Electronics cabinet and rack cooling system and method
AssigneeThermal Corp.
InventorW. John Bilski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A thermal management system for a electronics cabinets having an electronics heat source therein. The thermal management system includes a first passive thermal device having an evaporator portion and a condenser portion. The thermal management system can also include a heat sink in contact with air inside the cabinet and in thermal contact with the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device, wherein the heat sink is contained within the sealed cabinet. The condenser portion of the first passive thermal device can be in contact with a liquid to liquid heat exchanger.
Claims22
A thermal management system for an electronics cabinet having an electronics heat source within the cabinet, the thermal management system comprising:
- a first passive thermal device within the electronics cabinet having an evaporator portion, a condenser portion, and a working fluid contained within the first passive thermal device, wherein the evaporator portion is not in direct contact with any electronics heat source and the cabinet is sealed to prevent ingress of air into the cabinet from an outside environment and discharge of air from within the cabinet to the outside environment;
- and
- a heat sink in contact with air inside the cabinet and in thermal contact with the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device, the heat sink being contained within the sealed cabinet and positioned to passively capture heat generated by the electronics heat source from the air inside the sealed cabinet, where the heat sink is directly thermally coupled to the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device to transfer the captured heat generated by the electronics heat source to the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device, and the evaporator portion of the first thermal device is thermally coupled to the condenser portion of the first passive thermal device to transfer the captured heat generated by the electronics heat source to the condenser portion of the first passive thermal device,
- wherein the condenser portion of the first passive thermal device is in thermal contact with a liquid to liquid heat exchanger to transfer the captured heat generated by the electronics heat source to the liquid to liquid heat exchanger.
A thermal management system for an electronics cabinet having an electronics heat source within the cabinet, the thermal management system comprising:
- a thermal bus at least partially contained within a cabinet;
- and
- a heat sink disposed within the cabinet and in contact with air inside the cabinet, wherein the heat sink is positioned to passively capture heat generated by the electronics heat source from the air inside the cabinet, a first passive thermal device within the electronics cabinet and that is thermally coupled to the heat sink, the first passive thermal device having an evaporator portion that is not in direct contact with any electronics heat source, a condenser portion, and a working fluid contained within the first passive thermal device, wherein the evaporator portion is directly thermally coupled to the heat sink for transfer of the captured heat generated by the electronics heat source from the heat sink to the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device and the condenser portion is configured and thermally coupled to the thermal bus to transfer heat received from the evaporator portion out of the cabinet through the transfer of heat to the thermal bus,
- wherein the heat sink is not in direct contact with the electronics heat source.
A thermal management system for an electronics cabinet sealed to prevent ingress of air into the cabinet from an outside environment and discharge of air from within the cabinet to the outside environment, an electronics heat source disposed within the cabinet, the thermal management system comprising:
- a first passive thermal device having an evaporator portion, a condenser portion, and a working fluid contained within the first passive thermal device;
- and
- a heat sink in contact with air inside the cabinet and in thermal contact with the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device, the heat sink being contained within the sealed cabinet and positioned to passively capture heat generated by the electronics heat source from the air inside the cabinet, wherein the heat sink is directly thermally coupled to the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device to transfer the heat generated by the electronics heat source to the working fluid in the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device,
- wherein the condenser portion of the first passive thermal device is contained entirely within the sealed cabinet and in thermal contact with a liquid to liquid heat exchanger.
A thermal management system for an electronics cabinet sealed to prevent ingress of air into the cabinet from an outside environment and discharge of air from within the cabinet to the outside environment and having an electronics heat source within the cabinet, the thermal management system comprising:
- a thermal bus at least partially contained within the sealed cabinet;
- and
- a heat sink disposed within the sealed cabinet and configured to interact with and contact air inside the cabinet heated by the electronics heat source, the heat sink having a first passive thermal device thermally coupled thereto, the first passive thermal device having an evaporator portion, a condenser portion contained within the sealed cabinet, and a working fluid contained within the first passive thermal device, wherein the heat sink is positioned within the electronics cabinet to passively capture heat generated by the electronics heat source from the air inside the cabinet, the evaporator portion is directly thermally coupled to the heat sink for the transfer of heat from the heat sink to the evaporator portion of the first passive thermal device, and the condenser portion is thermally coupled to the evaporator portion and the thermal bus, wherein the thermal bus is configured to transfer heat out of the cabinet,
- wherein the heat sink is not in direct contact with any electronics heat source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.