Conditioning system of the free cooling type for environments and particularly for computing centers, method of operation of such system, and apparatus for carrying out such method

Abstract

A conditioning system of the free cooling type for environments and particularly for computing centers, which comprises: a conditioning unit of the free cooling type, which in turn comprises an air/air heat exchanger, inside which two air flows exchange heat, a primary air flow, from and toward an environment to be air-conditioned, and a secondary air flow, or process flow, drawn from outside, and evaporative cooling elements using water, first fans for moving the primary air flow, second fans for moving the secondary air flow, detectors for detecting temperature and humidity for the primary air flow and the secondary air flow at the inlet and at the outlet of the conditioning unit, detectors for detecting the flow-rate of the primary air flow and of the secondary air flow, an electronic control and management unit adapted to collect and process the data detected by the detectors and adapted to determine, on the basis of the outside humidity and temperature values and of the demand for cooling, the operating cost without the use of water and with a variable use of water.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A conditioning system of the free cooling type for environments and particularly for computing centers, of the type comprising:
 a conditioning unit of the free cooling type, which in turn comprises an air/air heat exchanger, inside which two air flows exchange heat, a primary air flow, from and toward an environment to be air-conditioned, and a secondary air flow, or process flow, drawn from outside, and evaporative cooling means using water,   first fans for moving said primary air flow,   second fans for moving said secondary air flow,   wherein said conditioning system comprises:   means for detecting temperature and humidity for the primary air flow and the secondary air flow at the inlet and at the outlet of said conditioning unit,   means for detecting the flow-rate of the primary air flow and of the secondary air flow,   an electronic control and management unit adapted to collect and process the data detected by said detection means and, on the basis of such detected data, adapted to determine, on the basis of the outside humidity and temperature values and of the demand for cooling, the operating cost without the use of water and with a variable use of water, and, on the basis of the operating cost, to activate a wet operating mode in which the evaporative cooling means using water are active or a dry operating mode in which the evaporative cooling means using water are inactive.   
     
     
         2 . The conditioning system according to  claim 1 , wherein said evaporative cooling means comprise:
 nozzles for distributing cooling water within said air/air exchanger,   a tank for collecting the water that has not evaporated,   one or more recirculation pumps for drawing water from said collection tank and sending it toward said nozzles.   
     
     
         3 . The conditioning system according to  claim 1 , wherein said conditioning unit comprises cooling means using water for the secondary air flow at the inlet of the conditioning unit. 
     
     
         4 . The conditioning system according to  claim 1 , wherein said means for detecting the temperature and humidity for the primary air flow at the inlet of the conditioning unit are constituted by a first probe, which is arranged so as to intercept the primary air flow, which arrives from the environment to be air-conditioned, at an inlet region of said conditioning unit. 
     
     
         5 . The conditioning system according to  claim 4 , wherein said means for detecting the temperature and humidity for the primary air flow at the outlet of the conditioning unit have a second probe. 
     
     
         6 . The conditioning system according to  claim 5 , wherein said means for detecting the temperature and humidity for the secondary air flow at the inlet of the conditioning unit are constituted by a third probe, which is arranged so as to intercept the secondary air flow, which arrives from the outside environment, at a corresponding inlet region of the conditioning unit. 
     
     
         7 . The conditioning system according to  claim 6 , wherein said means for detecting the temperature and humidity for the secondary air flow at the outlet of the conditioning unit, at an outlet region from the unit toward the outside, have a fourth probe. 
     
     
         8 . The conditioning system according to  claim 7 , wherein said means for detecting the flow-rate of the primary flow are constituted by a fifth probe, which is arranged at the outlet region from the conditioning unit toward the environment to be air-conditioned. 
     
     
         9 . The conditioning system according to  claim 8 , wherein said means for detecting the flow-rate of the secondary air flow are constituted by a sixth probe, which is arranged at the outlet region of the secondary air flow from the conditioning unit toward the outside. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operation of a conditioning system according to claim  1 , comprising the following operations:
 starting the conditioning system and detecting, by way of the detection means, the values of temperature, humidity and flow-rate of the primary air flow and secondary air flow,   determining the cost of dry operation of the system, i.e., without using water, and the cost of wet operation of the system, i.e., using water;   assessing whether the value of the temperature of the outside environment is lower than a preset temperature value and whether the value of the humidity of the outside environment is higher than a preset humidity value;   if either the temperature of the outside environment is lower than the preset temperature value or the humidity of the outside environment is higher than the preset humidity value, then switching off the evaporative cooling means and the cooling means using water for the secondary air flow at the inlet, if they are present,   if the temperature of the outside environment is not lower than the preset temperature value and the humidity of the outside environment is not higher than the preset humidity value, then checking whether the cost of dry operation of the system is greater than the cost of wet operation of the system;   if the cost of dry operation of the system is higher than the cost of wet operation of the system, then switching on the evaporative cooling means and/or the cooling means using water, if present;   if the cost of dry operation of the system is not higher than the cost of wet operation of the system, then checking whether the temperature of the outside environment is higher than the return temperature of the primary air flow at the inlet to the conditioning unit;   if the temperature of the outside environment is higher than the return temperature of the primary air flow at the inlet to the conditioning unit, then switching on the evaporative cooling means and/or the cooling means using water for the secondary air flow at the inlet, if they are present;   if the temperature of the outside environment is not higher than the return temperature of the primary air flow at the inlet to the conditioning unit, then switching off the evaporative cooling means and/or the cooling means using water for the secondary air flow at the inlet, if they are present.   
     
     
         11 . The method of operation according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 said cost of dry operation of the system is a function of the estimated power absorbed by the fans during the operation of the conditioning unit without using water;   said cost of wet operation of the system is a function of the estimated power absorbed by the fans with the conditioning unit operating using water, and of the consumption of water.   
     
     
         12 . An apparatus for carrying out a method of operation of a conditioning system according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 means for detecting temperature and humidity for the primary air flow and the secondary air flow at the inlet and at the outlet of a said conditioning unit,   means for detecting the flow-rate of the primary air flow and of the secondary air flow,   an electronic control and management unit adapted to collect and process the data detected by said detection means and, on the basis of such detected data, adapted to determine, on the basis of the outside humidity and temperature values and of the demand for cooling, the operating cost without the use of water and with a variable use of water, and, on the basis of the operating cost, to activate a wet operating mode in which the evaporative cooling means using water are active or a dry operating mode in which the evaporative cooling means using water are inactive.