Cold Plate Flow Reversal Valve for In-Place Debris Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Liquid cooling systems face challenges with cold plates becoming clogged by debris, making cleaning costly and time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A valve in the liquid cooling system that can be oriented between two configurations to reverse the flow direction of the cooling fluid through the cold plate, allowing for in situ cleaning by dislodging debris without removing the cold plate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cold plate is removed from the computing system for cleaning, then the cold plate can be cleaned effectively, but the system downtime increases and cleaning becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-cleaning by utilizing the existing cooling fluid circulation infrastructure. The valve allows the cooling fluid to flow in reverse direction through the cold plate, enabling the system to clean itself without external intervention or disassembly, thus resolving the contradiction between effective cleaning and time consumption
2Reliability
If the cooling fluid flow direction is reversed through the valve, then debris can be dislodged from the cold plate, but the valve complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The valve serves multiple functions: it controls the direction of cooling fluid flow for both cooling operation and cleaning operation. By integrating this directional control capability into a single valve component, the system achieves cold plate cleaning functionality without adding separate complex mechanisms, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability improvement and device complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables effective cleaning of cold plates within the system by reversing fluid flow, maintaining system performance without disassembly.
Implementation Method 1
The cold plate is configured to be thermally coupled to a heat-generating electronic component... remove heat from the heated cooling fluid
Implementation Method 2
a cooling fluid flows through the internal fluid pathway... deliver the cooling fluid to the cold plate, received heated cooling fluid from the cold plate, and remove heat from the heated cooling fluid
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid cooling system includes a cold plate thermally coupled to a heat-generating electronic component, a heat removal unit fluidly coupled to the cold plate, and a valve fluidly coupled to the cold plate and the heat removal unit. The cold plate has an internal fluid pathway. The heat removal unit delivers the cooling fluid to the cold plate, receives heated cooling fluid from the cold plate, and removes heat from the heated cooling fluid. When the valve is in a first orientation, the cold plate and the heat removal unit are fluidly coupled in a first configuration and the cooling fluid flows through the internal fluid pathway in a first direction. When the valve is in a second orientation, the cold plate and the heat removal unit are fluidly coupled in a second configuration and the cooling fluid flows through the internal fluid pathway in a second direction.