Cooling Device Reservoir for Refrigerant Leak Containment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cold plates suffer from refrigerant leakage, which can affect surrounding equipment due to the design where the cover is fixed to the base, allowing refrigerant to flow outside the cold plate.
Innovation Solution
The cooling device incorporates a reservoir with wall surfaces positioned closer to the edges of the cold plate than the flow paths, forming a dam to contain refrigerant leaks, and includes a drainage channel to guide and discharge any accumulated liquid, along with a liquid leakage sensor for detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the cover is fixed to the base in a conventional cold plate, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but refrigerant leakage occurs and affects surrounding equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The cold plate is divided into a base and a cover that can be separately manufactured and then assembled. The base includes a reservoir formed by cutting out a portion, creating a segmented structure that allows for easier manufacturing while preventing refrigerant leakage through proper assembly with the cover.
Solution Approach 2:
A sealing member is introduced as an intermediary element between the base and the cover. This sealing member prevents refrigerant from leaking between the components, thereby eliminating the harmful effect of refrigerant leakage while maintaining the simplicity of the overall structure.
2Reliability
If the reservoir is positioned away from the edge in a conventional design, then the flow path is clear, but refrigerant leaks to the outside of the cold plate
Solution Approach 1:
The reservoir is positioned in a different spatial dimension relative to the flow path. By forming the reservoir by cutting out a portion of the base and positioning it adjacently to the flow path, the design uses spatial arrangement to contain refrigerant while maintaining clear flow paths.
3Ease of operation
If no drainage channel is provided, then the structure is simpler, but accumulated liquid cannot be discharged
Solution Approach 1:
The drainage channel is segmented into multiple portions that correspond to different regions of the reservoir. This segmentation allows for effective liquid discharge while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure that can be integrated into the base.
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
The design effectively suppresses refrigerant leakage and facilitates easy detection, ensuring the refrigerant remains contained within the cold plate, thereby protecting surrounding equipment and maintaining operational integrity.
Implementation Method 1
a cold plate that comes into thermal contact with a first heat generating component
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling device comes into thermal contact with a first heat generating component, and includes a first component and a second component. The first component defines a liquid flow path. The second component is connected to one side in the first direction with respect to the first component to define the flow path. The first component includes a reservoir. The reservoir includes a wall surface opposing a side opposite to an edge of the first component and extending to the one side in the first direction. At least a portion of the reservoir is closer to an edge of the first component than the flow path.