Systems and methods for electronics cooling

An electronic cooling apparatus comprising:

• a chassis having:
• a plurality of sidewalls with a sidewall channel formed therein in which a coolant is configured to flow through the sidewall channel,
• an internal space being defined by the plurality of sidewalls, and
• at least one rail within the internal space that is configured to guide an insertion of at least one circuit card and structurally support the at least one circuit card,
• wherein the coolant being in thermal communication with the at least one circuit card via the at least one rail and at least one of the sidewalls when the at least one circuit card is disposed on the at least one rail of the chassis;
• a refrigerant-based cooling system disposed in the chassis and comprising an evaporator having an inlet port and an outlet port coupled to the sidewall channel of the chassis to define a first closed-loop channel for the coolant within the chassis, the evaporator being configured to:
• (i) facilitate a transfer of heat from the coolant to a refrigerant flowing through a second closed-loop channel of the chassis at least partially defined by the evaporator,
• (ii) cause a non-linear flow of the coolant from the inlet port to the outlet port, and
• (iii) allows the coolant to flow through evaporator channels between the inlet port and the outlet port;
• and
• a pump disposed in the chassis and configured to cause the coolant to flow through the first closed-loop channel;
• wherein the evaporator comprises a manifold at the inlet port and the outlet port.

A method for operating an electronic cooling apparatus, comprising:

• providing a chassis of the electronic cooling apparatus having a plurality of sidewalls with a sidewall channel formed therein in which a coolant is configured to flow through the sidewall channel, an internal space being defined by the plurality of sidewalls, and at least one rail within the internal space that is configured to guide an insertion of at least one circuit card and structurally support the at least one circuit card;
• receiving the at least one circuit card in the internal space of the chassis of the electronic cooling apparatus and disposed on the at least one rail of the chassis;
• providing a pump disposed in the chassis to circulate a coolant through a first closed-loop channel of the electronic cooling apparatus that is formed in the plurality of sidewalls of the chassis and extends through an evaporator disposed in the chassis;
• allowing heat to be transferred from the at least one circuit card to the coolant via the at least one rail and one or more of the plurality of sidewalls of the chassis;
• causing the coolant which has been heated to flow into a portion of the first closed-loop channel that extends through the evaporator disposed in the chassis;
• and
• allowing the heat to be transferred from the coolant to a refrigerant flowing through a second closed-loop channel of the electronic cooling apparatus, the second closed-loop channel being at least partially defined by the evaporator and being entirely contained in the chassis.