U.S. patent application number 12/433430 was filed with the patent office on 2010-11-04 for system and method for cooling fluid distribution.
Invention is credited to Cullen E. Bash, Abdlmonem Beitelmal.
Application Number | 20100275618 12/433430 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43029364 |
Filed Date | 2010-11-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100275618 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Beitelmal; Abdlmonem ; et
al. |
November 4, 2010 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COOLING FLUID DISTRIBUTION
Abstract
A system for distributing a cooling fluid in a room containing
at least one heat generating component includes a primary heat
exchanger having an inlet for receiving the cooling fluid, a heat
exchange section configured to facilitate exchange of heat between
airflow in the room and the cooling fluid, and an outlet for
exhausting heated cooling fluid from the heat exchange section. The
system also includes a secondary heat exchanger having a receiving
section connected to the second section of a cooling fluid line for
receiving heated cooling fluid, a heat exchange section configured
to facilitate exchange of heat between the at least one heat
generating component and the heated cooling fluid, and an exhaust
section configured to exhaust secondarily heated cooling fluid.
Inventors: |
Beitelmal; Abdlmonem; (Los
Altos, CA) ; Bash; Cullen E.; (Los Gatos,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY;Intellectual Property Administration
3404 E. Harmony Road, Mail Stop 35
FORT COLLINS
CO
80528
US
|
Family ID: |
43029364 |
Appl. No.: |
12/433430 |
Filed: |
April 30, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/56 ; 62/259.2;
62/335; 62/515 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24F 5/0003 20130101;
H05K 7/2079 20130101; F28D 15/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/56 ; 62/335;
62/515; 62/259.2 |
International
Class: |
F25D 3/00 20060101
F25D003/00; F25B 7/00 20060101 F25B007/00; F25B 39/02 20060101
F25B039/02; F25D 23/00 20060101 F25D023/00 |
Claims
1. A system for distributing a cooling fluid in a room containing
at least one heat generating component, said system comprising: a
primary heat exchanger having an inlet for receiving the cooling
fluid, a heat exchange section configured to facilitate exchange of
heat between airflow in the room and the cooling fluid, and an
outlet for exhausting heated cooling fluid from the heat exchange
section; a cooling fluid line having a first section and a second
section, said first section being connected to the outlet of the
primary heat exchanger; and a secondary heat exchanger having a
receiving section connected to the second section of the cooling
fluid line for receiving the heated cooling fluid, a heat exchange
section configured to facilitate exchange of heat between the at
least one heat generating component and the heated cooling fluid
from the primary heat exchanger, and an exhaust section configured
to exhaust secondarily heated cooling fluid from the secondary heat
exchanger.
2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: a cooling
apparatus for cooling at least one of the heated cooling fluid from
the primary heat exchanger and the secondarily heated cooling fluid
from the secondary heat exchanger.
3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality
of secondary heat exchangers having receiving sections, wherein the
cooling fluid line is split into a plurality of sub-lines, each of
said plurality of sub-lines being connected to a receiving section
of a respective secondary heat exchanger, and wherein the plurality
of secondary heat exchangers are arranged in a parallel
relationship with respect to each other along the plurality of
sub-lines.
4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality
of secondary heat exchangers arranged in a serial configuration
with respect to each other along the cooling fluid line.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the primary heat
exchanger comprises one of a floor based and a ceiling based air
conditioning unit.
6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heat
generating component is housed in a rack having an inlet for
receiving airflow and an outlet for exhausting airflow, and wherein
the secondary heat exchanger is configured to be positioned in at
least one of the inlet and the outlet of the rack to cool airflow
that is one of supplied into and exhausted from the rack.
7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heat
generating component is housed in a rack, and wherein the secondary
heat exchanger is configured to be positioned within the rack.
8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the secondary heat
exchanger comprises a plurality of heat exchange sections, said
plurality of heat exchange sections being configured to be
positioned to cool a plurality of heat generating components
contained in the rack.
9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the heat exchange
section of the secondary heat exchanger comprises at least one cold
plate configured to be positioned in thermal contact with the at
least one heat generating component.
10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heat
generating component is housed in a rack having an inlet for
receiving airflow and an exhaust for exhausting airflow, and
wherein the primary heat exchanger is configured to be positioned
in the inlet to cool airflow supplied into the rack and wherein the
secondary heat exchanger is configured to be positioned within the
rack to directly cool the at least one heat generating component
housed in the rack.
11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heat
generating component is housed in a rack having an inlet for
receiving airflow and an exhaust for exhausting airflow, and
wherein the primary heat exchanger is configured to be positioned
in the inlet to cool airflow supplied into the rack and wherein the
secondary heat exchanger is configured to be positioned in the to
exhaust to cool airflow exhausted from the rack.
12. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a tertiary
heat exchanger containing a separate cooling fluid, wherein the
heat exchange section of the secondary heat exchanger is configured
to facilitate heat transfer from the separate cooling fluid
contained in the tertiary heat exchanger and the heated cooling
fluid.
13. The system according to claim 1, wherein the cooling fluid
comprises one of the group consisting of chilled water, R134a, and
ethylene glycol mixture.
14. A method of distributing cooling fluid in a room, said method
comprising: supplying a primary heat exchanger with cooled cooling
fluid from a cooling apparatus, wherein the primary heat exchanger
comprises a heat exchange section that cools airflow supplied into
the room thereby causing the cooling fluid to become heated; and
conveying the heated cooling fluid from the primary heat exchanger
to a secondary heat exchanger, said secondary heat exchanger being
configured to facilitate heat exchange between at least one heat
generating component housed in the room and the heated cooling
fluid, thereby causing the heated cooling fluid to become
secondarily heated.
15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: conveying
at least one of the heated cooling fluid and the secondarily heated
cooling fluid to the cooling apparatus.
16. A data center comprising: at least one heat generating
component; a cooling fluid distribution system for cooling the at
least one heat generating component, said cooling fluid
distribution system comprising, a primary heat exchanger having an
inlet for receiving the cooling fluid, a heat exchange section
configured to facilitate exchange of heat between airflow in the
data center and the cooling fluid, and an outlet for exhausting
heated cooling fluid from the heat exchange section; a cooling
fluid line having a first section and a second section, said first
section being connected to the outlet of the primary heat
exchanger; and a secondary heat exchanger having a receiving
section connected to the second section of the cooling fluid line
for receiving the heated cooling fluid, a heat exchange section
configured to facilitate exchange of heat between the at least one
heat generating component and the heated cooling fluid from the
primary heat exchanger, and an exhaust section configured to
exhaust secondarily heated cooling fluid from the secondary heat
exchanger.
17. The data center according to claim 16, further comprising: at
least one rack having an inlet for receiving airflow and an exhaust
for exhausting airflow, wherein the at least one heat generating
component is housed in the at least one rack, and wherein the
secondary heat exchanger is positioned on at least one of the inlet
and the exhaust of the rack.
18. The data center according to claim 16, further comprising: at
least one rack, wherein the at least one heat generating component
is housed in the at least one rack, and wherein the secondary heat
exchanger is positioned within the rack and configured to directly
cool the at least one heat generating component.
19. The data center according to claim 16, further comprising: at
least one rack having an inlet for receiving airflow and an exhaust
for exhausting airflow, wherein the at least one heat generating
component is housed in the at least one rack, and wherein the
primary heat exchanger is positioned in the inlet to cool airflow
supplied into the rack and wherein the secondary heat exchanger is
positioned within the rack to directly cool the at least one heat
generating component housed in the rack.
20. The data center according to claim 16, further comprising: at
least one rack having an inlet for receiving airflow and an exhaust
for exhausting airflow, wherein the at least one heat generating
component is housed in the at least one rack, and wherein the
primary heat exchanger is positioned in the inlet to cool airflow
supplied into the rack and wherein the secondary heat exchanger is
positioned in the exhaust to cool airflow exhausted from the rack.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES
[0001] The present application has the same Assignee and shares
some common subject matter with U.S. Patent Application Publication
No. 2004/0020224, entitled "Cooling System with Evaporators
Distributed in Parallel", filed on Dec. 4, 2002, by Bash et al.;
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0020226, entitled
"Cooling System with Evaporators Distributed in Series", filed on
Dec. 4, 2002, by Bash et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/142,557 (Attorney Docket No. 200403658-1), entitled "Air-Cooled
Heat Generating Device Airflow Control System", filed on Jun. 1,
2005; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/142,558 (Attorney
Docket No. 200403657-1), entitled "Refrigeration System with
Parallel Evaporators and Variable Speed Compressor", filed on Jun.
1, 2005. The disclosures of the above-listed applications are
incorporated by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A data center may be defined as a location, e.g., room, that
houses computer systems arranged in a number of racks. A standard
rack may be defined as an Electronics Industry Association (EIA)
enclosure, 78 in. (2 meters) wide, 24 in. (0.61 meter) wide and 30
in. (0.76 meter) deep. The computer systems typically include a
number of components, e.g., one or more of printed circuit boards
(PCBs), mass storage devices, power supplies, processors,
micro-controllers, semi-conductor devices, and the like, that may
dissipate relatively significant amounts of heat during the
operation of the respective components.
[0003] Conventional data centers are typically cooled by operation
of one or more air conditioning units. The one or more air
conditioning units typically receive cooled cooling fluid from a
separate cooling apparatus and use the cooled cooling fluid to cool
airflow in the data center. In addition, the heated cooling fluid
is returned back to the cooling apparatus to be re-cooled and used
again in cooling the airflow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] Features of the present invention will become apparent to
those skilled in the art from the following description with
reference to the figures, in which:
[0005] FIGS. 1A-1D show cross-sectional side views of a room
containing a cooling fluid distribution system, according to
various embodiments of the invention;
[0006] FIGS. 2A and 2B show alternative schematic diagrams of the
cooling fluid distribution system depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D,
according to embodiments of the invention;
[0007] FIGS. 3A-3D show respective schematic diagrams of portions
of the secondary heat exchanger depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D, 2A, and
2B, according to embodiments of the invention; and
[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of
distributing cooling fluid in a room containing a cooling fluid
distribution system, according to an embodiment of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0009] For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the present
invention is described by referring mainly to an exemplary
embodiment thereof. In the following description, numerous specific
details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding
of the present invention. It will be apparent however, to one of
ordinary skill in the art, that the present invention may be
practiced without limitation to these specific details. In other
instances, well known methods and structures have not been
described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the present
invention.
[0010] Disclosed herein are a system and method of distributing a
cooling fluid in a room containing at least one heat generating
component. The cooling fluid distribution system includes a primary
heat exchanger, a secondary heat exchanger, and a cooling fluid
line connecting the primary heat exchanger to the secondary heat
exchanger. In one embodiment, the primary heat exchanger is
configured to cool airflow supplied into the room through heat
exchange with the cooling fluid and the secondary heat exchanger is
configured to cool the at least one heat generating component
through heat exchange with cooling fluid that has been heated in
the primary heat exchanger.
[0011] Thus, the secondary heat exchanger is configured to provide
an additional level of cooling to the at least one heat generating
component beyond the cooling afforded by the cool airflow supplied
by the primary heat exchanger. In addition, the secondary heat
exchanger is configured to provide the additional level of cooling
through use of the waste heated cooling fluid from the primary heat
exchanger. The secondary heat exchanger is able to utilize the
heated cooling fluid from the primary heat exchanger because the
heated cooling fluid remains at a sufficiently low temperature with
respect to the temperature of the at least one heat generating
component.
[0012] Through implementation of the systems and method disclosed
herein, the secondary heat exchanger is able to utilize available
cooling capacity that would otherwise have been wasted by utilizing
the heated cooling fluid from the primary heat exchanger. In
addition, because the secondarily heated cooling fluid is at a
relatively higher temperature than the heated cooling fluid, a
cooling apparatus configured to cool the cooling fluid may operate
at a relatively higher efficiency. Moreover, the overall cooling
system infrastructure cost may be substantially reduced because
various parts of the infrastructure may be re-used and the water
flow capacity may not need to be increased due to increased
demand.
[0013] With reference first to FIG. 1A, there is shown a
cross-sectional side view of a room 100 containing a cooling fluid
distribution system 120, according to an example. It should be
understood that the room 100 and the cooling fluid distribution
system 120 may include additional components and that some of the
components described herein may be removed and/or modified without
departing from a scope of the room 100 and the cooling fluid
distribution system 120.
[0014] As depicted in FIG. 1A, the room 100, for instance, a data
center, houses a rack 102, which may house a plurality of heat
generating components (not shown), for instance, processors,
micro-controllers, memories, semi-conductor devices, and the like.
The components may be elements of a plurality of subsystems (not
shown), for instance, computers, servers, etc. The subsystems and
the components may be implemented to perform various electronic,
for instance, computing, switching, routing, displaying, and the
like, functions. In the performance of these electronic functions,
the components, and therefore the subsystems, may dissipate
relatively large amounts of heat.
[0015] The rack 102 is depicted as being positioned on a raised
floor 104 that forms a space 106 above a subfloor of the room 100.
The space 106 provides an area in which wires, tubes, and the like
may be placed. The space 106 also operates as a plenum for the
delivery of cooled airflow 108 through a vent tile 110 into the
room 100 and into the rack 102 to cool the heat generating
components contained therein.
[0016] The cooling fluid distribution system 120 includes a primary
heat exchanger 130, a cooling fluid line 140, and a secondary heat
exchanger 150. The cooling fluid distribution system 120 may also
include a cooling apparatus 160. The cooling fluid line 140 is
depicted as comprising a loop that runs through each of the primary
heat exchanger 130, secondary heat exchanger 150 and the cooling
apparatus 160. Although not explicitly shown, a cooling fluid, for
instance chilled water, R134a, ethylene glycol mixture, and the
like, is contained in the cooling fluid line 140 and is configured
to be circulated through the loop. In addition, one or more pumps
142 may be provided along the cooling fluid line 140 to pressurize
the cooling fluid contained therein and cause the cooling fluid to
be circulated through the cooling fluid line 140.
[0017] The cooling apparatus 160 is configured to receive heated
cooling fluid from either or both of the primary heat exchanger 130
and the secondary heat exchanger 150 and to cool the heated cooling
fluid. The cooling apparatus 160 may comprise any reasonably
suitable type of cooling apparatus designed to adequately cool the
cooling fluid to, for instance, temperatures around 42-48.degree.
F. The cooling apparatus 160 may include a cooling apparatus that
implements an air conditioner, a heat exchanger, a heat pump, a
variable capacity chiller, an evaporative cooling system, and the
like. By way of particular example, the cooling apparatus 160 may
comprise a closed-loop refrigeration cycle apparatus having a heat
transfer section where the heat from the cooling fluid in a cooling
fluid line 140 may be transferred to a refrigerant contained in the
closed-loop refrigeration cycle apparatus.
[0018] Although the cooling apparatus 160 has been illustrated as
being located outside of the room 100, it should be understood that
the cooling apparatus 160 may be positioned within the room 100
without deviating from the scope of the room 100 and cooling fluid
distribution system 120 depicted in FIG. 1A.
[0019] The primary heat exchanger 130 includes an inlet 132 for
receiving cooled cooling fluid 170 from the cooling apparatus 160,
a heat exchange section 134 that facilitates exchange of heat
between heated airflow 112 received into the primary heat exchanger
130 and the cooled cooling fluid 170, and an outlet 136 for
exhausting heated cooling fluid 172 from the heat exchange section
134. The primary heat exchanger 130 may comprise any reasonably
suitable apparatus configured to receive heated airflow 112, to
cool the heated airflow 112, and to provide cooled airflow 108 into
the room 100. The primary heat exchanger 130 may thus comprise an
air conditioning unit, a data center air handler, etc.
[0020] The primary heat exchanger 130 of the cooling distribution
system 120 may also comprise, for instance, a ceiling mounted heat
exchanger unit. An example of this configuration is depicted in
FIG. 1B, which shows a cross-sectional side view of a room 100
containing the cooling fluid distribution system 120. As shown
therein, the primary heat exchanger 130 is a ceiling based heat
exchanger unit configured to deliver cool airflow 108 from above
the rack 102. A more detailed description of various manners in
which the primary heat exchanger 130 may be positioned and operated
as a ceiling mounted heat exchanger unit is described in U.S.
Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0020226.
[0021] The secondary heat exchanger 150 includes an inlet 152 for
receiving heated cooling fluid 172 from the outlet 136 of the
primary heat exchanger 130, a heat exchange section 154 that
facilitates exchange of heat between cooled airflow supplied into
the rack 102 and the heated cooling fluid 172 received from the
primary heat exchanger 130, and an exhaust section for exhausting
the secondarily heated cooling fluid 174 from the secondary heat
exchanger 150. Although the secondary heat exchanger 150 has been
depicted as being positioned at an inlet of the rack 102, the
secondary heat exchanger 150 may be positioned at the exhaust of
the rack 102 to thereby cool airflow heated in the rack 102. The
secondary heat exchanger 150 may comprise various other
configurations as discussed in greater detail herein below.
[0022] As such, the secondary heat exchanger 150 is configured to
utilize the heated cooling fluid 172 from the primary heat
exchanger 130 to further cool the heat generating components (not
shown) housed in the rack 102. The heated cooling fluid 172 in the
secondary heat exchanger 150 may be able to cool the airflow
supplied into the rack 102 because the airflow temperature may be
relatively higher than the temperature of the heated cooling fluid
172. The airflow temperature is often affected by recirculation of
heated airflow into the cool airflow supplied into the rack 102,
which increases the temperature of the cool airflow and which may
cause the cool airflow temperature to be substantially higher than
the heated cooling fluid 172 temperature.
[0023] In another example, and as shown in FIG. 1C, the primary
heat exchanger 130 may be positioned at the inlet of the rack 102
to cool airflow supplied directly into the rack 102. In this
example, the secondary heat exchanger 150 may be positioned within
the rack 102 to directly cool one or more heat generating
components 320 contained in the rack 102.
[0024] In a further example, and as shown in FIG. 1D, the primary
heat exchanger 130 may be positioned at the inlet of the rack 102,
similarly to FIG. 1C. However, in the room 100 depicted in FIG. 1D,
the secondary heat exchanger is positioned at the exhaust of the
rack 102 to cool airflow exhausted from the one or more heat
generating components 320 contained in the rack.
[0025] In all of the examples above, the secondarily heated cooling
fluid 174 may be returned to the cooling apparatus 160 to be cooled
again and the process discussed above may be repeated to
continuously provide cooling resources to the components contained
in the room 100, while utilizing the waste heated cooling fluid 172
from the primary heat exchanger 130.
[0026] Although the rooms 100 depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D are
illustrated as containing a single rack 102, a single primary heat
exchanger 130 and a single secondary heat exchanger 150, it should
be understood that the room 100 may contain any number of racks
102, primary heat exchangers 130, and secondary heat exchangers 150
without deviating from scope of the rooms 100 and the cooling fluid
distribution system 120 depicted therein. In addition, the cooling
fluid line 140 may be connected from the primary heat exchanger 130
to a plurality of secondary heat exchangers 150 to thereby enable
the heated cooling fluid from the primary heat exchanger 130 to be
delivered to the plurality of secondary heat exchangers 150.
[0027] Turning now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, there are shown alternative
schematic diagrams of the cooling fluid distribution system 120,
according to two examples. It should be understood that the cooling
fluid distribution systems 120 depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B may
include additional components and that some of the components
described herein may be removed and/or modified without departing
from scopes of the cooling fluid distribution systems 120.
[0028] The cooling fluid distribution system 120 depicted in FIGS.
2A and 2B include a primary heat exchanger 130, a plurality of
secondary heat exchangers 150, and a cooling fluid line 140. As
such, the cooling fluid distribution system 120 depicted in FIGS.
2A and 2B include all of the features discussed above with respect
to the cooling fluid distribution system 120 depicted in FIGS.
1A-1D. As also discussed above, one or more pumps 142 may be
positioned along either or both of the cooling fluid line 140 and
the cooling fluid sub-lines 144 to cause the cooling fluid to be
circulated through the cooling fluid line 140 and the cooling fluid
sub-lines 144.
[0029] With particular reference now to FIG. 2A, the primary heat
exchanger 130 is depicted as being connected to the plurality of
secondary heat exchangers 150 through a plurality of cooling fluid
sub-lines 144. More particularly, the plurality of secondary heat
exchangers 150 are depicted as each receiving heated cooling fluid
170 from the primary heat exchanger 130 and are thus considered as
being in a parallel relationship with respect to each other along
the cooling fluid sub-lines 144. As such, each of the secondary
heat exchangers 150 receives the heated cooling fluid 170 directly
from the primary heat exchanger 130.
[0030] Turning now to FIG. 2B, the primary heat exchanger 130 is
depicted as being connected to a first secondary heat exchanger 150
and the first secondary heat exchanger 150 is depicted as being
connected to a second secondary heat exchanger 150 along the
cooling fluid line 140. In other words, the first secondary heat
exchanger 150 is in a serial relationship with respect to the
second secondary heat exchanger 150 along the cooling fluid line
140. As such, the second secondary heat exchanger 150 is configured
to receive secondarily heated cooling fluid 174 exhausted from the
first secondary heat exchanger 150 and the first secondary heat
exchanger 150 may be capable of cooling higher heat loads as
compared with the second secondary heat exchanger 150. Thus, in one
example, the first secondary heat exchanger 150 is configured to
cool one or more components that generate greater amounts of heat,
are more critical, etc., as compared with one or more components
that the second secondary heat exchanger 150 is configured to
cool.
[0031] In both of the configurations depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B,
the secondary heat exchangers 150 may comprise any of a liquid to
air heat exchanger, a liquid to liquid heat exchanger, a cold
plate, and a liquid cooled rack heat exchanger as discussed with
respect to FIGS. 3A-3D below. In addition, although FIGS. 2A and 2B
have been depicted as having particular numbers of primary heat
exchangers 130 and secondary heat exchangers 150, it should be
understood that the cooling fluid distribution systems 120 depicted
therein may include any number of primary heat exchangers 130 and
secondary heat exchangers 150 without departing from scopes of the
cooling fluid distribution systems 120 depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B.
Moreover, various aspects of the configurations depicted in FIGS.
2A and 2B may be merged with each other. Thus, for instance, in
FIG. 2B, the secondary heat exchangers 150 may comprise a plurality
of secondary heat exchangers arranged in parallel with respect to
each other as shown in FIG. 2A.
[0032] With reference now to FIGS. 3A-3D, there are respectively
shown portions of the cooling fluid distribution system 120,
according to various examples. It should be understood that the
portions of the cooling fluid distribution systems 120 depicted in
FIGS. 3A-3D may include additional components and that some of the
components described herein may be removed and/or modified without
departing from scopes of the cooling fluid distribution systems 120
depicted in FIGS. 3A-3D.
[0033] With reference first to FIG. 3A, the secondary heat
exchanger 150 is depicted as being positioned within the path of
cool airflow 304 supplied into a rack 102. In this regard, the heat
exchange section 154 of the secondary heat exchanger 150 is
configured to further cool the cool airflow 304 prior to being
supplied into the rack 102. The heat exchange section 154 may thus
be provided with a plurality of fins or other means for
facilitating the transfer of heat from the cool airflow 304 to the
heated cooling fluid 172.
[0034] As the cool airflow 304 flows through the rack 102 and the
heat generating components 320 housed therein, the cool airflow 304
may become heated and may be exhausted as heated airflow 306 from a
rear section of the rack 102. The transfer of heat from the heat
generating components 320 to the airflow 304/306 may dissipate heat
from the heat generating components 320, thereby cooling the heat
generating components 320.
[0035] In addition, or alternatively, a secondary heat exchanger
150 may be positioned at the rear section of the rack 102 to
thereby cool the heated airflow 306 exhausted from the heat
generating components 320. In this example, the temperature of the
heated airflow 306 may be reduced, for instance, when the heated
airflow 306 is likely to be recirculated back into the rack 102 or
into an inlet of another rack.
[0036] With reference now to FIG. 3B, the secondary heat exchanger
150 is depicted as being positioned within the rack 102. In this
embodiment, the secondary heat exchanger 150 is a liquid to air
heat exchanger and comprises a plurality of heat exchange sections
154 configured to cool specific heat generating components 320
housed within the rack 102. More particularly, for instance, the
heat exchange sections 154 of the secondary heat exchanger 150 may
be in direct contact with one or more of the heat generating
components 320 to enable heat from the heat generating components
320 to be directly transferred into the heated cooling fluid 172 at
the heat exchange sections 154.
[0037] Although the secondary heat exchanger 150 has been depicted
as running through a rack 102, it should be understood that the
secondary heat exchanger 150 may also run through individual heat
generating components 320 without departing from the secondary heat
exchanger 150 depicted in FIG. 3B. In this example, the heat
exchange sections 154 may be positioned to collect heat from
particular elements, such as, processors, hard drives, power
supplies, etc., of a particular heat generating component 320.
[0038] Turning now to FIG. 3C, the heat generating component 320 is
depicted as comprising, for instance, a server, a disk drive, etc.,
or an element housed in any of these devices, such as, a processor,
a hard drive, a power supply, etc. In addition, the heat exchange
section 154 of the secondary heat exchanger 150 is depicted as
being in direct contact with the heat generating component 320. As
such, the secondary heat exchanger 150 may be considered as being a
cold plate.
[0039] Turning now to FIG. 3D, the heat exchange section 154 of the
secondary heat exchanger 150 is depicted as being in thermal
contact with a tertiary heat exchanger 330 positioned to cool a
heat generating component 320. The tertiary heat exchanger 330 may
include a loop containing a separate cooling fluid configured to be
conveyed to different locations in the heat generating component
320. The tertiary heat exchanger 330 may be configured in any of
the configurations depicted in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 3A-3C.
[0040] Generally speaking, the plurality of secondary heat
exchangers 150 may be configured for various cooling applications
according to the temperature of the heated cooling fluid 172 and/or
secondarily heated cooling fluid 174 supplied by the preceding
primary and/or secondary heat exchanger 130, 150 in series along
the cooling fluid distribution line 140. For instance, less
critical heat generating components 320 may be positioned to
receive heated cooling fluid 172, 174 having relatively higher
temperatures.
[0041] By way of particular example, cold plates that are used to
cool servers and/or components contained therein, may utilize
heated cooling fluid 172, 174 with temperatures in the range of
about 95.degree. F. to 100.degree. F. from one or more primary
and/or secondary heat exchangers 130, 150 located upstream of the
cold plates.
[0042] With reference now to FIG. 4, there is shown a flow diagram
of a method 400 of distributing cooling fluid in a room 100 having
a cooling fluid distribution system 120, according to an example.
It is to be understood that the following description of the method
400 is but one manner of a variety of different manners in which an
example of the invention may be practiced. It should also be
apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the method 400
represents a generalized illustration and that other steps may be
added or existing steps may be removed, modified or rearranged
without departing from a scope of the method 400.
[0043] At step 402, a primary heat exchanger 130 is supplied with a
cooled cooling fluid 170 from a cooling apparatus 160. At step 404,
the heat exchange section 134 facilitates exchange of heat between
heated airflow 112 in the room 100 and the cooled cooling fluid
170.
[0044] At step 406, heated cooling fluid 172 is conveyed from the
primary heat exchanger 130 to the secondary heat exchanger 150
through the cooling fluid line 140. In addition, at step 408, one
or more heat generating components 320 contained in the room 100
are cooled through exchange of heat with the heated cooling fluid
172. At step 410, the secondarily heated cooling fluid 174 is
conveyed back to the cooling apparatus 160. In addition, steps
402-410 may be repeated in a substantially continuous manner to
substantially continuously cool the heat generating components 320
housed in the room 100.
[0045] What has been described and illustrated herein is a
preferred embodiment of the invention along with some of its
variations. The terms, descriptions and figures used herein are set
forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations are
possible within the spirit and scope of the invention, which is
intended to be defined by the following claims--and their
equivalents--in which all terms are meant in their broadest
reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.
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