Fan-less Liquid Cooling for Data Center IT Racks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data center cooling systems rely heavily on chiller units and air-moving devices, which consume significant energy and are inefficient in managing the increasing heat density from high-performance electronics, leading to decreased server reliability and increased energy costs.
Innovation Solution
A fan-less and chiller-less data center system utilizing a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and air-to-air heat exchanger combination, where a coolant distribution unit controls a liquid flow to exchange heat with IT components and dissipate it externally, while an airflow delivery system generates airflow to exchange heat with the external environment, eliminating the need for chiller units and air-moving devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional CRAC/CRAH units with chiller plants are used for cooling, then heat removal capability is sufficient, but energy consumption is excessively high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the chiller unit from the conventional cooling system, replacing it with a direct evaporative cooling approach. The chiller plant, which is the most energy-consuming component, is removed entirely while maintaining heat removal capability through natural evaporation processes in the cooling towers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical compression-based chiller system with a passive evaporative cooling system. Instead of using mechanical compressors and refrigerants, the system uses water evaporation to absorb heat, significantly reducing mechanical energy consumption while maintaining effective heat removal.
2Power
If high-performance electronics components are increased to boost computing power, then processing capability improves, but heat density increases leading to reliability degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces liquid cooling plates as an intermediary between the high-density electronics and the air cooling system. The liquid cooling plates directly contact the heat-generating components, efficiently transferring heat to the liquid coolant, which then carries it to external cooling towers for dissipation. This intermediary system enables high-density computing while maintaining component temperatures within reliable operating ranges.
3Loss of energy
If chiller units and air-moving devices are eliminated to reduce energy consumption, then cooling energy efficiency improves, but the system becomes fan-less and chiller-less requiring alternative heat dissipation mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs self-service cooling mechanisms where cooling towers use natural draft and evaporative cooling to dissipate heat without requiring motor-driven fans or chillers. The system leverages natural convection currents and phase change of water to create airflow and remove heat, eliminating the need for external power-consuming air-moving devices while maintaining effective cooling.
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
This solution significantly reduces energy consumption by eliminating the need for chiller units and air-moving devices, improving energy efficiency and maintaining a proper thermal environment for high-performance servers, thus enhancing server reliability and reducing cooling costs.
Implementation Method 1
one or more cooling devices disposed on the IT components to receive a first liquid from the CDU, to exchange heat generated from the IT components using the first liquid
Implementation Method 2
an airflow delivery system to generate an airflow from a cooler/colder external environment, to cause the airflow to travel through the servers of the electronic racks to exchange heat generated by the servers
Implementation Method 3
The airflow delivery system may include an evaporative cooler configured to cool the airflow by evaporation
Data Source
AI summary
A data center cooling system includes a housing to contain electronic racks of IT components operating therein, a coolant distribution unit (CDU) situated within the housing to control a liquid flow of a cooling liquid. One or more liquid cooling devices are disposed on the IT components to receive a first liquid from the CDU, to exchange or extract heat generated from the IT components, to transform the first liquid to a second liquid with a higher temperature, and to transmit the second liquid back to the CDU. The CDU is coupled to a heat transfer system to dissipate the exchanged heat to an external environment. The data center cooling system includes an airflow delivery system to generate a direct or indirect airflow to travel through the servers of the electronic racks to remove heat generated by the servers to the external environment eliminating chiller and IT fans.