Cooling technique
AssigneeAlcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
InventorsMaria Elina Simon, Paul Robert Kolodner, Todd Richard Salamon, Jen-Hau Cheng, Krishna Murty Kota Venkata
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Abstract
A method and an apparatus are provided for cooling a heat source using a refrigerant flow in a heat exchanger. According to some embodiments, a flow property of the refrigerant as it flows through a heat exchanger is measured and based on the measurement a flow distribution rate for the flow of the refrigerant in the heat exchanger is determined. A valve is operated for adjusting the flow rate of the refrigerant in the heat exchanger according to the determined flow distribution rate.
Claims20
A method of cooling a heat source using a refrigerant flow in a heat exchanger, comprising:
- measuring a value corresponding to a property of said refrigerant flow indicative of an amount of heat being removed by said heat exchanger;
- determining a flow rate of the refrigerant in the heat exchanger using said value;
- and
- operating a valve to adjust said flow rate of said refrigerant in said heat exchanger according to said determined value.
An apparatus comprising a heat exchanger configured to cool a heat source using a refrigerant, comprising:
- a flow property meter configured to measure a value corresponding to a property of a flow of said refrigerant;
- a processing unit coupled to said flow property meter and configured to determine a flow distribution rate for said flow of said refrigerant in said heat exchanger using said value;
- and
- a valve coupled to said processing unit and configured to adjust a flow rate of said refrigerant in said heat exchanger according to said determined flow distribution rate.
The apparatus as recited in claim 11, further comprising a valve configured to adjust a flow of said refrigerant in more than one individual branch in said network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.