Serial Fluidic Cooling Loop for Uniform Air-Cooled Thermal Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid-assisted air-cooled thermal control systems in information handling systems face issues with non-uniform thermal performance due to temperature gradients and fluid flow impedance, leading to uneven cooling of components and reduced reliability.
Innovation Solution
A thermal control system with a serial arrangement of heat-rejecting media and heat exchangers, where cooling fluid flows through a series of heat-rejecting media and heat exchangers, ensuring uniform airflow temperature and eliminating the need for triple valves, thereby reducing fluid flow impedance and improving cooling uniformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a parallel configuration of heat-rejecting media is used, then multiple components can be cooled simultaneously, but temperature gradients in the airflow lead to non-uniform cooling distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the cooling path into multiple serial heat-rejecting media units (first heat-rejecting media, second heat-rejecting media) arranged in sequence through the airflow path. This segmentation allows each unit to handle a portion of the thermal load sequentially, ensuring more uniform temperature distribution across all components while maintaining high cooling capacity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If triple valves are used for fluid routing, then flexible fluid distribution is achieved, but fluid flow impedance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the triple valves from the fluid routing system. By redesigning the fluid path to flow directly through the serial heat-rejecting media without requiring complex valve assemblies, the system maintains adaptability while significantly reducing fluid flow impedance and improving overall flow efficiency.
3Device complexity
If air movers direct airflow over heatsinks, then simple cooling is achieved, but non-uniform airflow temperature leads to uneven component cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces heat-rejecting media as intermediary elements between the air movers and the components. These media units act as thermal mediators that absorb and distribute heat more uniformly across the airflow path, ensuring that all components receive consistent cooling while maintaining relative system simplicity.
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 solution achieves uniform airflow temperature and improved cooling distribution across components, enhancing thermal performance and reliability by eliminating the need for complex fluid routing and triple valves.
Implementation Method 1
cooling fluid flows from the first heat exchanger to the first heat-rejecting media, from the first heat-rejecting media to the second heat exchanger, from the second heat exchanger to the second heat-rejecting media
Implementation Method 2
airflow driven by the one or more air movers flows proximate to the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods may provide for a serial fluidic flow loop in a liquid-assisted air cooled thermal control system, in order to balance thermal gradients in the thermal control system.