Pumpless Immersion Cooling Server Waste Heat Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Single-phase immersion cooling systems for servers require an additional pump to circulate coolant, increasing energy consumption and costs due to higher investment and operational expenses, as well as inefficient waste heat management.
Innovation Solution
A waste heat recovery system that utilizes a pumpless design, where a single-phase coolant in an immersion box body absorbs heat from server nodes and a two-phase coolant in an evaporation box body undergoes gas-liquid phase change to drive a circulation flow without the need for a pump, reducing energy consumption and improving efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a pump is used to drive coolant circulation in a single-phase immersion cooling system, then heat dissipation effectiveness is improved, but energy consumption and investment cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the heat-generating server nodes themselves to drive the coolant circulation. The servers' operational heat creates natural convection currents in the coolant, eliminating the need for external pumps. This self-service mechanism converts the waste heat into useful kinetic energy for coolant circulation, reducing energy consumption while maintaining heat dissipation effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical pump system with a thermal convection-based circulation system. Instead of using mechanical force to move the coolant, the system relies on temperature differences and natural convection currents generated by the heat-generating server nodes, substituting a mechanical system with a thermal field-based system.
2Ease of operation
If a pump is added to the single-phase immersion cooling system, then coolant circulation is achieved, but device complexity and investment cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the pump component from the cooling system. By removing this mechanical device, the system structure is simplified, investment costs are reduced, and maintenance requirements are minimized. The coolant circulation function is achieved through natural convection rather than mechanical pumping.
Solution Approach 2:
The system achieves coolant circulation through self-service mechanisms where the heat-generating server nodes automatically create convection currents in the coolant. This eliminates the need for external control systems and mechanical components, simplifying the overall system structure while maintaining operational effectiveness.
3Loss of energy
If external refrigeration devices are used to process waste heat, then heat dissipation is achieved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the previously harmful waste heat into a beneficial resource that drives coolant circulation. The heat generated by server nodes, which would normally need to be actively removed by energy-consuming refrigeration devices, is instead utilized to create natural convection currents, transforming a waste product into a useful driving force for the cooling system.
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 system reduces energy consumption by leveraging the heat of the server to drive kinetic energy for coolant circulation, enhancing energy utilization efficiency and environmental protection performance while eliminating the need for a pump.
Implementation Method 1
A coolant of the single-phase immersion cooling system mainly brings away heat of heat generating devices through circulating convective heat transfer
Implementation Method 2
the evaporation box body is filled with a two-phase coolant capable of generating gas-liquid phase change
Data Source
AI summary
A waste heat recovery system is provided and relates to the technical field of servers. The waste heat recovery system includes an immersion box body, an evaporation box body, a heat exchanger, a circulating pipe and a first driving assembly, wherein the immersion box body is filled with a single-phase coolant; the evaporation box body is filled with a two-phase coolant and is provided with an extending portion that extends into the immersion box body and is in contact with the single-phase coolant; a water inlet and a water outlet of the heat exchanger are respectively communicated to different positions of the immersion box body. Based on that the pumpless driven cold and heat circulation flow of a coolant are achieved, the energy consumption of the system is reduced, and the energy utilization efficiency and the environmental protection performance are improved.