Hybrid Immersion Cooling With Pressure Chambers for Leidenfrost Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data center cooling methods, such as full immersion of servers in dielectric liquids, are costly, require significant material changes, hinder optical components, and complicate maintenance, while two-phase cooling can suffer from the Leidenfrost effect and environmental harm.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid cooling system using immersion boxes that surround only heat-generating components, combined with hermetically sealed pressure chambers for two-phase cooling and a cooling jacket for single-phase cooling, mitigates the Leidenfrost effect and reduces fluid usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If full immersion cooling with dielectric liquids is used, then heat transfer efficiency is improved, but cost and material changes increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the server into multiple sections with immersion boxes surrounding only heat-generating components (CPUs, GPUs) rather than submerging the entire server. This segmentation allows selective cooling where needed, reducing the amount of dielectric fluid required and minimizing material changes to optical and other non-heat-generating components.
Solution Approach 2:
Different cooling approaches are applied to different components: immersion boxes with dielectric fluid for high-heat components, and alternative cooling methods for other components. This local quality approach optimizes heat transfer efficiency where needed while avoiding unnecessary material changes in other areas.
2Temperature
If full immersion cooling is used, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but maintenance difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the cooling system into individual immersion boxes for specific components rather than full server immersion, maintenance personnel can access and service individual components without draining or handling large volumes of dielectric fluid, significantly easing maintenance procedures.
3Temperature
If two-phase cooling is used, then heat transfer efficiency is improved, but Leidenfrost effect and environmental harm occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the physical parameters of the cooling fluid by using dielectric liquids with specific boiling points and thermal properties in immersion boxes, operating in single-phase or controlled two-phase mode to achieve efficient heat transfer while avoiding the Leidenfrost effect through proper fluid selection and pressure control.
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 approach reduces cooling fluid needs, minimizes material changes, maintains optical component functionality, facilitates easy maintenance, and effectively counters the Leidenfrost effect, while minimizing environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
The fluid mixture may be configured to boil at one or more temperatures to facilitate two-phase cooling of the components
Implementation Method 2
a fluid mixture configured to facilitate convective cooling of the at least one component
Implementation Method 3
The immersion box may include a cooling jacket carrying a coolant
Implementation Method 4
The fluid mixture may also contain micro-fined metal particles in suspension to both facilitate nucleation of the fluid mixture
Implementation Method 5
A hermetically sealed pressure chamber may be attached to one or more components, wherein the hermetically sealed pressure chambers contain a fluid mixture
Data Source
AI summary
A system including a computing device including a chassis and one or more components. The computing device also including a chip assembly positioned within the chassis. The chip assembly including at least one component of the one or more components of the computing device and a pressure chamber adjacent to the at least one component, wherein the pressure chamber is hermetically sealed and contains a fluid mixture configured to facilitate convective cooling of the at least one component.