Cooling Container Architecture for Partial-Immersion Electronics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing immersion cooling methods require complete submersion of electronic devices in liquid coolant, leading to heavy tanks, high coolant costs, inefficient heat dissipation, increased floor space requirements, and complex maintenance due to the need for new infrastructure and complete device removal for servicing.
Innovation Solution
Partial immersion of electronic devices using cooling containers within a chassis, allowing coolant circulation between containers and a pool, enabling individual component servicing without device removal and reducing coolant usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If complete submersion of electronic devices in liquid coolant is used, then cooling efficiency is improved, but device complexity and infrastructure requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the cooling function into separate cooling containers that can be independently placed around electronic components. Each cooling container is a separate unit with coolant circulation, rather than requiring a single large immersion tank. This segmentation reduces infrastructure complexity while maintaining effective cooling of each component.
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling containers act as intermediary structures between the electronic devices and the coolant. Instead of direct immersion, the cooling containers provide a controlled environment with coolant circulation channels that transfer heat away from components, reducing the need for complex direct immersion infrastructure.
2Temperature
If complete submersion of electronic devices in liquid coolant is used, then cooling efficiency is improved, but weight and floor space increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the cooling function from the device housing itself and places it in separate cooling containers. This allows the device chassis to be lighter while still providing effective cooling, as the cooling containers can be optimized for thermal performance rather than structural support.
Solution Approach 2:
By segmenting the cooling system into separate containers rather than requiring a full immersion tank, the overall weight is reduced. Only the necessary cooling volume is present in each container, rather than requiring a large tank to submerge entire devices.
3Temperature
If complete submersion of electronic devices in liquid coolant is used, then cooling efficiency is improved, but maintenance complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into separate cooling containers that can be independently accessed and maintained. Individual containers can be removed or serviced without affecting the entire system, allowing maintenance personnel to work on cooling components without removing entire devices from the rack.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling containers are designed to be dynamically accessible during operation. The system allows for flexible maintenance where containers can be accessed, removed, or serviced based on operational needs, rather than requiring complete system shutdown or device removal for maintenance.
4Device complexity
If air cooling techniques are used, then device complexity is reduced, but cooling efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses liquid coolant circulation through cooling containers instead of air cooling. The hydraulic system provides superior heat transfer efficiency compared to air, while the modular container design keeps the overall system complexity manageable by breaking down the cooling architecture into standardized units.
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
Enhances cooling efficiency, reduces floor space and weight, facilitates easy maintenance, and lowers deployment costs by reusing existing infrastructure.
Implementation Method 1
By utilizing the superior heat transfer capabilities of the liquid coolant compared to air
Implementation Method 2
coolant circulation between containers and a pool
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes a chassis, electronic components disposed within the chassis, cooling containers, and a coolant loop. The chassis has an internal volume partly filled with coolant to form coolant pool in the internal volume. The containers are disposed within the chassis such that each container contains at least one electronic component. The coolant loop circulates the coolant from the coolant pool to the containers. For example, each container receives an inflow of the coolant from the coolant loop or from another one container and immerse the at least one electronic component in the coolant to remove heat from the at least one electronic component and output an outflow of the coolant that overflows into the coolant pool or into at least one adjacent container, where a level of the coolant in the coolant pool is lower than respective levels of the coolant in the containers.