Modular Coolant Unit for Immersion Cooling Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data center cooling systems, particularly immersion cooling systems, face challenges in managing coolant levels and fluid handling, leading to increased complexity and difficulty in servicing IT equipment, as they are not well-suited for scalable and modular designs, limiting their configurability and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A modular and scalable coolant management system with a central coolant unit and interconnected sub-coolant units that automatically balance coolant levels, allowing for efficient filling and draining of immersion coolant tanks, enabling flexible configuration and easy maintenance across multiple immersion cooling systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If immersion cooling systems are designed with dedicated immersion coolant tanks for each system, then cooling effectiveness is maintained, but system complexity and difficulty in servicing IT equipment increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate immersion coolant tanks into a single shared coolant tank that serves multiple cooling systems. The coolant tank is configured to receive coolant from a supply and automatically balance coolant levels across multiple cooling systems through interconnected coolant loops, reducing the number of separate tanks while maintaining cooling effectiveness for each system.
Solution Approach 2:
The single coolant tank serves multiple functions by providing coolant to multiple different cooling systems simultaneously. The system can selectively supply coolant to different cooling systems based on demand, and the automatic level balancing ensures each system receives appropriate coolant levels, making the tank a universal resource for the entire data center infrastructure.
2Temperature
If immersion coolant tanks are integrated into existing data center infrastructure, then cooling is provided, but ease of servicing IT equipment decreases due to difficulty in adding and removing coolant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the coolant management function from individual cooling systems and places it in a separate, centralized coolant tank system. This allows coolant to be added or removed from the centralized tank without requiring disassembly of cooling systems or exposure of IT equipment, significantly improving ease of servicing while maintaining thermal control.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized coolant tank acts as an intermediary between the coolant supply and multiple cooling systems. It provides a buffer and control point that allows coolant management operations to be performed independently of the cooling systems themselves, enabling servicing without disrupting IT equipment or requiring complex manual coolant handling at each cooling system location.
3Reliability
If multiple separate cooling systems are used for different IT components, then cooling coverage is comprehensive, but adaptability to different cooling configurations is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic coolant distribution where a single coolant tank can selectively supply coolant to different cooling systems based on real-time demands. The system can adapt its configuration by routing coolant to different systems as needed, providing comprehensive cooling coverage while maintaining high adaptability to different cooling configurations and IT component arrangements.
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 enhances the efficiency and flexibility of coolant management in data centers, improving the reliability and performance of high-performance servers by simplifying coolant handling and enabling seamless integration with different cooling systems, thus maintaining optimal thermal environments.
Implementation Method 1
The condenser can utilize a single-phase cooling liquid from a facility cooling liquid loop to condense the two-phase coolant in its vapor phase
Implementation Method 2
Heat is removed from the immersion fluid vapor by a condenser in the vapor portion of an immersion tank
Implementation Method 3
Heat is removed from the IT components by circulating the immersion fluid to directly contact the IT components to be cooled
Implementation Method 4
immersion cooling is an information technology (IT) practice wherein IT components and other electronics, such complete servers, are submerged in a thermally conductive dielectric liquid or coolant
Data Source
AI summary
A data center and a data center cluster have plurality of immersion cooling systems and a plurality of coolant units that provide two-phase coolant to one or more of the plurality of immersion cooling systems. Each coolant unit dispatches and manages two-phase coolant to two or more of the plurality of immersion cooling systems. The coolant units can fill or empty an immersion tank of an immersion cooling system, and can empty or fill a coolant tank in the coolant unit. A single-phase cooling fluid cools the vapor phase of the two-phase coolant in each immersion cooling system. The coolant units are modular, with a common interface to other coolant units and to immersion cooling systems to create a scalable cooling system and data center.