Near-zero energy consumption data center thermal management system
By using phase change heat transfer technology of gravity heat pipes and phase change heat conduction devices in the data center, the problems of high noise, high energy consumption and high cost in traditional heat dissipation methods are solved, and the thermal management of near-zero energy consumption is achieved, which improves the Heat dissipation efficiency and reliability.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421110319.5
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-05-21
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-14
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-05-21
AI Technical Summary
The traditional air-cooled cooling method has high noise, high energy consumption and low heat dissipation efficiency, while the initial investment and installation cost of liquid-cooled cooling method is high, and coolant leakage may cause equipment damage, increasing long-term maintenance and operation costs.
Gravity heat pipes and phase change thermal conduction devices are used to transfer heat through the phase change process of evaporation and condensation, and gravity assists in reflux to achieve a working fluid cycle without additional power drive. Combined with a radiator, heat is released into the atmosphere.
It realizes near-zero energy consumption thermal management, improves heat dissipation efficiency, reduces operating costs, reduces noise and vibration, extends the service life of the system, and improves reliability.
Smart Images
Figure CN222356822U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of data center thermal management, in particular to a near-zero energy consumption data center thermal management system. Background Art
[0002] With the rapid development of information technology, data centers, as important infrastructure supporting the operation of modern society, have continued to expand in size and computing power. However, this has been accompanied by a sharp increase in energy consumption and heat in data centers. High-density servers, storage devices, and network devices generate a lot of heat during operation. If this heat cannot be effectively discharged, it will affect the stable operation of the equipment and even cause equipment damage. Therefore, how to effectively solve the thermal management problem of data centers has become an urgent problem to be solved.
[0003] The traditional air cooling method uses a fan to blow cold air through the radiator to remove the heat. However, air cooling has some limitations, such as high noise, high energy consumption, and low heat dissipation efficiency. In contrast, liquid cooling removes heat through circulating liquid, which has higher heat dissipation efficiency and lower noise. However, liquid cooling systems are usually more complex than air cooling systems and require specialized liquid circulation pipes, pumps, heat exchangers and other components. The addition of these components not only leads to higher initial investment costs, but also increases long-term maintenance and operating costs. In addition, coolant leakage in the liquid cooling system may cause equipment damage and may even cause electrical failures and fires. Utility Model Content
[0004] In view of the deficiencies in the prior art, the utility model provides a near-zero energy data center thermal management system, which solves the problems of high noise, high energy consumption, and low heat dissipation efficiency of traditional air cooling methods, and high initial investment and installation costs of liquid cooling methods, and leakage of coolant in the liquid cooling system may cause equipment damage and increase long-term maintenance and operating costs. It has the function of effectively managing the high heat flux density generated by server chips, with less noise and vibration during operation, and is also applicable to server racks with limited space or the need to disperse hot spots. At the same time, no additional electricity is required to drive the circulation of the working fluid to achieve the advantage of near-zero energy consumption.
[0005] In order to achieve the above purpose, the utility model provides the following technical solutions:
[0006] A near-zero energy data center thermal management system comprises a plurality of gravity heat pipes and a plurality of phase-change heat-conducting devices mounted on the gravity heat pipes, wherein a radiator is also mounted on the gravity heat pipes; the gravity heat pipes evaporate and condense the internal working fluid by heat and utilize gravity to assist the reflux; the phase-change heat-conducting devices transfer the heat of the heat source to the gravity heat pipes by the phase change of the working fluid; and the radiator is used to release the heat of the gravity heat pipes into the atmosphere.
[0007] Furthermore, an evaporation section and a condensation section are provided in the gravity heat pipe; the evaporation section is used to absorb the received heat and evaporate the generated gas to diffuse to the condensation section, the gas is condensed in the condensation section and flows back to the evaporation section under the action of gravity; the radiator is arranged at the condensation section, and the condensation section is arranged outdoors.
[0008] Furthermore, the phase change heat conductive device comprises an evaporation component, a steam channel and a liquid channel, wherein the evaporation component is connected to a condensation component via the steam channel and the liquid channel; the evaporation component is used to evaporate the heat of the heat source to generate gas which enters the condensation component through the steam channel and condenses into liquid.
[0009] Furthermore, a side of the condensing component close to the evaporating section is in contact with the evaporating section.
[0010] Furthermore, the phase-change heat-conducting device is fixedly mounted to the evaporation section via a heat-conducting silicone sheet, a compression mounting block and screws that are compatible with the condensation component.
[0011] Furthermore, a heat-conducting layer is provided on the contact surface between the gravity heat pipe and the phase-change heat-conducting device, and the heat-conducting layer is made of thermally conductive silicone grease.
[0012] Compared with the prior art, the utility model provides a near-zero energy consumption data center thermal management system, which has the following beneficial effects:
[0013] 1. The utility model takes heat from a heat source through a phase change heat conductive device and transfers the heat to a gravity heat pipe. The heat evaporates the internal working fluid in the gravity heat pipe, condenses it, and then flows back under the action of gravity. Finally, the heat of the gravity heat pipe is released into the atmosphere through a radiator. No additional electricity is required to drive the circulation of the working fluid, which saves energy and reduces the overall energy consumption of the data center. While achieving near-zero energy data center thermal management, it also improves the heat dissipation efficiency of the entire data center and reduces the overall operating cost of the data center. There is less noise and vibration during use. The gravity heat pipe and the phase change heat conductive device do not contain moving parts, which reduces the possibility of failure, and makes the system have a longer service life and higher reliability.
[0014] 2. The utility model transfers heat from the heat source to the evaporation component, which absorbs heat from the working fluid and converts it into steam. The steam flows through the steam channel to the condensation component, where the temperature is lower than the dew point temperature of the working fluid. Therefore, the steam releases heat and condenses into liquid, which passes through the liquid channel and returns to the evaporation component of the loop heat pipe. This cycle is repeated to take away the heat from the heat source and maintain a more suitable environment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. In the drawings:
[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the utility model's near-zero energy consumption data center thermal management system;
[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between the gravity heat pipe and the phase change heat conducting device of the utility model;
[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between the condenser and the evaporation section of the utility model;
[0019] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the installation of the loop heat pipe and the evaporation section of the utility model;
[0020] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the gravity heat pipe and heat pipe assembly of the utility model;
[0021] Figure 6 This is a usage scenario diagram of the zero-energy data center thermal management system of the utility model.
[0022] In the figure:
[0023] 1. Gravity heat pipe; 11. Evaporation section; 12. Condensation section;
[0024] 2. Phase change heat conducting device; 21. Evaporator; 22. Condenser; 23. Hot end; 24. Cold end;
[0025] 3. Radiator. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the utility model to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the utility model. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the utility model, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model.
[0027] Traditional air cooling uses a fan to blow cold air through the radiator to remove heat. In contrast, liquid cooling removes heat through circulating liquid, which has higher heat dissipation efficiency and lower noise. However, liquid cooling systems are usually more complex than air cooling systems and require special liquid circulation pipes, pumps, heat exchangers and other components. In order to solve the problems of high noise, high energy consumption, low heat dissipation efficiency, high initial investment cost and installation cost of traditional air cooling, and coolant leakage in the liquid cooling system may cause equipment damage and increase long-term maintenance and operating costs, please refer to Figure 1-Figure 6 This embodiment proposes a near-zero energy data center thermal management system, which takes heat from a heat source through a phase change thermal conductive device and transfers the heat to a gravity heat pipe. The gravity heat pipe evaporates and condenses the internal working fluid with the heat, and then refluxes under the action of gravity. Finally, the heat of the gravity heat pipe is released into the atmosphere through a radiator. No additional electricity is required to drive the circulation of the working fluid, which saves energy and reduces the overall energy consumption of the data center. While achieving near-zero energy data center thermal management, it also improves the heat dissipation efficiency of the entire data center and reduces the overall operating cost of the data center. There is less noise and vibration during use. The gravity heat pipe and the phase change thermal conductive device do not contain moving parts, which reduces the possibility of failure, so that the system has a longer service life and higher reliability.
[0028] Phase change heat transfer devices include, but are not limited to, heat pipes, loop heat pipes, and other heat exchange devices with similar working principles or functions. These heat exchange devices can effectively conduct heat and can adopt different structural forms according to specific application requirements. The utility model describes the specific implementation method through the following embodiments.
[0029] Embodiment 1
[0030] A loop heat pipe (LHP) is an improved heat pipe technology that circulates a working fluid through a closed loop and can work under a larger temperature difference and gravity assistance. This embodiment specifically describes the application of the utility model in high heat flux density (usually greater than 10W / cm2) occasions, such as high performance computing (HPC) servers, large-scale integrated circuit (IC) heat dissipation, etc., by setting the phase change heat conductive device as a loop heat pipe (LHP).
[0031] The gravity heat pipe 1 is a traditional heat pipe that relies on gravity to assist the reflux of the working fluid. The gravity heat pipe 1 evaporates and condenses the internal working fluid by heat and utilizes gravity to assist the reflux. The phase change heat conductive device 2 transfers the heat of the heat source to the gravity heat pipe 1 through the phase change of the working fluid. Through a plurality of gravity heat pipes 1 and a plurality of phase change heat conductive devices 2 installed on the gravity heat pipe 1, heat can be effectively transferred from the heat source (such as servers in cabinets on each floor) to a heat dissipation device (such as outdoor air or a cooling tower) to achieve efficient heat dissipation. A radiator 3 is also installed on the gravity heat pipe 1; the radiator 3 is used to release the heat of the gravity heat pipe 1 into the atmosphere. The phase change heat conductive device 2 uses a loop heat pipe to take heat from the heat source and transfer the heat to the gravity heat pipe 1. The gravity heat pipe 1 evaporates and condenses the internal working fluid by heat and then refluxes under the action of gravity. Finally, the heat of the gravity heat pipe 1 is released into the atmosphere through the radiator 3. The heat dissipation method is natural heat dissipation or forced heat dissipation. Convection heat dissipation is controlled. Through the phase change thermal conductive device 2 and the gravity heat pipe 1, no additional electricity is required to drive the circulation of the working fluid, which saves energy and reduces the overall energy consumption of the data center, achieving near-zero energy data center thermal management, and can achieve long-distance transmission of heat from the heat source (such as server chips) to the radiator 3 or cooling device, which is especially important for server racks with limited space or that need to disperse hot spots. Since the phase change thermal conductive device 2 usually does not require additional pumps or fans to drive the flow of the working fluid, it has low energy consumption, which helps to reduce the overall operating cost of the data center. It also has less noise and vibration when in use, which is very beneficial for application scenarios such as data centers that require a quiet environment. In addition, the gravity heat pipe 1 has a simple design (single straight-through) and the gravity heat pipe 1 and the phase change thermal conductive device 2 do not contain moving parts, reducing the possibility of failure, so that the system has a longer service life and higher reliability.
[0032] The gravity heat pipe 1 can be customized according to the layout of the data center, adapting to different building structures and equipment distributions, and has a flexible layout; since the gravity heat pipe 1 can span multiple floors, it can save space in the data center, and there is no need to set up an independent heat dissipation system for each floor, which greatly saves space; the system in the gravity heat pipe 1 usually uses environmentally friendly working liquid, and in some cases, it can use external cold air for natural cooling, which helps to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the data center; it can help to achieve a balanced distribution of heat in the data center, prevent local hot spots, and improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the entire data center. The gravity heat pipe 1 is provided with an evaporation section 11 and a condensation section 12; the evaporation section 11 is used to absorb the heat received and evaporate the generated gas to the condensation section 12, and the gas is condensed by the condensation section 12 and refluxes to the evaporation section 11 under the action of gravity; the radiator 3 is arranged at the condensation section 12, and the condensation section 12 is arranged outdoors. By arranging the condensation section 12 outdoors, the heat is released into the atmosphere through natural heat dissipation or forced convection heat dissipation, thereby effectively cooling the operating environment of the equipment.
[0033] In high heat flux density environments, the heat generated by the equipment is very high, requiring a more efficient heat transfer mechanism. Loop heat pipes (LHPs) can provide higher heat transfer capacity and heat flux density handling capabilities, and are very suitable for these high heat flux density environments. The phase change thermal conductive device 2 includes an evaporation component, a vapor channel, and a liquid channel. The evaporation component is connected to a condensation component through the vapor channel and the liquid channel. Please refer to Figure 3-Figure 4 By setting the phase change heat conducting device 2 as a loop heat pipe, the evaporation component of this embodiment adopts an evaporator 21, and the condensation component adopts a condenser 22. The evaporator 21 of the loop heat pipe can quickly respond to temperature changes and effectively transfer heat from the heat source (such as the CPU or GPU) to the heat dissipation device (such as the evaporation section 11 of the gravity heat pipe 1); the evaporator 21 is used to evaporate the heat from the heat source and generate gas that enters the condenser 22 through the steam channel to condense into liquid. The loop heat pipe can realize long-distance heat transmission, which means that there can be a certain distance between the heat source and the heat dissipation device (by adjusting the length of the steam channel and the liquid channel), which helps to reduce the space occupied inside the data center and provides a better design for the data center. Great flexibility, the condenser 22 of this embodiment is bent and wound, and the side of the condenser 22 close to the evaporation section 11 is in contact with the evaporation section 11. The condenser 22 of the loop heat pipe is bent so that it can be directly inserted into the side of the gravity heat pipe 1, which is easy to install. The loop heat pipe and the gravity heat pipe 1 are preferably flattened. This form can increase the contact area (but not limited to this form, such as direct winding without flattening), which is convenient for transferring the heat of the loop heat pipe to the evaporation section 11 of the gravity heat pipe 1. After receiving the heat, the evaporation section 11 absorbs heat and evaporates to generate gas that diffuses to the condensation section 12. The gas is condensed by the condensation section 12 and flows back to the evaporation section 11 under the action of gravity. In this cycle, the heat is released to the atmosphere to achieve heat dissipation.
[0034] The heat from the heat source (such as the heat generated by the chip) is transferred to the evaporation component, which absorbs the heat from the working fluid and converts it into steam. The steam flows through the steam channel to the condensation component (i.e., the junction with the evaporation section 11 of the gravity heat pipe 1). The temperature here is lower than the dew point temperature of the working fluid, so the steam will release heat and condense into liquid through the liquid channel and then return to the evaporation component of the loop heat pipe. This cycle is repeated to take away the heat from the heat source and maintain a more suitable environment. The loop heat pipe uses the phase change (evaporation and condensation) of the working fluid to transfer heat. This phase change heat transfer method has a very high heat transfer efficiency, so it can effectively manage the high heat flux density generated by the server chip.
[0035] The loop heat pipe can be customized according to the specific layout and heat source distribution of the device (such as a server) to meet different heat dissipation requirements. For example, the condenser 22 of a single loop heat pipe corresponds to the multi-branch evaporator 21, which can simultaneously transfer heat to multiple chips in a device, thereby achieving uniform temperature distribution inside the device, preventing local hot spots, and improving the performance and life of electronic equipment.
[0036] In order to further reduce the contact thermal resistance between the phase-change heat-conducting device 2 and the gravity heat pipe 1 and fix the phase-change heat-conducting device 2 at the same time, the phase-change heat-conducting device 2 is fixed to the evaporation section 11 by means of a thermally conductive silicone sheet, a compression mounting block and screws that are compatible with the condensation component. By providing the thermally conductive silicone sheet, heat transfer can be promoted while reducing the damage caused by the compression mounting block to the condensation component of the phase-change heat-conducting device 2. A thermally conductive layer is provided on the contact surface between the gravity heat pipe 1 and the phase-change heat-conducting device 2. The thermally conductive layer adopts thermally conductive silicone grease, and the thermal resistance can be reduced by the thermally conductive silicone grease.
[0037] Embodiment 2
[0038] A heat pipe is a highly efficient heat transfer element that uses the evaporation and condensation process of a working fluid to transfer heat. The working principle of a heat pipe is based on phase change heat transfer, that is, the liquid evaporates when heated and absorbs heat; the vapor condenses when cooled and releases heat. Figure 5 This embodiment is basically the same as the first embodiment, except that this embodiment specifically illustrates the application of the utility model in low heat flux density occasions by setting the phase change heat conducting device 2 as a plurality of heat pipes. The heat pipe in this embodiment includes a hot end 23, a cold end 24, and a steam cavity and a capillary wick in the heat pipe. The evaporation component of this embodiment adopts the hot end 23, the condensation component adopts the cold end 24, the steam channel adopts the steam cavity, and the liquid channel adopts the capillary wick. A pressing block is arranged on the hot end 23 of the heat pipe, and a plurality of heat pipes are pressed together by the pressing block, which improves the heat dissipation efficiency to a certain extent. The cold end 24 of the heat pipe is installed by a heat conductive silicone sheet and a pressing mounting block matched with the cold end 24. The heat pipe obtains heat from the heat source through the hot end 23, and the hot end 23 converts the working The fluid absorbs heat and is converted into steam. The steam flows through the steam chamber to the cold end 24 (i.e., the junction with the evaporation section 11 of the gravity heat pipe 1). The steam releases heat and condenses into liquid and returns to the hot end 23 of the heat pipe through the capillary core. This cycle is repeated to take away the heat from the heat source and maintain a more suitable environment. The heat pipe can effectively transfer heat from the heat source (such as the CPU or GPU) to the cold end 24. The heat pipe has good heat transfer performance, no external power is required, lower temperature difference requirements and smaller heat loss, low cost and high reliability. It is mainly used in data centers for applications with medium to low heat flux density (usually less than 10W / cm2), such as server cooling, rack-level thermal management, etc., and is suitable for heat transfer over shorter distances.
[0039] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprises", "includes" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or apparatus that includes a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or apparatus.
[0040] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A near-zero energy data center thermal management system, characterized by: It comprises a plurality of gravity heat pipes (1) and a plurality of phase change heat conducting devices (2) mounted on the gravity heat pipes (1); a radiator (3) is also mounted on the gravity heat pipes (1); The gravity heat pipe (1) evaporates and condenses the internal working fluid by heat and utilizes gravity to assist in reflux; The phase-change heat conducting device (2) transfers heat from the heat source to the gravity heat pipe (1) through the phase change of the working fluid; The radiator (3) is used to release the heat of the gravity heat pipe (1) into the atmosphere.
2. The data center thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gravity heat pipe (1) is provided with an evaporation section (11) and a condensation section (12); The evaporation section (11) is used to absorb the heat received and evaporate the generated gas to diffuse to the condensation section (12); the gas is condensed in the condensation section (12) and flows back to the evaporation section (11) under the action of gravity; The radiator (3) is arranged at the condensation section (12), and the condensation section (12) is arranged outdoors.
3. The data center thermal management system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The phase-change heat-conducting device (2) comprises an evaporation component, a steam channel and a liquid channel, wherein the evaporation component is connected to a condensation component via the steam channel and the liquid channel; The evaporation component is used to evaporate the heat from the heat source to generate gas which enters the condensation component through the steam channel and is condensed into liquid.
4. The data center thermal management system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The side of the condensing component close to the evaporating section (11) is in contact with the evaporating section (11).
5. The data center thermal management system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The phase-change heat-conducting device (2) is fixedly mounted to the evaporation section (11) via a heat-conducting silicone sheet that matches the condensing component, a compression mounting block, and screws.
6. The data center thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The contact surface between the gravity heat pipe (1) and the phase-change heat-conducting device (2) is provided with a heat-conducting layer, and the heat-conducting layer is made of heat-conducting silicone grease.