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US 11,116,114 B2Granted
Cooling system design for data centers
AssigneeBaidu USA LLC
InventorTianyi Gao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, a data center cooling system includes one or more information technology (IT) rooms having multiple electronic racks that generate heat. An external cooling unit is positioned above the IT rooms and is configured to provide cooling fluid and to exchange heat carried by the cooling fluid. The external cooling unit has a supply line to distribute cooling fluid downwardly to the IT rooms. As the cooling fluid cools the electronic racks, the cooling fluid heats up and at least partially turns to vapor which rises due to convection. The external cooling unit also has a return line to return the rising vapor to the external cooling unit, which cools the vapor. The vapor changes phase to liquid and is recirculated to the IT rooms.
Claims18
A data center cooling system, comprising:
- a first information technology (IT) room having a first set of a plurality of electronic racks, each of the electronic racks in the first set containing a plurality of IT components therein, wherein at least a portion of the IT components are attached to cold plates;
- an external cooling unit positioned above the first IT room, the external cooling unit including a heat exchanger, configured to provide cooling fluid and to exchange heat carried by the cooling fluid;
- a supply line to receive the cooling fluid from the external cooling unit and to distribute the cooling fluid downwardly to each of the cold plates in the first IT room to exchange heat generated by associated IT components attached thereon, wherein the cooling fluid evaporates into a vapor state from a liquid state during the heat exchange;
- and
- a return line to return the cooling fluid in the vapor state upwardly back to the external cooling unit, which transforms back to the liquid state due to heat exchange within the external cooling unit;
- wherein the external cooling unit includes a first fluid tank external to the heat exchanger and fluidly coupled to the heat exchanger to receive cooling fluid and to store sufficient cooling fluid to provide sufficient liquid pressure to distribute the cooling fluid downwardly through the supply line.
3 more elements
A data center cooling system, comprising:
- a first information technology (IT) room having a first set of a plurality of electronic racks, each of the electronic racks in the first set containing a plurality of IT components therein, wherein at least a portion of the IT components are attached to cold plates;
- a second IT room positioned underneath the first IT room, the second IT room having a second set of a plurality of electronic racks, each of the electronic racks in the second set containing a plurality of IT components therein, wherein at least a portion of the IT components in the second set are attached to cold plates;
- an external cooling unit positioned above the first IT room, the external cooling unit including a heat exchanger, configured to provide cooling fluid and to exchange heat carried by the cooling fluid;
- a first supply line to receive at least a portion of the cooling fluid from the external cooling unit and to distribute the cooling fluid downwardly to each of the cold plates in the first IT room to exchange heat generated by associated IT components attached thereon, wherein the cooling fluid evaporates into a vapor state from a liquid state during the heat exchange;
- a first return line to return the cooling fluid of the first IT room in the vapor state upwardly back to the external cooling unit, which transforms back to the liquid state due to heat exchange within the external cooling unit;
- a second supply line to receive at least a portion of the cooling fluid from the external cooling unit and to distribute the cooling fluid downwardly to each of the cold plates in the second IT room to exchange heat generated by associated IT components attached thereon, wherein the cooling fluid evaporates into a vapor state from a liquid state during the heat exchange;
- and
- a second return line to return the cooling fluid of the second IT room in the vapor state upwardly back to the external cooling unit, which transforms back to the liquid state due to heat exchange within the external cooling unit;
- wherein the external cooling unit includes a first fluid tank external to the heat exchanger and fluidly coupled to the heat exchanger to receive cooling fluid and to store sufficient cooling fluid to provide sufficient liquid pressure to distribute the cooling fluid downwardly through the first and second supply lines.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.