Cooling system using underground cold energy

Abstract

The utility model provides a kind of cooling system using underground cold energy, including cabinet, underground cavern facility and circulating cooling system, circulating cooling system includes first heat exchanger, carbon dioxide storage tank, circulating pump and second heat exchanger;First heat exchanger is arranged in underground cavern facility, second heat exchanger is arranged in box, the liquid outlet end of carbon dioxide storage tank is connected with the first end of second heat exchanger, the second end of second heat exchanger is connected with the first end of first heat exchanger, the second end of first heat exchanger is communicated with the liquid return end of carbon dioxide storage tank, and forms circulating pipeline;At least one pipeline is equipped with circulating pump.The cooling system using underground cold energy of the present application significantly improves the safety and cycle life of the system under high load operation, while reducing energy consumption and refrigeration noise, suitable for all-weather temperature control requirements of large-scale industrial and commercial scenarios, low power consumption and cost, low-carbon environmental protection.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to a cooling device, and more particularly to a cooling system that utilizes underground cold energy. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of modern technology, the demand for efficient and reliable cooling systems is increasing in fields such as data centers, high-performance computing equipment, and electric vehicles. Especially in applications involving high-power-density devices such as GPUs, CPUs, and large-capacity battery modules, the enormous heat generated poses a severe challenge to the stable operation and lifespan of these devices. Traditional air-cooling and water-cooling technologies often face problems such as efficiency bottlenecks, high energy consumption, high noise levels, and large footprint when dealing with the ever-increasing heat dissipation demands.

[0003] Existing cooling solutions typically rely on external cooling towers, chillers, or air conditioning systems. These devices not only consume significant amounts of energy themselves, but also face increased cooling burdens in regions with high ambient temperatures. Furthermore, these external cooling devices are susceptible to environmental factors such as outdoor temperature and humidity, which can lead to fluctuations in cooling efficiency.

[0004] In recent years, cooling technology utilizing natural cold sources has become a research hotspot, aiming to reduce energy consumption and operating costs. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by this utility model is to provide a cooling system that can break through the limitations of traditional refrigeration modes and use underground soil cold sources for efficient heat dissipation.

[0006] This utility model provides a cooling system utilizing underground cold energy, comprising:

[0007] Cabinet 1, wherein a box 11 is provided inside the cabinet 1, and a module to be cooled and a coolant for immersing and cooling the module to be cooled are provided inside the box 11;

[0008] Underground cave facility 5, used to provide natural underground cooling energy;

[0009] The circulating cooling system includes a first heat exchanger 3, a carbon dioxide storage tank 2, a circulating pump 25, and a second heat exchanger 12. The first heat exchanger 3 is installed in the underground cave facility 5 and is used to absorb the natural cold energy within the underground cave facility 5. The second heat exchanger 12 is installed in the housing 11 and is used to absorb the heat energy of the coolant. The carbon dioxide storage tank 2 is used to store liquid carbon dioxide. The outlet end of the carbon dioxide storage tank 2 is connected to the first end of the second heat exchanger 12 through a first pipeline 24. The second end of the second heat exchanger 12 is connected to the first end of the first heat exchanger 3 through a second pipeline 32. The second end of the first heat exchanger is connected to the return end of the carbon dioxide storage tank 2 through a third pipeline 31, forming a circulating pipeline. At least one of the first pipeline, the second pipeline, and the third pipeline is equipped with a circulating pump 25 for driving the flow of liquid carbon dioxide within the circulating pipeline.

[0010] Furthermore, there are multiple housings 11, and the first ends of the second heat exchangers 12 in each housing 11 are connected to the first pipeline 24 after being merged into one line, and the second ends of the second heat exchangers 12 in each housing 11 are connected to the second pipeline 32 after being merged into one line.

[0011] Furthermore, the circulating pump 25 is a variable frequency circulating pump, and a temperature sensor is installed inside the housing.

[0012] Furthermore, the first pipeline, the second pipeline, and the third pipeline are all covered with an insulation layer.

[0013] Furthermore, there are multiple first heat exchangers 3 connected in parallel.

[0014] Furthermore, a backup circulating pump is provided on the first pipeline, the second pipeline, or the third pipeline.

[0015] Furthermore, an emergency shut-off valve is provided on the first pipeline, the second pipeline, or the third pipeline.

[0016] Furthermore, the module to be cooled is an electronic or electrical heating element.

[0017] Furthermore, the heating element in the electronic appliance is a battery, a GPU, a CPU, or a rectifier-inverter power module.

[0018] This application utilizes an underground cold energy cooling system, taking advantage of the natural cold energy of underground caves as a permanent, stable, and free cold source. This completely eliminates the need for traditional air conditioning or compressor-driven refrigeration systems, significantly reducing system energy consumption and achieving truly green cooling. Liquid carbon dioxide is selected as the circulating working fluid, possessing excellent environmental and physical properties. It absorbs heat in the second heat exchanger, providing powerful cooling capacity for the enclosure. This combines the high efficiency and uniform temperature of immersion cooling with the strong heat dissipation capacity of active liquid cooling circulation. Immersion cooling directly and rapidly transfers heat from the heating elements to the coolant, and then the carbon dioxide circulation system efficiently transports the heat to the underground cave for dissipation, forming a highly efficient heat conduction path from the electronic heating elements to the natural cold source. The heat dissipation efficiency far exceeds that of traditional air cooling or liquid cooling. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the cooling system utilizing underground cold energy according to this utility model;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the pipeline of the cooling system utilizing underground cold energy according to this utility model. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The embodiments of this utility model will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0022] See Figures 1-2 This utility model provides a cooling system that utilizes underground cold energy, which includes a cabinet 1, an underground cave facility 5, and a circulating cooling system.

[0023] The cabinet 1 contains multiple boxes 11, and each box 11 contains a module to be cooled. The module to be cooled is a functional module, which is an electronic heating element. It can be a battery, GPU, CPU, hard drive, or rectifier inverter power module. That is, the cabinet 1 can be an energy storage cabinet, a data center, or an intelligent computing center. At the same time, the box 11 is filled with coolant for immersion cooling of the module to be cooled.

[0024] The underground cavern facility 5 is used to provide natural underground cooling energy, a renewable natural resource that primarily originates from the natural cooling of the soil. This energy is evenly distributed and not easily affected by external climate, making it a reliable cooling source. Applying this underground cooling energy to the cooling system can not only make full use of natural resources, reduce energy consumption, and lower costs, but also reduce reliance on traditional cooling methods and lower carbon dioxide emissions.

[0025] The circulating cooling system is used to transfer the cold energy from the ground to the housing 11 to cool the coolant inside the housing 11, and finally to cool the module to be cooled. The circulating cooling system includes a first heat exchanger 3, a carbon dioxide storage tank 2, a circulating pump 25 and a second heat exchanger 12.

[0026] The first heat exchanger 3 is installed inside the underground cavern facility 5 to absorb the natural cold energy within the facility. The second heat exchanger 12 is installed inside the housing 11 to absorb the heat energy of the coolant. A carbon dioxide storage tank 2 stores liquid carbon dioxide. The outlet of the carbon dioxide storage tank 2 is connected to the first end of the second heat exchanger 12 via a first pipe 24. The second end of the second heat exchanger 12 is connected to the first end of the first heat exchanger 3 via a second pipe 32. The second end of the first heat exchanger 3 is connected to the return end of the carbon dioxide storage tank 2 via a third pipe 31, thus forming a circulation pipeline. A circulation pump 25 is installed on at least one of the first, second, and third pipes. This circulation pump 25 drives the flow of liquid carbon dioxide within the circulation pipeline, achieving heat transfer within the circulation pipeline.

[0027] This application utilizes an underground cold energy cooling system, taking advantage of the natural cold energy of underground caves as a permanent, stable, and free cold source. This completely eliminates the need for traditional air conditioning or compressor-driven refrigeration systems, significantly reducing system energy consumption and achieving truly green cooling. Liquid carbon dioxide is selected as the circulating working fluid, possessing excellent environmental and physical properties. It absorbs heat in the second heat exchanger, providing powerful cooling capacity for the enclosure. This combines the high efficiency and uniform temperature of immersion cooling with the strong heat dissipation capacity of active liquid cooling circulation. Immersion cooling directly and rapidly transfers heat from the battery cells to the coolant, and then the carbon dioxide circulation system efficiently transports the heat to the underground caves for dissipation, forming a highly efficient heat conduction path from the battery cells to the natural cold source. The heat dissipation efficiency far exceeds that of traditional air cooling or liquid cooling.

[0028] The first, second, and third pipelines are covered with insulation layers to insulate them. This minimizes the loss of heat during carbon dioxide transport, prevents condensation on the pipe walls, and ensures that the cold energy of the underground cavern can be efficiently transferred to the housing, thereby improving the energy utilization efficiency of the entire system.

[0029] In this application, there are one or more housings 11. When there are multiple housings 11, the first ends of the second heat exchangers 12 in each housing 11 are connected to the first pipeline 24 after being merged into one line, and the second ends of the second heat exchangers 12 in each housing 11 are connected to the second pipeline 32 after being merged into one line. By adopting the method of a manifold, it is ensured that all housings are cooled by the same cold source system, which helps to maintain the temperature consistency of each housing and avoid the difference in the lifespan of internal modules due to uneven cooling.

[0030] In this embodiment, the circulating pump 25 is a variable frequency circulating pump. The variable frequency pump can intelligently adjust the flow rate and velocity of carbon dioxide according to the actual heat load. Therefore, a temperature sensor is installed in the chamber to detect the internal temperature. The pump speed is reduced under low load to further save the pump's energy consumption, while reducing wear and operating noise, achieving on-demand cooling, and thus achieving precise temperature control and energy saving and noise reduction.

[0031] In this embodiment, there are multiple first heat exchangers 3 connected in parallel. Installing multiple parallel first heat exchangers in the underground cave increases the contact area with the underground cold source, improving heat exchange efficiency. Simultaneously, this design also provides a certain degree of redundancy; even if some heat exchangers malfunction, the system can still maintain some cooling capacity, enhancing cooling capacity and operational reliability.

[0032] To enhance operational safety, a backup circulating pump is installed on the first, second, or third pipeline. An emergency shut-off valve is also installed on this pipeline. In the event of a main circulating pump failure, the backup pump can immediately commence operation, ensuring uninterrupted cooling system operation. This significantly improves system reliability and availability, meeting the high requirements for continuous operation in industrial and commercial energy storage, data centers, or intelligent computing centers. In the event of pipeline leaks or other system emergencies, the faulty section can be quickly isolated to prevent large-scale carbon dioxide leakage, ensuring equipment and personnel safety—a crucial safety protection measure.

[0033] During operation, cryogenic liquid carbon dioxide is pressurized by a circulating pump and transported through a closed piping system to the second heat exchanger (coil) inside the tank. During this process, the liquid carbon dioxide undergoes thorough heat exchange with the immersion liquid, absorbing a significant amount of heat and rising in temperature. Subsequently, the liquid carbon dioxide is transported through an insulated piping system to a pre-constructed underground cavern storage facility. In the underground cavern, due to the natural low-temperature environment and excellent insulation properties of the geological strata, the liquid carbon dioxide is further cooled and maintained in a stable liquid state. Finally, this cooled cryogenic liquid carbon dioxide is returned to the surface storage tank through a return piping system, completing the entire circulating cooling process. The entire system employs a fully enclosed design to ensure no carbon dioxide leakage, while a precise temperature control system maintains the optimal operating temperature for each component.

[0034] To enhance system reliability, multiple redundancy mechanisms have been designed, including backup pump sets, emergency shut-off valves, and independent power supply units to cope with emergencies. These measures not only strengthen the cabinet's protection capabilities under extreme conditions but also facilitate subsequent troubleshooting and maintenance.

[0035] The cooling system is designed with practical needs in industrial and commercial applications in mind. By optimizing the pipe layout and improving heat exchange efficiency, the overall performance of the system is further enhanced. In actual operation, the arrangement of the cooling coils is precisely calculated to ensure that liquid carbon dioxide can uniformly cover the heat source area of ​​each battery cell, thereby achieving efficient heat transfer.

[0036] This application features an innovative design for the cooling system, abandoning the traditional built-in liquid cooling unit and instead employing a more efficient space optimization scheme. This improvement significantly enhances the utilization rate of the cabinet's internal space, resulting in a simpler and more compact overall structure. By simplifying the mechanical structure of the cooling system, not only are the equipment's manufacturing costs effectively reduced, but the complexity of subsequent maintenance is also decreased. Simultaneously, this new cooling solution, while ensuring heat dissipation performance, avoids the leakage risks that may exist in traditional liquid cooling systems, further improving the system's safety and reliability. This design optimization not only meets the stringent space utilization requirements of industrial and commercial applications but also achieves the dual goals of cost control and performance assurance.

[0037] After sufficient heat exchange with the submerged liquid, the cryogenic liquid carbon dioxide absorbs a large amount of heat and its temperature rises. It is then transported through pipelines to the underground cavern. Due to the natural low-temperature environment and excellent insulation properties of the underground strata, the liquid carbon dioxide is further cooled and maintained in a stable liquid state. A dedicated pump set and storage tank are installed outside the enclosure. A high-efficiency circulating pump transports the liquid carbon dioxide to the cooling coil network between each enclosure unit. This design fully utilizes the excellent thermodynamic properties of carbon dioxide; its liquid form can efficiently absorb heat from the submerged liquid during circulation, achieving rapid cooling. Subsequently, this heated liquid carbon dioxide is safely transported to the pre-constructed underground cavern through a specially designed insulated pipeline system, under strictly controlled pressure and flow rate conditions. Due to the natural low-temperature characteristics of the deep underground rock strata, the insulation barrier formed by the special geological structure, and the artificially reinforced insulation layer, the transported liquid carbon dioxide can continuously and stably dissipate heat, gradually reducing its temperature to an ideal state before finally being transported back to the storage tank.

[0038] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present utility model. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present utility model, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. A cooling system utilizing underground cold energy, characterized in that, include: The cabinet contains a box, which contains a module to be cooled and a coolant for immersing the module in the coolant. Underground cave facilities used to provide natural underground cooling energy; A circulating cooling system includes a first heat exchanger, a carbon dioxide storage tank, a circulating pump, and a second heat exchanger. The first heat exchanger is installed inside the underground cave facility and is used to absorb the natural cold energy within the underground cave facility. The second heat exchanger is installed inside the tank and is used to absorb the heat energy of the coolant. The carbon dioxide storage tank is used to store liquid carbon dioxide. The outlet end of the carbon dioxide storage tank is connected to the first end of the second heat exchanger through a first pipeline. The second end of the second heat exchanger is connected to the first end of the first heat exchanger through a second pipeline. The second end of the first heat exchanger is connected to the return end of the carbon dioxide storage tank through a third pipeline, forming a circulating pipeline. At least one of the first pipeline, the second pipeline, and the third pipeline is equipped with a circulation pump for driving the flow of liquid carbon dioxide within the circulation pipeline.

2. The cooling system utilizing underground cold energy as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The housing may be one or more, and the first ends of the second heat exchangers in each housing are connected to the first pipeline after being merged into one channel, and the second ends of the second heat exchangers in each housing are connected to the second pipeline after being merged into one channel.

3. The cooling system utilizing underground cold energy as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The circulating pump is a variable frequency circulating pump.

4. The cooling system utilizing underground cold energy as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The first heat exchanger consists of multiple units connected in parallel.

5. The cooling system utilizing underground cold energy as described in claim 1, characterized in that: A backup circulating pump is provided on the first pipeline, the second pipeline, or the third pipeline.

6. The cooling system utilizing underground cold energy as described in claim 1, characterized in that: An emergency shut-off valve is provided on the first pipeline, the second pipeline, or the third pipeline.

7. The cooling system utilizing underground cold energy as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The module to be cooled is an electronic or electrical heating element.

8. The cooling system utilizing underground cold energy as described in claim 7, characterized in that: The heating element in the electronic appliance is a battery, a GPU, a CPU, or a rectifier-inverter power module.

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