Heat exchanging fluid return manifold for a liquid cooling system

Abstract

The present invention is a two-phase liquid cooling system that cools a plurality of electronic components connected in parallel. A pump delivers a cooling fluid, as a liquid, to a supply manifold wherein it splits into distinct branch lines. Preferably, the branch lines feed coolant to individual spray modules. The liquid coolant removes heat from the components to be cooled through evaporation. The resulting liquid and vapor mixture exits the spray modules via return branches. Each individual return branch feeds into a return manifold wherein the manifold is sized sufficiently for the separation of liquid and vapor under the influences of gravity. In addition, a heat exchanger is located within the return manifold and provides for the condensation of vapor. The heat exchanger may also provide liquid subcooling.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]We claim benefit under Title 35, United States Code, Section 120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 371,403 filed Feb. 19, 2003 entitle “Coolant Recovery System”. This application is a continuation-in-part of the 10 / 371,403 application which is currently pending and is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]Not related to this application.BACKGROUND[0003]1. Field of the Invention[0004]The present invention relates generally to liquid cooling thermal management systems and more specifically it relates to a two-phase liquid cooling management system.[0005]2. Description of the Related Art[0006]Liquid cooling is well known in the art of cooling electronics. As air cooling heat sinks continue to be pushed to new performance levels, so has their cost, complexity, and weight. Liquid cooling systems provide advantages over air cooling systems in terms of hea...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

As air cooling heat sinks continue to be pushed to new performance levels, so has their cost, complexity, and weight.

Although both single-phase and two-phase liquid cooling solutions provide many advantages over air cooling solutions, they also have drawbacks.

One such drawback is that liquid cooling can be more expensive than air cooling.

Although the performance of liquid cooling may justify the increased cost over air cooling, liquid cooling a single processor may require a cost premium.

A significant problem with series connections is that the cooling fluid is at a different thermal state at each electronic component along the chain.

Thermal cycling reduces component reliability.

Parallel connections remedy the disadvantages of series connections, but it too creates challenges.

A first challenge with parallel connections using two-phase flow is that the flow of fluid can be complicated.

The mode of flow can be difficult to predict and tests have shown the mode of flow to have a significant impact on the performance of a cooling system.

Another problem with parallel connections is that the numerous transitions can cause system back-pressures.

Back-pressures, or restrictions downstream of a spray module, can cause an increased pressure level within a spray module and may result in reduced cooling performances.

Another problem with parallel connections is that in many computer cooling applications, the locations of particular processors may not be fixed.

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