Sealed Chassis Modules for Two-Phase Data Center Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing two-phase cooling systems for electronic components are hindered by the use of hazardous and expensive coolants that can escape and harm workers and the environment, and they do not integrate well with data center architectures, leading to coolant leaks and damage.
Innovation Solution
A two-phase cooling system where sealed chassis modules are removably fluidly coupled to a condenser tank via self-regulating or manually controllable quick disconnect couplers, maintaining the coolant within the system and allowing for hot swapping without releasing it, and the entire system is contained within a standard data center rack to prevent external damage and leaks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If electronic components are positioned in a large bath or tank for two-phase cooling, then effective cooling is achieved, but the tank must be opened to install and service components, releasing large amounts of hazardous coolant to workers and the environment
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the cooling apparatus into separate sealed modules (electronic component trays with integrated cooling channels) rather than using a single large open tank. This segmentation allows components to be serviced in isolated sealed units, preventing coolant release while maintaining effective two-phase cooling of electronic components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces sealed trays or modules as intermediary containers between the coolant system and the electronic components. These intermediaries allow component installation and servicing without direct exposure to the coolant, acting as a barrier that prevents hazardous fluid release while enabling thermal transfer through controlled interfaces.
2Temperature
If hazardous coolants are used for effective two-phase cooling, then suitable boiling points and electrical insulative properties are achieved, but the coolants are expensive and biologically harmful
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a sealed inert environment containing the hazardous coolant, isolating it from workers and the external environment. By maintaining the coolant within closed-loop sealed modules with controlled atmospheres, the system preserves the necessary thermal properties while eliminating biological harm and environmental release concerns.
3Quantity of substance
If a large tank is used for two-phase cooling, then sufficient coolant volume is available, but the system does not integrate well with data center architectures and is vulnerable to external damage
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple small modular units that can be distributed throughout the data center rack infrastructure. Each module contains sufficient coolant for its specific electronic component tray, eliminating the need for a large centralized tank while enabling seamless integration with standard data center architectures and reducing vulnerability to external damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nested cooling modules where sealed cooling channels are integrated within electronic component trays, which are then nested within standard data center rack units. This nesting approach allows the cooling system to fit within existing data center infrastructure without requiring separate large-scale cooling infrastructure.
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 effectively prevents coolant leakage, reduces environmental harm, and integrates seamlessly with data center architectures, ensuring safe and efficient cooling while allowing for easy maintenance and service without releasing hazardous fluids.
Implementation Method 1
two-phase cooling can remove large amounts of heat per volume of space and thus can allow high electronic component density and performance without overheating. Heat from the electronic components can boil coolant liquid (e.g., liquid phase coolant) into coolant vapor (e.g., gas phase coolant) (hence the term 'two-phase cooling')
Implementation Method 2
Heat from the electronic components can boil coolant liquid (e.g., liquid phase coolant) into coolant vapor (e.g., gas phase coolant)
Implementation Method 3
The gas phase coolant can carry the heat from the electronic components to a different area of the cooling system where the heat can be transferred to an external cooling system. As a result of the energy transfer, the gas phase coolant returns to the liquid phase
Implementation Method 4
sealed chassis modules are removably fluidly coupled to a condenser tank via self-regulating or manually controllable quick disconnect couplers, maintaining the coolant within the system and allowing for hot swapping without releasing it
Data Source
AI summary
The description relates to cooling electronic components, such as computing devices. One example includes a rack defining a volume and multiple sealed chassis modules removably fluidly coupled to a two-phase condenser tank via a vapor coupler and a liquid coupler. Individual sealed chassis modules can contain one or more electronic components immersed in two-phase coolant that when heated by operation of the electronic components experiences a phase change from a liquid phase to a gas phase and travels to the two-phase condenser tank via the vapor coupler and is cooled in the two-phase condenser tank until experiencing a phase change back into the liquid phase. Individual sealed chassis modules can be decoupled from the two-phase condenser tank without releasing two-phase coolant and an entirety of the multiple sealed chassis modules and the condenser tank are contained in the volume of the rack.