Hard drive cooling for fluid submersion cooling systems
AssigneeGreen Revolution Cooling, Inc.
InventorChristiaan Scott Best
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Hard disk drives and computing systems to which they are connected are cooled by submerging the computing systems into a dielectric liquid coolant in a tank and by thermally coupling the hard disk drives to a heat conductive extension that is partly submerged into the coolant and partly out of the coolant. To keep the hard disks drives out of the coolant, they are mounted to the part of the heat conductive extension that is out of the coolant. In such a configuration, the hard disk drives are cooled through conduction of the heat from the hard disk drive to the coolant via the heat conductive extension. A pump may be used to move warmer coolant from the tank into a heat exchanger where the coolant is cooled and to move the cooled coolant back into the tank.
Claims26
A system for cooling one or more hard disk drives of one or more computing systems, the one or more hard disk drives having heat generating electronic and mechanical components, the system comprising:
- a dielectric liquid coolant;
- at least one tank defining an interior volume for holding the dielectric coolant;
- first one or more members positioned within the interior volume for mounting the one or more computing systems thereon, the first one or more mounting members being configured to allow the one or more computing systems to be at least partially submerged within the dielectric liquid coolant when the dielectric liquid coolant is in the interior volume for sufficiently cooling the one or more computing systems;
- second one or more mounting members positioned within the interior volume for mounting the one or more hard disk drives thereon, the second one or more mounting members being configured to keep the one or more hard disk drives mounted thereon above the dielectric liquid coolant when the dielectric liquid coolant is in the interior volume, the second one or more mounting members having at least one heat conductive extension thermally coupled with the one or more hard disk drives at one end and immersed into the dielectric liquid coolant at another end, the at least one heat conductive extension for transferring at least a portion of heat generated by the heat generating electronic and mechanical components of the one or more hard disk drives to the dielectric liquid coolant for absorption in order to sufficiently cool the one or more hard disk drives;
- a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the dielectric liquid coolant for cooling the dielectric liquid coolant in the tank.
An apparatus for cooling one or more hard disk drives of one or more computing systems, the one or more hard disk drives having heat generating electronic and mechanical components, the apparatus comprising:
- at least one tank defining an interior volume for holding a dielectric liquid coolant;
- first one or more members positioned within the interior volume for mounting the one or more computing systems thereon, the first one or more mounting members being configured to allow the one or more computing systems to be at least partially submerged within the dielectric liquid coolant when the dielectric liquid coolant is in the interior volume for sufficiently cooling the one or more computing systems;
- second one or more mounting members positioned within the interior volume for mounting the one or more hard disk drives thereon, the second one or more mounting members being configured to keep the one or more hard disk drives mounted thereon above the dielectric liquid coolant when the dielectric liquid coolant is in the Interior volume, the second one or more mounting members having at least one heat conductive extension thermally coupled with the one or more hard disk drives at one end and immersed into the dielectric liquid coolant at another end, the at least one heat conductive extension for transferring at least a portion of heat generated by the heat generating electronic and mechanical components of the one or more hard disk drives to the dielectric liquid coolant for absorption in order to sufficiently cool the one or more hard disk drives;
- a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the dielectric liquid cooling for cooling the dielectric liquid coolant in the tank.
A method of cooling one or more hard disk drives of one or more computing systems, the one or more hard disk drives having heat generating electronic and mechanical components, the method comprising;
- a dielectric liquid coolant;
- holding a dielectric liquid coolant in at least one tank defining an interior volume;
- mounting the one or more computing systems to a first one or more members positioned within the interior volume, the first one or more mounting members being configured to allow the one or more computing systems to be at least partially submerged within the dielectric liquid coolant when the dielectric liquid coolant is in the interior volume for sufficiently cooling the one or more computing systems;
- mounting the one or more hard disk drives to a second one or more mounting members positioned within the interior volume, the second one or more mounting members being configured to keep the one or more hard disk drives mounted thereon above the dielectric liquid coolant when the dielectric liquid coolant is in the interior volume, the second one or more mounting members having at least one heat conductive extension thermally coupled with the one or more hard disk drives at one end and immersed into the dielectric liquid coolant at another end, the at least one heat conductive extension for transferring at least a portion of heat generated by the heat generating electronic and mechanical components of the one or more hard disk drives to the dielectric liquid coolant for absorption in order to sufficiently cool the one or more hard disk drives;
- cooling the dielectric liquid coolant in the tank with a heat exchanger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.