Experimental study on high temperature performance of heat pipe and vapor compression compound cooling unit for communication base station

Abstract

In order to solve the outstanding problems such as high energy consumption of traditional air conditioners in communication base stations, disordered air distribution in cabinets, and frequent high-temperature alarm of base band unit (BBU) in summer, a compound cooling unit of heat pipe and vapor compression air conditioner for communication base stations was developed, using a temperature control system with heat pipe cooling as the main and vapor compression air conditioners as the supplement, and the airflow form of downward sending up and back, high wind speed and internal circulation. The unit was applied to a communication base station in Zhengzhou to conduct the filed test. The results showed that BBU in the cabinet met the temperature control requirements of relevant standards under short-term high temperature and extreme high temperature conditions. There was no high temperature alarm. The average power of the compound cooling unit in the outdoor daily average temperature range of 24–28 ℃, 28–32 ℃, 32–36 ℃ and 36–40 ℃ is 127.7 W, 147.1 W, 314.2 W and 544.7 W respectively, and the energy saving rate is 71.9 %, 67.7 %, 39.5 % and 6.9 %, respectively. The air distribution in the cabinet can be further optimized to improve the temperature control effect of communication equipment and reduce the energy consumption of cooling system. This study has certain reference value for temperature control of communication equipment and energy saving of base station cooling system.

Keywords

• Communication base station
• Heat pipe
• Vapor compression air conditioner
• Energy saving technology