A distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system and method

Abstract

The present invention provides a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system and method, including a working fluid circulation unit, a distributed cooling unit, a pressure regulating unit and a fault emergency unit; the power circulation area provides power for the circulation and flow of the refrigerant in the system pipeline; the distributed cooling unit includes a heat load cooling cavity, each heat load cooling cavity contains a nozzle, the refrigerant is sprayed by the nozzle, and flash evaporation is completed on the heat load surface; the pressure regulating unit is used to adjust the back pressure in each heat load cooling cavity, thereby controlling the flash evaporation temperature in the heat load cooling cavity; the fault emergency unit is used to open when an abnormal stop of the compressor is detected, and maintain the temperature reduction in the heat load cooling cavity for a short period of time. The present invention uses a distributed cavity to independently cool chips with different heat requirements, and controls the cooling capacity allocated to them by adjusting the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve and the gasification expansion valve. Ultimately, the system has a strong cooling capacity and high temperature control performance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of refrigeration, and in particular relates to a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system and method. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid advancement of semiconductor technology, the computing speed and processing power of electronic devices continue to increase, but this is accompanied by a rapid increase in power consumption and heat generation. Modern electronic devices such as servers and smart cars often contain multiple chips of different types and functions. These chips may have significantly different operating temperature ranges and power consumption requirements due to differences in process, design, or function. Efficient thermal management of some high-power components has become a technical bottleneck restricting their functional improvement.

[0003] To address these issues, various cooling solutions have been proposed, such as liquid cooling, air cooling, and phase change cooling. However, traditional cooling solutions treat all chips uniformly, failing to provide customized cooling based on their individual needs. This can cause some chips to operate in unsuitable environments, impacting their performance and lifespan. Therefore, a cooling solution that can meet the individual needs of different chips is needed.

[0004] A similar existing patent is CN113573543A, which uses a distributed composite refrigeration system to cool a data center, but focuses on the air temperature control of the entire data center.

[0005] Currently, most systems used to cool electronic equipment with multiple heat flow requirements generally have the following drawbacks: they only focus on cooling capacity in a larger spatial range, and rarely pay attention to personalized cooling of chips with different working requirements; they control the heat dissipation capacity by controlling the flow of cooling medium, and the temperature control accuracy is relatively rough, which is difficult to match the refined temperature control requirements; they use cold plates or microchannels to cool the chips, the former has low cooling efficiency and is difficult to apply to high-power chips; the latter is expensive and complex in structure, making subsequent maintenance and adjustment difficult; the pipelines contain conductive media such as water and liquid metal, and once a leak occurs, there are risks such as short circuit and corrosion, which poses a major safety hazard. Summary of the Invention

[0006] To address the shortcomings of current technologies, the present invention proposes a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system for electronic devices with complex thermal requirements. This invention achieves distributed temperature control and cooling for electronic devices with complex thermal requirements and multiple heat dissipation targets.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] In a first aspect, a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system includes a working fluid circulation unit, a distributed cooling unit, a pressure regulating unit, and a fault emergency unit;

[0009] The power circulation area provides power for the circulation and flow of the refrigerant in the system pipeline;

[0010] The distributed cooling unit includes a plurality of distributed heat load cooling chambers, each of which contains a nozzle. The refrigerant is ejected from the nozzle and flash evaporates on the surface of the heat load. The heat load can be a high-performance CPU chip, a high-computing artificial intelligence chip, a high-power laser, a radar, and other high-power electronic devices.

[0011] The pressure regulating unit is used to regulate the back pressure in each heat load cooling cavity, thereby controlling the flash temperature in the heat load cooling cavity;

[0012] The fault emergency unit is used to start when it detects that the compressor stops abnormally, and maintain the temperature in the heat load cooling chamber for a short period of time.

[0013] The present invention provides a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system for electronic equipment with complex thermal requirements. As the power consumption and complexity of large-scale electronic systems continue to increase, conventional large-scale extensive cooling has gradually become difficult to meet their differentiated and dynamic heat dissipation needs, which will greatly reduce the working efficiency and life of electronic equipment. The present invention uses a distributed cavity to independently cool chips with different thermal requirements, controls the cooling capacity allocated to them by adjusting the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve and the gasification expansion valve, controls the internal pressure of a certain cavity by compressing and exhausting the cavity, and then controls its operating temperature. Ultimately, the system has a strong cooling capacity and high temperature control performance.

[0014] Optionally, each heat load cooling chamber inlet is provided with a refrigerant inlet valve.

[0015] Optionally, the power circulation area includes a variable frequency compressor, a small oil-water separator, an oil return ball valve, a compressor outlet valve, a cooling water tank, a liquid filter, a flow meter, a pipeline auxiliary heating device and a gas filter; the variable frequency compressor, a small oil-water separator, a compressor outlet valve, a cooling water tank, a liquid filter, and a flow meter are connected in sequence and connected to the distributed cooling unit; the outlet of the distributed cooling unit is connected in sequence to the pipeline auxiliary heating device and the gas filter, and the gas filter is connected to the variable frequency compressor on one path and to the small oil-water separator through the oil return ball valve on the other path.

[0016] Optionally, the pressure regulating unit includes a gasification expansion valve, a gasification cooling chamber, a boosting one-way valve, a boosting chamber, an air supply one-way valve, a cavity air supply valve, an exhaust one-way valve, a cavity exhaust valve, and a pressure diverter valve;

[0017] Each heat load cooling chamber inlet is provided with a gasification cooling chamber; the gasification inlet of the gasification cooling chamber is connected to the gasification expansion valve, which is connected to the outlet of the liquid filter; the gasification outlet of the gasification cooling chamber is connected in sequence to the boosting one-way valve and the boosting chamber, and the boosting chamber is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heating device through the pressure diverter valve;

[0018] The first outlet of each heat load cooling cavity is provided with a cavity exhaust valve and an exhaust check valve in sequence, and the exhaust check valve is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heating device;

[0019] Another path of the boost chamber is connected to the air supply one-way valve and the cavity air supply valve in sequence, and the cavity air supply valve is connected to the second outlet of the heat load cooling chamber.

[0020] Optionally, the power circulation area and the pressure regulating unit are both provided with a plurality of temperature and pressure sensors;

[0021] The refrigerant is a fluoride refrigerant, for example, it can be one of R134a, R404a, R410a and R32.

[0022] Optionally, the fault emergency unit includes a refrigerant storage tank, an air intake normally closed three-way valve, an exhaust normally closed three-way valve, and an air intake anti-backflow check valve.

[0023] The flow meter is connected to the gasification cooling chamber through an air intake anti-backflow one-way valve.

[0024] The fault emergency unit includes a refrigerant storage tank connected to the outlet of the air intake anti-backflow check valve through an air intake normally closed three-way valve;

[0025] The exhaust one-way valve is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heating device through an exhaust normally closed three-way valve.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling method, comprising:

[0027] The distributed cooling unit uses multiple distributed heat load cooling cavities to independently cool chips with different heat requirements. The distributed cooling unit controls the distributed cooling capacity by adjusting the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve, and the pressure regulating unit controls the opening of the gasification expansion valve. The internal pressure is controlled by compressing and exhausting the heat load cooling cavity, thereby controlling its operating temperature.

[0028] As a further improvement of the present invention, when the electronic device is in a low-power working state, the first cavity air supply valve, the second cavity air supply valve, and the third cavity air supply valve are closed, and the variable frequency compressor operates at a lower frequency. By adjusting the opening of the cavity exhaust valve, the internal pressure of the cooling cavity corresponding to the heat load can be controlled;

[0029] When the system is in normal working state, there may be large differences in the working temperature requirements between multiple heat loads. If the working temperature of a heat load is relatively low, it is necessary to control the corresponding heat load cooling cavity to be at a lower pressure (such as 0.6MPa), and this can be achieved by adjusting the opening of the corresponding cavity exhaust valve; if the working temperature of a heat load is relatively high, that is, the corresponding heat load cooling cavity pressure needs to be higher (such as 1.5MPa), then only adjusting the cavity exhaust valve opening cannot achieve the expected pressure, and the boosting cavity (35) must be heated and pressurized and the corresponding cavity air supply valve opening must be adjusted to supplement the pressure in the heat load cooling cavity. At the same time, if there is a large difference in pressure between any two different heat load cooling cavities during normal operation (such as 0.6MPa), an ejector can be additionally installed at the confluence of the two refrigerant outlets to ensure that the refrigerant in all cooling cavities can participate in the normal circulation.

[0030] As a further improvement of the present invention, when the internal pressure of the heat load cooling chamber approaches the preset value, the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve is gradually increased, the corresponding branch refrigerant flow is increased, and the cooling capacity allocated to the corresponding heat load is improved; when the temperature T in the heat load cooling chamber no longer changes significantly, the cooling capacity meets the corresponding heat load demand.

[0031] As a further improvement of the present invention, when the system works for a long time and the refrigerant in the pipeline is insufficient, the air inlet normally closed three-way valve can be opened to replenish the refrigerant in the pipeline under the premise of shutting down the system;

[0032] When an emergency failure occurs during normal operation of the system, the refrigerant cannot circulate normally in the pipeline. The normally closed three-way valve for air intake and the normally closed three-way valve for exhaust can be opened at the same time, and the other solenoid valves can be adjusted to the maximum opening. The refrigerant storage tank will take on the cooling task for a short time.

[0033] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0034] The present invention combines refrigerant flash spray cooling with multi-target distributed cooling. Compared with traditional cooling methods such as air cooling and water cooling, flash spray cooling has a much higher cooling efficiency than them, can easily meet the heat dissipation requirements of electronic equipment under extremely high power consumption, and also has extremely high temperature control accuracy. Since the refrigerant has a corresponding saturation temperature when it flashes at a certain pressure, as long as the pressure of the cooling cavity is controlled, the operating temperature of the electronic equipment inside will have extremely high stability and adjustability. And since the unit mass of refrigerant has a certain heat exchange capacity when it flashes at a certain temperature and pressure, controlling the cooling capacity in a certain cooling cavity can also be equivalent to controlling the refrigerant flow entering the cavity. In addition, the use of multi-target distributed cooling also enables the different components inside large electronic equipment to operate in their most suitable temperature range, greatly extending their service life and improving their working efficiency.

[0035] Furthermore, the system is equipped with a fault emergency unit. If an emergency fault occurs during normal system operation and the refrigerant cannot circulate normally in the pipeline, the refrigerant in the refrigerant storage tank can be used to perform cooling tasks in a short period of time, buying time for data preservation.

[0036] Furthermore, the cooling object of the present invention can be a large electronic device or any system with high power and complex heat dissipation requirements, such as the laser reflectors at various levels inside a large laser; in addition, the shape and size of the heat load cooling cavity, the type, number, and arrangement of the internal nozzles can all be adjusted according to the shape and size of the heat load, and has a wide range of applications. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The concept, specific structure and technical effects of the present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings to fully understand the purpose, characteristics and effects of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system according to the present invention;

[0039] In the figure, 1. variable frequency compressor, 2. small oil-water separator, 3. compressor outlet valve, 4. cooling water tank, 5. liquid filter, 6. flow meter, 7. inlet anti-backflow check valve, 8. inlet normally closed three-way valve, 9. refrigerant storage tank, 10. first gasification cooling chamber, 11. first gasification expansion valve, 12. second gasification cooling chamber, 13. second gasification expansion valve, 14. third gasification cooling chamber, 15. third gasification expansion valve, 16. first refrigerant inlet valve, 17. first heat load cooling chamber, 18. second refrigerant inlet valve, 19. second heat load cooling chamber, 20. third heat load cooling chamber, 21. The third refrigerant inlet valve, 22. The first cavity exhaust valve, 23. The first exhaust check valve, 24. The first cavity air supply valve, 25. The first air supply check valve, 26. The second cavity exhaust valve, 27. The second exhaust check valve, 28. The second cavity air supply valve, 29. The second air supply check valve, 30. The third cavity exhaust valve, 31. The third exhaust check valve, 32. The third cavity air supply valve, 33. The third air supply check valve, 34. The boost check valve, 35. The boost chamber, 36. The pressure diverter valve, 37. The exhaust normally closed three-way valve, 38. The pipeline auxiliary heating device, 39. The gas filter, 40. The oil return ball valve. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0041] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0042] The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the specification of the present application and the accompanying drawings, if any, are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or precedence. It should be understood that the numbers used in this manner are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can, for example, be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, e.g., a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0043] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one item" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "And / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of A, B or C can mean: A, B, C, "A and B", "A and C", "B and C", or "A and B and C", where A, B, C can be single or plural.

[0044] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0045] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0046] The present invention provides a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system for electronic equipment with complex thermal requirements, the main function of which is to control the cooling capacity and operating temperature in a heat load cooling cavity.

[0047] The first object of the present invention is to provide a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system, comprising a working fluid circulation unit, a distributed cooling unit, a pressure regulating unit and a fault emergency unit;

[0048] The power circulation area provides power for the circulation and flow of the refrigerant in the system pipeline;

[0049] The distributed cooling unit includes heat load cooling chambers 17, 19, and 20. Each heat load cooling chamber 17, 19, and 20 contains a nozzle, and the refrigerant is sprayed from the nozzle to complete flash evaporation on the heat load surface.

[0050] The pressure regulating unit is used to regulate the back pressure in each heat load cooling cavity, thereby controlling the flash temperature in the heat load cooling cavity;

[0051] The fault emergency unit is used to start when it detects that the compressor stops abnormally, and maintain the temperature in the heat load cooling chamber for a short period of time.

[0052] The system's cooling capacity primarily relies on the tiny, low-temperature droplets produced by the flash spray of refrigerant. When these droplets impact the surface of the heating element, they rapidly dissipate heat through boiling, evaporation, and convection. Therefore, adjusting the cooling capacity within a specific heat load cooling chamber can only be achieved by adjusting the flash spray cooling parameters, such as refrigerant flow rate entering the chamber, inlet temperature, and spray chamber pressure.

[0053] When flash vaporization occurs, the refrigerant reaches a corresponding saturation pressure at a certain temperature. Temperature measurement in the system is subject to certain non-uniformity and hysteresis, so the operating temperature within the heat load cooling chamber is indirectly controlled by controlling the operating pressure within the chamber. When the required chamber pressure is low, this can be achieved simply by adjusting the opening of the corresponding gas outlet solenoid valve. When the required pressure is higher, the diverted refrigerant must be heated and pressurized at the system's air supply branch, and the opening of the corresponding air supply inlet solenoid valve must be adjusted to increase the chamber pressure.

[0054] The present invention provides individualized cooling for locally distributed high-power chips. The technical principle is to achieve low-temperature and high-efficiency flash cooling of heating elements through a composite heat transfer method such as droplet impact convection and boiling phase change of flash atomized low-boiling-point refrigerant. Specifically, multiple distributed heat load cooling chambers (17, 19, 20) are used to independently cool chips with different heat requirements. The distributed cooling unit adjusts the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve, and the pressure regulating unit adjusts the opening of the vaporization expansion valve to control the distributed cooling capacity. The internal pressure of the heat load cooling chamber is controlled by compressing and exhausting the heat load cooling chamber, thereby controlling its operating temperature.

[0055] The following is combined with Figure 1 The present invention is described in detail with Examples 1 and 2.

[0056] Example

[0057] like Figure 1 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system for electronic equipment with complex thermal requirements, including several functional areas including a working fluid circulation unit, a distributed cooling unit, a pressure regulating unit, and a fault emergency unit;

[0058] The power circulation area includes a variable frequency compressor 1, a small oil-water separator 2, an oil return ball valve 40, a compressor outlet valve 3, a cooling water tank 4, a liquid filter 5, a flow meter 6, a pipeline auxiliary heating device 38, a gas filter 39 and multiple temperature and pressure sensors; its main function is to provide power for the circulation and flow of refrigerant in the system pipeline.

[0059] The distributed cooling unit includes a first heat load cooling chamber 17, a second heat load cooling chamber 19, a third heat load cooling chamber 20, a first refrigerant inlet valve 16, a second refrigerant inlet valve 18, a third refrigerant inlet valve 21, and multiple temperature and pressure sensors; its main function is to complete independent cooling of heat loads with different requirements and realize on-demand distribution of cooling capacity.

[0060] The heat load cooling chamber contains a nozzle, and the liquid refrigerant is sprayed out from the nozzle to complete flash evaporation on the heat load surface.

[0061] The pressure regulating unit includes a first gasification expansion valve 11, a second gasification expansion valve 13, a third gasification expansion valve 15, a first gasification cooling chamber 10, a second gasification cooling chamber 12, a third gasification cooling chamber 14, a boosting one-way valve 34, a boosting chamber 35, a first air-supply one-way valve 25, a second air-supply one-way valve 29, a third air-supply one-way valve 33, a first cavity air-supply valve 24, a second cavity air-supply valve 28, a third cavity air-supply valve 32, a first exhaust one-way valve 23, a second exhaust one-way valve 27, a third exhaust one-way valve 31, a first cavity exhaust valve 22, a second cavity exhaust valve 26, a third cavity exhaust valve 30, a pressure diverter valve 36, and multiple temperature and pressure sensors; its main function is to maintain the stability of the back pressure in the cavity, thereby controlling the stability of the flash temperature in the cavity.

[0062] The fault emergency unit includes a refrigerant storage tank 9, an intake normally closed three-way valve 8, an exhaust normally closed three-way valve 37, and an intake anti-backflow check valve 7. Its main function is to remain closed when the system is operating normally, and to open when an abnormal stop of the compressor is detected, to maintain the temperature in the heat load cooling chamber for a short period of time, thereby buying time for the shutdown of large electronic equipment and data preservation.

[0063] The distributed cooling unit comprises multiple heat load cooling cavities and corresponding nozzles, which can be selected and arranged according to actual cooling needs. These heat load cooling cavities precisely control the operating temperature and cooling heat flow of the internal heat load, achieving customized cooling for the target. Different heat load cooling cavities are independent of each other, allowing simultaneous cooling of multiple, differentiated targets in large electronic equipment.

[0064] The functions of each component are as follows:

[0065] Variable frequency compressor 1: adjusts the compression ratio and flow rate of the refrigerant to meet different cooling needs.

[0066] Small oil-water separator 2: Separates oil and water from the refrigerant to ensure efficient operation of the system.

[0067] Compressor outlet valve 3: controls the refrigerant flow out of the compressor.

[0068] Cooling water tank 4: used to cool the refrigerant, usually connected to the cooling water circulation.

[0069] Liquid filter 5: Removes impurities from the refrigerant and protects the system from damage.

[0070] Flow Meter 6: Measures refrigerant flow to monitor and adjust system performance.

[0071] Inlet anti-backflow check valve 7: ensures that when the fault emergency unit is activated, the limited refrigerant flows directly into the heat load cooling chamber without generating backflow in the pipeline.

[0072] Inlet normally closed three-way valve 8: Closed when the system is operating normally, opened when the system needs air replenishment or the fault emergency unit is activated.

[0073] Refrigerant storage tank 9: stores refrigerant and temporarily provides power for the flow of refrigerant in the system when the fault emergency unit is activated.

[0074] Vaporization cooling chambers 10, 12, and 14: Most of the refrigerant in the system flows into the vaporization cooling chambers through the liquid inlet, and is further cooled by the low-temperature gas generated by flash evaporation at the vaporization expansion valve and then flows out from the cooling chamber outlet.

[0075] Gasification expansion valves 11, 13, and 15: By adjusting the opening of the gasification expansion valves, the amount of low-temperature gaseous refrigerant flashed here can be controlled, thereby controlling the temperature in the corresponding gasification cooling chamber.

[0076] Refrigerant inlet valves 16, 18, 21: control the flow of refrigerant into the heat load cooling chamber.

[0077] Heat load cooling chambers 17, 19, 20: These chambers are used to exchange heat with external devices or systems that need to be cooled.

[0078] Cavity exhaust valves 22, 26, 30: control the refrigerant flow discharged from each heat load cooling cavity, and at the same time play a certain role in regulating the cavity pressure.

[0079] Cavity air supply valves 24, 28, 32: respectively adjust the pressure supplied by the boosting chamber to each heat load cooling chamber.

[0080] Boost check valve 34: ensures that the refrigerant can only flow in one direction during the pressure boost process.

[0081] The boost chamber 35 is used to increase the pressure of the refrigerant to meet the higher pressure requirement of the cooling chamber with partial heat load.

[0082] Pressure diverter valve 36: diverts the high-pressure refrigerant in the boost chamber as needed.

[0083] Exhaust normally closed three-way valve 37: Closed when the system is operating normally, opened when the fault emergency unit is enabled, to ensure that the refrigerant in each heat load cooling cavity can flow and release normally at this time.

[0084] Pipeline auxiliary heating device 38: Heats the refrigerant pipeline when necessary to prevent low-temperature liquid refrigerant from flowing back into the compressor and damaging the system.

[0085] Gas filter 39: removes gas impurities from the refrigerant to ensure the system is clean.

[0086] Oil return ball valve 40: controls the oil flow returning from the system to the compressor to ensure that the compressor is adequately lubricated.

[0087] The connection method of specific components is as follows:

[0088] Each inlet of the heat load cooling chamber 17 , 19 , 20 is provided with a refrigerant inlet valve 16 , 18 , 21 .

[0089] The variable frequency compressor 1, the small oil-water separator 2, the compressor outlet valve 3, the cooling water tank 4, the liquid filter 5, and the flow meter 6 are connected in sequence and connected to the distributed cooling unit; the outlet of the distributed cooling unit is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heating device 38 and the gas filter 39 in sequence, and the gas filter 39 is connected to the variable frequency compressor 1 on one path and to the small oil-water separator 2 through the oil return ball valve 40 on the other path.

[0090] Each heat load cooling chamber 17, 19, 20 entrance is provided with a vaporization cooling chamber 10, 12, 14; the vaporization inlets of the vaporization cooling chambers 10, 12, 14 are connected to the vaporization expansion valves 11, 13, 15, which are connected to the outlet of the liquid filter 5; the vaporization outlets of the vaporization cooling chambers 10, 12, 14 are connected in sequence to the boost check valve 34 and the boost chamber 35, which is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heating device 38 through the pressure diverter valve 36;

[0091] The first outlet of each heat load cooling cavity 17, 19, 20 is provided with a cavity exhaust valve 22, 26, 30, an exhaust check valve 23, 27, 31 in sequence, and the exhaust check valve 23, 27, 31 is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heating device 38;

[0092] Another path of the boost chamber 35 is connected to the air supply check valves 25 , 29 , 33 and the cavity air supply valves 24 , 28 , 32 in sequence. The cavity air supply valves 24 , 28 , 32 are connected to the second outlets of the heat load cooling chambers 17 , 19 , 20 .

[0093] Example 2

[0094] The present invention is described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

[0095] Figure 1The middle components include: variable frequency compressor 1, small oil-water separator 2, compressor outlet valve 3, cooling water tank 4, liquid filter 5, flow meter 6, air intake anti-backflow check valve 7, air intake normally closed three-way valve 8, refrigerant storage tank 9, first gasification cooling chamber 10, first gasification expansion valve 11, second gasification cooling chamber 12, second gasification expansion valve 13, third gasification cooling chamber 14, third gasification expansion valve 15, first refrigerant inlet valve 16, first heat load cooling chamber 17, second refrigerant inlet valve 18, second heat load cooling chamber 19, third heat load cooling chamber 20 , third refrigerant inlet valve 21, first cavity exhaust valve 22, first exhaust check valve 23, first cavity air supply valve 24, first air supply check valve 25, second cavity exhaust valve 26, second exhaust check valve 27, second cavity air supply valve 28, second air supply check valve 29, third cavity exhaust valve 30, third exhaust check valve 31, third cavity air supply valve 32, third air supply check valve 33, boost check valve 34, boost chamber 35, pressure diverter valve 36, exhaust normally closed three-way valve 37, pipeline auxiliary heating device 38, gas filter 39, oil return ball valve 40;

[0096] The high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant flows out of the outlet of the variable-frequency compressor 1, undergoes preliminary cooling in the cooling water tank 4, and then flows through the liquid filter 5 before being split into two branches. A portion of the refrigerant is diverted to the air supply bypass, passing through the first, second, and third vaporization expansion valves 11, 13, and 15, respectively. The openings of these three valves are controlled to cause the refrigerant to partially flash evaporate, producing a large amount of low-temperature gas. This gas flows into the gas inlets of the corresponding first, second, and third vaporization cooling chambers 10, 12, and 14, and then flows through the boost check valve 34 into the boost chamber 35 for heating and pressure boosting. The other portion of the refrigerant flows directly into the main cooling circuit, flowing through the liquid inlets into the first, second, and third vaporization cooling chambers 10, 12, and 14, respectively, where it is further cooled by the low-temperature gas and flows out of the cooling chamber outlets. By adjusting the opening of the vaporization expansion valve, the amount of low-temperature gaseous refrigerant flashed here can be controlled, thereby controlling the temperature within the corresponding vaporization cooling chamber, ultimately adjusting the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant at the inlet of the corresponding heat-loaded cooling chamber. The presence of the boost check valve 34 ensures that the boost chamber 35 heats and pressurizes the refrigerant without affecting the environment within the vaporization cooling chamber.

[0097] The openings of the first, second, and third refrigerant inlet valves 16, 18, and 21 control the amount of liquid refrigerant entering the first, second, and third heat load cooling chambers 17, 19, and 20, respectively, facilitating independent control of the cooling capacity of multiple heat loads. The openings of the first, second, and third cavity air supply valves 24, 28, and 32 control the amount of gaseous refrigerant entering the first, second, and third heat load cooling chambers 17, 19, and 20, respectively. The openings of the first, second, and third cavity air supply valves 22, 26, and 30 control the amount of gaseous refrigerant flowing out of the first, second, and third heat load cooling chambers 17, 19, and 20, respectively. These two valves, combined to regulate and maintain the internal pressure of the chambers, are equipped with one-way valves at the gaseous refrigerant inlets and outlets of all heat load cooling chambers to prevent interference between different heat load cooling chambers.

[0098] The refrigerant flowing out of all heat load cooling cavity outlets eventually merges with the refrigerant flowing out of the pressure diverter valve 36, is heated to pure gas by the pipeline auxiliary heating device 38, flows through the gas filter 39, and finally flows back to the inlet of the variable frequency compressor 1.

[0099] In the event of an emergency, shutting down electronic equipment immediately could severely damage data. Since variable-frequency compressor 1 is shut down, refrigerant cannot fully circulate in the pipeline. In this case, the normally closed three-way inlet valve 8 and the normally closed three-way exhaust valve 37 can be opened to utilize the refrigerant pressure in the refrigerant storage tank 9 to quickly perform cooling tasks, buying time to preserve data. The inlet anti-backflow check valve 7 ensures that refrigerant does not flow back into the pipeline.

[0100] When a refrigerant flashes at a certain temperature, it has a corresponding saturation pressure. Therefore, controlling the operating temperature is equivalent to controlling the pressure. Due to the subcooling between the refrigerant and the heat load in actual cooling, the control pressures P1, P2, and P3 of the cooling chamber for different heat loads need to be slightly lower than the corresponding saturation pressure.

[0101] When the operating temperature requirements of multiple heat loads within a system vary significantly, the corresponding cooling chamber pressures will also vary significantly. This makes it difficult for the refrigerant in the lower-pressure chamber to be discharged. In this case, an ejector can be installed at the confluence of the cavity exhaust. This utilizes the Venturi effect to guide the high-pressure chamber to discharge the low-pressure chamber, ensuring that the refrigerant in the lower-pressure chamber can participate in the normal circulation.

[0102] A unit mass of refrigerant has a certain heat transfer capacity when flashing occurs at a certain temperature and pressure. Therefore, controlling the cooling heat flow is equivalent to controlling the refrigerant flow rate.

[0103] When the internal pressure of the heat load cooling chamber approaches the preset value, the refrigerant inlet valve opening is gradually increased. This increases the refrigerant flow rate in the corresponding branch circuit, increasing the cooling capacity allocated to the corresponding heat load. If a heat load cooling chamber requires a higher cooling capacity, the corresponding vaporization expansion valve opening can be gradually increased simultaneously to allow more low-temperature refrigerant to enter the vaporization cooling chamber, thereby lowering the refrigerant temperature entering the heat load cooling chamber. When the temperature T within the heat load cooling chamber no longer changes significantly, the cooling capacity meets the corresponding heat load's requirements.

[0104] If an emergency failure occurs during normal system operation, preventing the refrigerant from circulating properly in the pipeline, the normally closed three-way valve 8 for inlet and the normally closed three-way valve 37 for exhaust can be opened simultaneously, while the other solenoid valves are adjusted to their maximum openings. This allows the refrigerant pressure in the refrigerant storage tank 9 to quickly handle the cooling task, buying time for data preservation. The inlet anti-backflow check valve 7 ensures that the refrigerant does not flow back into the pipeline during this period.

[0105] A second object of the present invention is to provide a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling method, comprising:

[0106] The distributed cooling unit uses a plurality of distributed heat load cooling cavities (17, 19, 20) to independently cool chips with different heat requirements. The distributed cooling unit adjusts the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve, and the pressure regulating unit adjusts the opening of the gasification expansion valve to control the distributed cooling capacity. The internal pressure is controlled by compressing and exhausting the heat load cooling cavity to control its operating temperature.

[0107] When the electronic device is in a low-power working state, the first cavity air supply valve 24, the second cavity air supply valve 28, and the third cavity air supply valve 32 are closed, and the variable frequency compressor 1 operates at a lower frequency. By adjusting the cavity exhaust valve opening, the internal pressure of the cooling cavity corresponding to the heat load can be controlled;

[0108] When the system is in normal working state, there may be large differences in the working temperature requirements between multiple heat loads. If the working temperature of a heat load is relatively low, it is necessary to control the corresponding heat load cooling chamber to be at a lower pressure (such as 0.6MPa), and this can be achieved by adjusting the opening of the corresponding cavity exhaust valve; if the working temperature of a heat load is relatively high, that is, the corresponding heat load cooling chamber pressure is required to be higher (such as 1.5MPa), and only adjusting the cavity exhaust valve opening cannot achieve the expected pressure. It is necessary to heat and increase the pressure of the boost chamber (35) and adjust the opening of the corresponding cavity air supply valve to supplement the pressure in the heat load cooling chamber.

[0109] Initial startup phase:

[0110] The inverter compressor 1 operates at a lower power.

[0111] Determine the optimal operating temperatures T1, T2, and T3 for multiple chips with varying heat demands, and find the corresponding saturation pressures at these temperatures based on the saturation temperature-pressure curve of the refrigerant circulating in the system. Due to the degree of subcooling between the refrigerant and the heat load in actual cooling, the control pressures P1, P2, and P3 in the cooling chambers for different heat loads must be slightly lower than the corresponding saturation pressures.

[0112] The average pressure of P1, P2, and P3 is taken as P0, where the maximum pressure is Pmax and the minimum pressure is Pmin. The pressure of each heat load cooling chamber is adjusted to 0.8 times the preset pressure of P1, P2, and P3. At the same time, the boost chamber 35 is appropriately heated until the pressure in the boost chamber 35 reaches approximately 1.2Pmax.

[0113] Pressure regulation strategies:

[0114] If the required control pressure of a certain heat load cooling cavity is lower than 0.9P0, the pressure is maintained only by controlling the opening of the exhaust valve of the corresponding cavity.

[0115] If the required control pressure is higher than 0.9P0, the air supply valve and exhaust valve of the cavity need to be opened at the same time to maintain the internal pressure of the cavity stable.

[0116] As the power of electronic devices increases:

[0117] The pressure in the heat load cooling chamber gradually increases to near the preset pressure.

[0118] At this time, PID proportional-integral-differential control is implemented on the cavity exhaust valve and the air supply valve to ensure the stability of the cavity pressure.

[0119] Refrigerant cooling capacity distribution:

[0120] Gradually increase the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve to increase the cooling capacity allocated to the corresponding heat load.

[0121] If the cooling capacity required in a certain heat load cooling cavity is high, the opening of the corresponding vaporization expansion valve is increased at the same time to allow more low-temperature refrigerant to enter the vaporization cooling cavity, thereby reducing the temperature of the refrigerant entering the heat load cooling cavity.

[0122] Temperature Control:

[0123] The ultimate goal is to ensure that the temperature T in the heat load cooling chamber no longer changes significantly, that is, to achieve a stable cooling effect.

[0124] Throughout the entire process, the system precisely controls parameters such as compressor power, heat load cooling chamber pressure, boost chamber temperature, and refrigerant flow rate, effectively cooling the electronic equipment and ensuring stable and efficient system operation. This control strategy not only improves cooling efficiency but also helps extend the service life of the electronic equipment.

[0125] The control process is described in detail as follows:

[0126] Before the system is operational, the optimal operating temperatures T1, T2, and T3 for multiple chips with varying heat demands are determined. The corresponding saturation pressures at these temperatures are then determined based on the saturation temperature-pressure curve of the refrigerant circulating in the system. Due to the degree of subcooling between the refrigerant and the heat load in actual cooling, the control pressures P1, P2, and P3 in the cooling chambers for different heat loads must be slightly lower than the corresponding saturation pressures.

[0127] When the electronic device is in a low-power working state such as sleep, the first cavity air supply valve 24, the second cavity air supply valve 28, and the third cavity air supply valve 32 are closed, and the variable frequency compressor 1 operates at a lower frequency. At this time, the internal pressure of the cooling cavity corresponding to the heat load can be controlled by adjusting the opening of the cavity exhaust valve, and the cooling capacity only needs to be maintained by a smaller opening of the corresponding refrigerant inlet valve.

[0128] When the system starts normally, the variable frequency compressor 1 is operating at a higher power. The average pressure of P1, P2, and P3 is taken as P0, the maximum pressure is Pmax, and the minimum pressure is Pmin. It is necessary to first adjust the pressure of each heat load cooling chamber to 0.8 times the preset pressure P1, P2, and P3 respectively, and at the same time heat the boost chamber 35 appropriately to control the pressure inside the boost chamber 35 to about 1.2Pmax. If the required control pressure of a certain heat load cooling chamber is lower than 0.9P0, the pressure of the corresponding heat load cooling chamber only needs to be maintained by controlling the opening of the corresponding cavity exhaust valve; if the required control pressure is higher than 0.9P0, the corresponding cavity air supply valve needs to be opened appropriately, and together with the corresponding cavity exhaust valve, the internal pressure of the cavity needs to be maintained stable. Afterwards, as the power of the electronic equipment gradually increases, the pressure in the heat load cooling cavity gradually increases to near the preset pressure. At this time, the PID control of the cavity exhaust valve and the cavity air supply valve is opened to maintain the cavity pressure no longer changing; at the same time, the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve is gradually increased to increase the cooling capacity allocated to the corresponding heat load. If the cooling capacity required in a certain heat load cooling cavity is high, the opening of the corresponding gasification expansion valve can be gradually increased at the same time to generate more low-temperature refrigerant into the gasification cooling cavity, thereby reducing the temperature of the refrigerant entering the heat load cooling cavity until the temperature T in the heat load cooling cavity no longer changes significantly.

[0129] When the power of a certain part of the electronic equipment changes, the system detects that the temperature T in the corresponding heat load cooling chamber has changed significantly. It only needs to maintain the pressure in the cooling chamber unchanged and adjust the refrigerant flow entering the cooling chamber by adjusting the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve until T reaches balance again.

[0130] When the system works for a long time and the refrigerant in the pipeline is insufficient, the air inlet normally closed three-way valve 8 can be opened to replenish the refrigerant in the pipeline under the premise of shutting down the system.

[0131] Optionally, the present invention selects three independent heat loads for illustration. When there are more or fewer heat loads in actual use, it is only necessary to simply increase or decrease the heat load cooling chambers and corresponding control valves in the system.

[0132] Optionally, considering cost and versatility, the heat load cooling chambers in the present invention are identical. In actual use, the shape, size, flow rate, number, etc. of the heat load cooling chamber and the internal nozzles can be adjusted accordingly according to the use environment requirements.

[0133] Optionally, the circulating refrigerant in the system is one of fluoride refrigerants such as R134a, R404a, R410a and R32.

[0134] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system, characterized by: It includes working fluid circulation unit, distributed cooling unit, pressure regulating unit and fault emergency unit; The working medium circulation unit provides power for the circulation and flow of the refrigerant in the system pipeline; The distributed cooling unit comprises a plurality of distributed heat load cooling chambers, each heat load cooling chamber (17, 19, 20) comprising a nozzle, the refrigerant being ejected from the nozzle and flash-evaporating on the heat load surface; The pressure regulating unit is used to regulate the back pressure in each heat load cooling cavity, thereby controlling the flash temperature in the heat load cooling cavity; The fault emergency unit is used to start when it detects that the compressor stops abnormally, and maintain the temperature of the heat load cooling chamber for a short period of time; Each heat load cooling chamber (17, 19, 20) inlet is provided with a refrigerant inlet valve (16, 18, 21); The working medium circulation unit comprises a variable frequency compressor (1), a small oil-water separator (2), an oil return ball valve (40), a compressor outlet valve (3), a cooling water tank (4), a liquid filter (5), a flow meter (6), a pipeline auxiliary heating device (38) and a gas filter (39); the variable frequency compressor (1), the small oil-water separator (2), the compressor outlet valve (3), the cooling water tank (4), the liquid filter (5) and the flow meter (6) are connected in sequence and connected to the distributed cooling unit; the outlet of the distributed cooling unit is connected in sequence to the pipeline auxiliary heating device (38) and the gas filter (39); the gas filter (39) is connected to the variable frequency compressor (1) on one side and to the small oil-water separator (2) on the other side through the oil return ball valve (40); The pressure regulating unit comprises a gasification expansion valve (11, 13, 15), a gasification cooling cavity (10, 12, 14), a boosting one-way valve (34), a boosting cavity (35), an air supply one-way valve (25, 29, 33), a cavity air supply valve (24, 28, 32), an exhaust one-way valve (23, 27, 31), a cavity exhaust valve (22, 26, 30), and a pressure diverter valve (36); Each heat load cooling cavity (17, 19, 20) inlet is provided with a gasification cooling cavity (10, 12, 14); the gasification inlet of the gasification cooling cavity (10, 12, 14) is connected to the gasification expansion valve (11, 13, 15), and the gasification expansion valve (11, 13, 15) is connected to the outlet of the liquid filter (5); the gasification outlet of the gasification cooling cavity (10, 12, 14) is connected to the boosting check valve (34) and the boosting cavity (35) in sequence, and the boosting cavity (35) is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heat device (38) through the pressure diverter valve (36); The first outlet of each heat load cooling cavity (17, 19, 20) is sequentially provided with a cavity exhaust valve (22, 26, 30) and an exhaust check valve (23, 27, 31), and the exhaust check valve (23, 27, 31) is connected to a pipeline auxiliary heating device (38); Another path of the boost chamber (35) is connected in sequence to the air supply one-way valve (25, 29, 33) and the cavity air supply valve (24, 28, 32), and the cavity air supply valve (24, 28, 32) is connected to the second outlet of the heat load cooling chamber (17, 19, 20).

2. A distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The working medium circulation unit and the pressure regulating unit are both provided with a plurality of temperature and pressure sensors; The refrigerant is a fluoride refrigerant.

3. A distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The fault emergency unit comprises a refrigerant storage tank (9), an air intake normally closed three-way valve (8), an exhaust normally closed three-way valve (37), and an air intake anti-backflow check valve (7). The flow meter (6) is connected to the gasification cooling chamber via an air intake anti-backflow check valve (7). The refrigerant storage tank (9) is connected to the outlet of the air intake anti-backflow check valve (7) via the air intake normally closed three-way valve (8); The exhaust one-way valve is connected to the pipeline auxiliary heating device (38) through the exhaust normally closed three-way valve (37).

4. A distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling method, applied to a distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system according to any one of claims 1 to 3; characterized in that: include: The distributed cooling unit uses a plurality of distributed heat load cooling cavities (17, 19, 20) to independently cool chips with different heat requirements. The distributed cooling unit controls the distributed cooling capacity by adjusting the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve. The pressure regulating unit adjusts the opening of the gasification expansion valve. The distributed cooling unit adjusts the opening of the cavity exhaust valve to control the internal pressure of the heat load cooling cavity through pressure replenishment and exhaust, thereby controlling its operating temperature.

5. A distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling method according to claim 4, characterized in that: When the electronic device is in a low-power working state, the first cavity air supply valve (24), the second cavity air supply valve (28), and the third cavity air supply valve (32) are closed, the variable frequency compressor (1) operates at a lower frequency, and the internal pressure of the cooling cavity corresponding to the heat load is controlled by adjusting the cavity exhaust valve opening; When the system is in normal working state, there are large differences in the operating temperature requirements among multiple heat loads; If the operating temperature of a certain heat load is relatively low, it is necessary to control the pressure in the cooling chamber of the corresponding heat load to be at a lower level and adjust the opening of the exhaust valve of the corresponding chamber; If the operating temperature of a certain heat load is relatively high, that is, the pressure of the corresponding heat load cooling chamber needs to be higher, the boost chamber (35) is heated and the pressure is increased and the opening of the corresponding chamber air supply valve is adjusted to supplement the pressure in the heat load cooling chamber; if there is a large difference in pressure between any two cooling chambers with different heat loads during normal operation, an ejector is additionally installed at the confluence of the refrigerant outlets of the two, so that the refrigerant in all cooling chambers can participate in the normal circulation.

6. A distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling method according to claim 4, characterized in that: When the internal pressure of the heat load cooling cavity (17, 19, 20) approaches a preset value, the opening of the refrigerant inlet valve is gradually increased, the corresponding branch refrigerant flow increases, and the cooling capacity allocated to the corresponding heat load is improved; when the temperature T in the heat load cooling cavity no longer changes significantly, the cooling capacity meets the corresponding heat load demand.

7. The distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling method according to claim 4 is applied to the distributed refrigerant flash spray cooling system according to claim 3; characterized in that: When the system works for a long time and the refrigerant in the pipeline is insufficient, the air inlet normally closed three-way valve (8) is opened to replenish the refrigerant in the pipeline while the system is shut down; When an emergency failure occurs during normal operation of the system, the refrigerant cannot circulate normally in the pipeline. The normally closed three-way valve for air inlet (8) and the normally closed three-way valve for air outlet (37) can be opened simultaneously, and the other solenoid valves can be adjusted to the maximum opening, so that the refrigerant storage tank (9) can take on the cooling task for a short time.

Images