COOLING SYSTEM

Abstract

A system for cooling a server includes a chassis including a first and a second chassis inlet, a first and a second chassis outlet, a cooling fluid outlet and a cooling fluid inlet, and a heat exchanger disposed in the chassis. The second chassis inlet and outlet are connected to the second loading pipe. The cooling fluid inlet is connected to a cooling fluid. The cooling fluid outlet discharges the cooling fluid. The heat exchanger includes a first and a second circulating pipe in thermal contact with each other and a cooling pipe. The first circulating pipe is connected to the first chassis outlet and the first chassis inlet respectively. The second circulating pipe is connected to the second chassis outlet and inlet. The cooling pipe is connected to the cooling fluid outlet and the cooling fluid inlet. The chassis and the heat exchanger form the modular cooling system.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 201210344031.X filed in China on Sep. 17, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a cooling system, and more particularly to a modular cooling system.

2. Related Art

With time goes by, accesses of information are increased greatly. Not only workloads of servers which access the information are increased greatly, the number of the servers, which process the information, is increased, too. In other words, under the circumstances that the workloads of the servers are increased, the computations of electronic devices in each server are increased, too. In general, an air conditioning system, including a compressor, is disposed in a data center containing the multiple servers, which makes the temperature of the data center including the servers decrease. However, when only a few servers are disposed in the one data center, the performing efficiency of the air conditioning system is wasted. Moreover, when the data center already has full of servers and another small amount of servers needs to be further disposed in the data center, another new data center and an air conditioning system thereof is further needed, thereby increasing the cost of expanding cost. Moreover, when only another few servers need to be further disposed in another new data, the performing efficiency of the air conditioning system is wasted again. That is to say, the manufacturer may not adjust the number of the servers with good flexibility, which troubles adjusting the scale of the server architecture. Therefore, how to adjust the air conditioning system and the numbers of the server is the problem manufacturers dedicated to solve.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides a cooling system for connecting to and cooling a server. The server comprises a first loading pipe for cooling a gas entering the server and a second loading pipe for being in thermal contact with an electronic device of the server. The cooling system comprises a chassis and a heat exchanger. The chassis includes a first chassis outlet, a first chassis inlet, a second chassis outlet, a second chassis inlet, a cooling fluid outlet and a cooling fluid inlet. The first chassis outlet and the first chassis inlet are both used for being connected to the first loading pipe. The second chassis outlet and the second chassis inlet both are used for being connected to the second loading pipe. The cooling fluid inlet is used for being connected to a source of a cooling fluid. The cooling fluid outlet is used for discharging the cooling fluid. The heat exchanger is disposed in the chassis. The heat exchanger includes a first circulating pipe, a second circulating pipe and a cooling pipe. The first circulating pipe and the second circulating pipe are in thermal contact with each other. Two ends of the first circulating pipe are connected to the first chassis outlet and the first chassis inlet, respectively. The two ends of the second circulating pipe are connected to the second chassis outlet and the second chassis inlet, respectively. Two ends of the cooling pipe are connected to the cooling fluid outlet and the cooling fluid inlet. A first fluid is provided to circulate in the first circulating pipe. A second fluid is provided to circulate in the second circulating pipe. The cooling fluid is provided to circulate the cooling pipe. Therefore, the chassis and the heat exchanger form the modular cooling system together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the disclosure, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a cooling system according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a cooling system according to another embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 2B is another angle of perspective view of the cooling system in FIG. 2A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.

Referring to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a cooling system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. A cooling system 10 in this disclosure may be connected to a server 20. The server 20 comprises a first loading pipe 210 and a second loading pipe 220. The first loading pipe 210 is used for cooling a gas which enters the server 20. The second loading pipe 220 is used for being in thermal contact with an electronic device 230 in the server 20 to cool the electronic device 230. The cooling system 10 comprises a chassis 110 and a heat exchanger 120. The chassis 110 includes a first chassis outlet 111, a first chassis inlet 112, a second chassis outlet 113, a second chassis inlet 114, a cooling fluid outlet 115 and a cooling fluid inlet 116. The first chassis outlet 111 and the first chassis inlet 112 are both used for being connected to the first loading pipe 210. The second chassis outlet 113 and the second chassis inlet 114 are used for being connected to the second loading pipe 220. The cooling fluid inlet 116 is used for being connecting to a source of a cooling fluid (not shown). The cooling fluid outlet 115 is used for discharging the cooling fluid. The heat exchanger 120 is disposed in the chassis 110. The heat exchanger 120 includes a first circulating pipe 121, a second circulating pipe 122 and a cooling pipe 123. The first circulating pipe 121 and the second circulating pipe 122 are in thermal contact with each other. One end of the first circulating pipe 121 is connected to the first chassis outlet 111 and other end of the first circulating pipe 121 is connected to the first chassis inlet 112. One end of the second circulating pipe 122 is connected to the second chassis outlet 113 and other end of the second circulating pipe 122 is connected to the second chassis inlet 114. One end of the cooling pipe 123 is connected to the cooling fluid outlet 115 and the other end of the cooling pipe 123 is connected to the cooling fluid inlet 116. A first fluid is provided to circulate in the first circulating pipe 121. A second fluid is provided to circulate in the second circulating pipe 122. The cooling fluid is provided to circulate in the cooling pipe 123.

In this embodiment, the cooling system 10 further comprises a first fluid tank 131, a first fluid pump 141 and a first surge tank 151. The first fluid tank 131 is disposed between the first circulating pipe 121 and the first chassis outlet 111. The first fluid pump 141 is disposed between the first fluid tank 131 and the first chassis outlet 111. The first surge tank 151 is connected to the first fluid tank 131.

The cooling system 10 further comprises a second fluid tank 132, a second fluid pump 142 and a second surge tank 152. The second fluid tank 132 is disposed between the second circulating pipe 122 and the second chassis outlet 113. The second fluid pump 142 is disposed between the second fluid tank 132 and the second chassis outlet 113. The second surge tank 152 is connected to the second fluid tank 132.

The cooling system 10 further comprises a first filter device 161, a second filter device 162 and a third filter device 163. The first filter device 161 is disposed between the first circulating pipe 121 and the first chassis inlet 112. The second filter device 162 is disposed between the second circulating pipe 122 and the second chassis inlet 114. The third filter device 163 is disposed between the cooling pipe 123 and the cooling fluid inlet 116.

By the above-mentioned arrangement, the chassis 110, the heat exchanger 120, the first fluid tank 131, the second fluid tank 132, the first fluid pump 141, the second fluid pump 142, the first surge tank 151, the second surge tank 152, the first filter device 161, the second filter device 162 and the third filter device 163 form the modular cooling system 10 together.

In this embodiment, the heat exchanger 120 may be a plate type heat exchanger, but not limited to the disclosure. In other embodiments, the heat exchanger 120 may be other types of heat exchanger. The first fluid and the second fluid are different substances from each other, and the first fluid and the cooling fluid are the same substance. The first fluid and the cooling fluid may be water in liquid phase and the second fluid may be refrigerant. In some embodiments, the temperature of the refrigerant at which the refrigerant is changed from liquid phase to vapor phase may be below the operating temperature of the electronic device 230.

When the cooling system 10 is assembled with the server 20, the cooling system 10 may cool the server 20. In this embodiment, the first fluid pump 141 may pump out the first fluid, stored in the first fluid tank 131, via the first chassis outlet 111. The first loading pipe 210 may be disposed at an inlet of the server 20. When a fan 240 impels a gas which is outside the server 20, the first fluid in the first loading pipe 210 may absorb the heat of the gas in order to cool the gas. Therefore, the cooled gas may enter the server 20, which enables the cooling system 10 to cool the server 20. When the fluid, whose temperature is risen because of absorbing the heat, leaves the first loading pipe 210 of the server 20, the fluid flows into the chassis 110 via the first chassis inlet 112. The first fluid enters the first circulating pipe 121 after being filtered by the first filter device 161 such that impurities of the first fluid may not enter the first circulating pipe 121, so as to prevent the first circulating pipe 121 from damage. The first fluid in the first circulating pipe 121 may perform heat transfer with the cooling fluid of the cooling pipe 123 such that the heat of the first fluid is transferred to the cooling fluid and the temperature of the first fluid is decreased. The cooled first fluid may flow to the first fluid tank 131 anew to be stored. In other embodiments, since the circuit which the first fluid flows through is not an open-loop circuit, there are a small amount of impurities in the first fluid such that the disposing of the first filter device 161 may be avoided. When the pressure of first fluid tank 131 is too high or the amount of the first fluid is too much, a part of the first fluid may flow into the first surge tank 151 for stabilizing. In other embodiments, the pressure of the first fluid is almost fixed, so the disposing of the first surge tank 151 is avoided.

The second fluid pump 142 may pump the second fluid stored in the second fluid tank 132 out of the chassis 110 and to the second loading pipe 220 of the server 20. The second loading pipe 220 is disposed to and in thermal contact with the electronic device 230 of the server 20. The second fluid in the second loading pipe 220 may absorb heat generated by the electronic device 230 in order to cool the electronic device 230, which enables the cooling system 10 to cool the server 20. At this moment, since the second fluid absorbs the heat to be risen its temperature. The second fluid is easy to absorb the evaporation heat to be vaporized into vapor phase partially. Moreover, when the temperature of the second fluid is risen to the liquid-vapor-phase changing temperature (the boiling point), the second fluid may absorb the steaming heat to be steamed into gas phase partially. When the heated second fluid whose temperature rises leaves the second loading pipe 220 of the server 20, the second fluid may flow into the chassis 110 via the second chassis inlet 114. The second fluid enters the second circulating pipe 122 after being filtered by the second filter device 162, impurities of the second fluid may not enter the second circulating pipe 122, thereby preventing the second circulating pipe 122 from damage. The second fluid in the second circulating pipe 122 may perform heat transfer with the cooling fluid in the cooling pipe 123, such that the heat is transferred to the cooling fluid and the temperature of the second fluid is decreased. The cooled second fluid may flow to the second fluid tank 132 to be stored anew. In other embodiments, since the second fluid is not an open-loop circuit, the impurities of the second fluid is little, such that the disposing of the second filter device 162 is avoided. When the pressure of the second fluid tank 132 is too high or the amount of the second fluid is too much, a part of the second fluid may flow into the second surge tank 152 for stabilizing.

The cooling fluid may flow from the source of the cooling fluid to the chassis 110 via the cooling fluid inlet 116. After being filtered by the third filter device 163, the cooling fluid flows into the cooling pipe 123 of the heat exchanger 120, impurities of the cooling fluid may not enter the cooling pipe 123 for preventing the cooling pipe 123 from damage. The cooling fluid of the cooling pipe 123 absorbs the heat of the first fluid in the first circulating pipe 121 and the heat of the second fluid in the second circulating pipe 122. After absorbing the heat to make its temperature rise, the cooling fluid is discharged out of the chassis 110 via the cooling fluid outlet 115.

When the cooling system 10 is operated, the cooling system 10 and the server 20 construct a servo architecture together. When the arrangement of the cooling system 10 and the server 20 is assembled, the cooling system 10 and the server 20 may be linked up by pipelines. When the arrangement of the server 20 and the cooling system 10 is adjusted or disassembled, the pipelines between the server 20 and the cooling system 10 may be disassembled. Thus, user may assemble the modular cooling system 10 and server 20 according to design or operating requirement as well as take apart the modular cooling system 10 and server 20 according to design or operating requirement.

Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a cooling system according to another embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2B is another angle of perspective view of the cooling system in FIG. 2A. In this embodiment, a cooling system 30 does not include the first filter device 161, the second filter device 163 and the first surge tank 151 in the first embodiment.

A first fluid enters a heat exchanger 320 via a first chassis inlet 312. Heat is discharged by the first fluid in the heat exchanger 320 and the first fluid enters a first fluid tank 331. Three first fluid pumps 341 pump out the first fluid to a first liquid collection tank 311a, and the first fluid is discharged from the first chassis outlet 311. A chassis 310 further comprises a first fluid injection port 371 and a first fluid discharge port 372. The first fluid tank 331 is connected to the first fluid injection port 371 and the first fluid discharge port 372 simultaneously. User may supply the first fluid of the cooling system 30 via the first fluid injection port 371. When the amount of the first fluid is too much or the first fluid needs to be discharged, the first fluid may be discharged from the cooling system 30 via the first fluid discharge port 372.

A second fluid may enter the heat exchanger 320 via a second chassis inlet 314. After heat is discharged by the second fluid in the heat exchanger 320, the second fluid further flows to a second fluid tank 332. Next, three second fluid pumps 342 pump the second fluid out to a second liquid collection tank 313a, and the second fluid is discharged from a second chassis outlet 313. When the pressure of the second fluid tank 332 is too high or the amount of the second fluid is too much, a part of the second fluid may enter a second surge tank 352 for stabilization. The chassis 310 further comprises a second fluid injection port 373 and a second fluid discharge port 374. The second fluid tank 332 is connected to the second fluid injection port 373 and the second fluid discharge port 374 at the same time. User may supply the second fluid of the cooling system 30 via the second fluid injection port 373. When the amount of the second fluid in the cooling system 30 is too much or the second fluid needs to be discharged, the second fluid may be discharged from the cooling system 30 via the second fluid discharge port 374.

A cooling fluid may enter a third filter device 363 via a cooling fluid inlet 316. The cooling fluid flows into the heat exchanger 320 after being filtered. After the cooling fluid in the heat exchanger 320 absorbs the heat from the first fluid and the second fluid to make its temperature rise, the cooling fluid is discharged from the cooling fluid outlet 315 of the chassis 310.

When the cooling system 30 is operated, similar to the embodiment in FIG. 1, the cooling system 30 may be assembled with the server 20 in FIG. 1 to construct a servo architecture. When the arrangement of the server 20 and the cooling system 30 is assembled, the cooling system 30 and the server 20 may be linked up by pipelines. Furthermore, the first fluid may flow into the first fluid tank 331 via the first fluid injection port 371, and the second fluid may flow into the second fluid tank 332 via the second fluid injection port 373. When the arrangement of the server 20 (shown in FIG. 1) and the cooling system 30 is adjusted or disassembled, the first fluid in the first fluid tank 331 may be discharged via the first fluid discharge port 373 and the second fluid in the second fluid tank 332 may be discharged via the second fluid discharge port 374 before the pipelines between the server 20 and the cooling system 30 are disassembled. Therefore, User may assemble the modular cooling system 30 and server 20 according to design or operating requirements as well as take apart the modular cooling system 30 and server 20 according to design or operating requirements.

To sum up, in the cooling system according to the disclosure, the chassis and the heat exchanger form the modular cooling system together. When the servo architecture formed by the cooling system and the server is constructed, the modular cooling system may be switched easily for adjusting the number of the cooling systems and the servers with good flexibility. During disposing the added servers, only the cooling systems are further disposed instead of manufacturing another data center, such that enough cooling ability may be achieved. Moreover, the cooling system and the server may also be transported separately for being arranged in different data center. When the servers needs to be further disposed, only the cooling system and the server is moved from a small data center to a large data center instead of manufacturing another new data center and air conditioning system. Furthermore, the cooling system according to the disclosure may be in thermal contact with the electronic device of the server via the second loading pipe. Compared to the conventional method for indirectly cooling ambient temperature by an air conditioning system, the cooling method of the cooling system according to the disclosure is to take the heat from electronic device away directly. Also, the cooling system according to the disclosure does not include and high-power-consuming compressor. Therefore, when the temperature of the electronic device is reduced to the same level, the cooling system according to the invention may save more power energy.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and their practical application so as to activate others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiments described therein.

Claims

1. A cooling system for connecting to and cooling a server, wherein the server comprises a first loading pipe for cooling a gas entering the server and a second loading pipe for being in thermal contact with an electronic device of the server, and the cooling system comprises:

a chassis including a first chassis outlet, a first chassis inlet, a second chassis outlet, a second chassis inlet, a cooling fluid outlet and a cooling fluid inlet, wherein the first chassis outlet and the first chassis inlet both are used for being connected to the first loading pipe, the second chassis outlet and the second chassis inlet both are used for being connected to the second loading pipe, the cooling fluid inlet is used for being connected to a source of a cooling fluid, and the cooling fluid outlet is used for discharging the cooling fluid; and

a heat exchanger disposed in the chassis, the heat exchanger including a first circulating pipe, a second circulating pipe and a cooling pipe, wherein the first circulating pipe and the second circulating pipe are in thermal contact with each other, two ends of the first circulating pipe are connected to the first chassis outlet and the first chassis inlet, respectively, the two ends of the second circulating pipe are connected to the second chassis outlet and the second chassis inlet, respectively, and two ends of the cooling pipe are connected to the cooling fluid outlet and the cooling fluid inlet, respectively;

wherein a first fluid is provided to circulate in the first circulating pipe, a second fluid is provided to circulate in the second circulating pipe, and the cooling fluid is provided to circulate the cooling pipe such that the chassis and the heat exchanger form the modular cooling system together.

2. The cooling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling system further comprises a first fluid tank and a first fluid pump, the first fluid tank is disposed between the first circulating pipe and the first chassis outlet, and the first fluid pump is disposed between the first fluid tank and the first chassis outlet.

3. The cooling system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cooling system further comprises a first surge tank connected to the first fluid tank.

4. The cooling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling system further comprises a second fluid tank and a second fluid pump, the second fluid tank is disposed between the second circulating pipe and the second chassis outlet, and the second fluid pump is disposed between the second fluid tank and the second chassis outlet.

5. The cooling system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the cooling system further comprises a second surge tank connected to the second fluid tank.

6. The cooling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling system further comprises a first filter device, a second filter device and a third filter device, the first filter device is disposed between the first circulating pipe and the first chassis inlet, the second filter device is disposed between the second circulating pipe and the second chassis inlet, and the third filter device is disposed between the cooling pipe and the cooling fluid inlet.

7. The cooling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger is a plate type heat exchanger.

8. The cooling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first fluid and the second fluid are different substances from each other, and the first fluid and the cooling fluid are the same substance.

9. The cooling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chassis further comprises a first fluid injection port and a first fluid discharge port which are both connected to the first fluid tank, the first fluid enters the first fluid tank via the first fluid injection port, and is discharged from the first fluid discharge port via the first fluid tank.

10. The cooling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chassis further comprises a second fluid injection port and a second fluid discharge port which are both connected the second fluid tank, the second fluid enters the second fluid tank via the second fluid injection port and is discharged from the second fluid tank via the second fluid discharge port.