifying each of the flow rates by a respective scaling factor such that the flow rates for each adjacent pair satisfy a continuity criteria, wherein the scaling factors satisfy a minimization criteria;
• determining modified fan speeds based on the modified flow rates;
• and
• operating the fans at the modified fans speeds.

A method for controlling a plurality of fans operatively disposed in a shipping container, the fans being arranged in a plurality of banks within a closed fluid path, each bank having a sub-set of the fans arranged in a plurality of horizontal layers, two banks form an adjacent pair in the closed fluid path if a fluid exiting one of the two banks next enters the other of the two banks, the method comprising:

• determining an apparent fluid temperature for each of the layers, wherein the apparent fluid temperature for one of the layers is an average of fluid temperatures measured within that layer;
• determining a proposed fluid flow rate for each of the banks;
• modifying each of the flow rates by a respective scaling factor having a value at least equal to one such that the flow rates for each adjacent pair are substantially equal;
• and
• controlling the fans such that the flow rates are substantially equal.