IMMERSION COOLING CONTAINER

Abstract

An autonomous immersive cooling container configured to cool at least one electronic device is described. The autonomous immersive cooling container includes a container, having sidewalls, that contains a dielectric immersion cooling liquid, the at least one electronic device being, at least in part, immersed in the dielectric immersion cooling liquid. The autonomous immersive cooling container further includes a plurality of cooling structures disposed at non-perpendicular angles on the sidewalls, the plurality of cooling structures configured to transfer heat from an interior of the container to exterior air such that no additional cooling subsystem is used to cool the dielectric immersion cooling liquid.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE

The present patent application is a continuation of PCT Application PCT/IB2022/053071 filed on Apr. 1, 2022 claiming priority to European Patent Application Number 21305427.3 filed on Apr. 1, 2021, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present technology relates to immersion-cooled electronic equipment. In particular, the present technology relates to an immersion cooling container having external walls that facilitate thermal energy transfer.

BACKGROUND

Electronic equipment, for example servers, memory banks, computer disks, and the like, is conventionally grouped in equipment racks. Large data centers and other large computing facilities may contain thousands of racks supporting thousands or even tens of thousands of servers.

The racks, including equipment mounted in their backplanes, consume large amounts of electric power and generate significant amounts of heat. Cooling needs are important in such racks. Some electronic devices, such as processors, generate so much heat that they could fail within seconds in case of a lack of cooling.

Fans are commonly mounted within equipment racks to provide forced ventilation cooling to rack-mounted equipment. This solution merely displaces some of the heat generated within the racks to the general environment of the data center, and also takes up significant space on the racks, e.g., reducing the number of servers per square meter of data center space.

Liquid cooling, in particular water cooling, has been used as an addition or replacement to traditional forced-air cooling. Cold plates, for example water blocks having internal channels for water circulation, may be mounted on heat-generating components, such as processors, to displace heat from the processors toward heat exchangers. Air-to-liquid heat exchangers, for example finned tube heat exchangers similar to radiators, may be mounted to the racks to absorb and transport some of this displaced heat toward external cooling equipment, for example cooling towers, located outside of the data center.

Immersion cooling (sometimes called immersive cooling) was more recently introduced. Electronic components are inserted in a container that is fully or partially filled with a non-conducting cooling liquid, for example an oil-based dielectric cooling liquid. Good thermal contact is obtained between the electronic components and the dielectric cooling liquid, typically by either partially or completely immersing the electronic components in the dielectric liquid. The dielectric cooling liquid circulates within the container at a level that is sufficient to cool the electronic components. In some systems, pumps are used to circulate the liquid. Additionally, heat sinks may be mounted on some heat-generating devices. Some other heat-generating devices may have porous surfaces so that the contact between these devices and the dielectric cooling liquid is more thermally efficient. In some immersion cooling systems, the dielectric cooling liquid may be cooled through the use of cooling subsystems, such as liquid-to-liquid heat exchangers and/or dry cooler (i.e., radiator-type) heat exchangers.

Immersion cooling systems commonly take the form of large tanks or “pods” in which one or more electronic devices are submerged. In some cases, the cooling systems are “single phase” systems, in which the dielectric cooling liquid remains in a liquid state while cooling the electronic devices. In many immersion cooling systems, the tank or pod is sealed, and “two-phase” cooling, in which the immersion cooling liquid may boil within the case, is used. Such sealed systems may be expensive to manufacture, and may involve pumping systems to fill and drain the cases.

In systems using a heat exchanger to cool the dielectric cooling liquid, the cooling subsystem may be, for example, a plate heat exchanger thermally interfacing the dielectric cooling liquid with cold water provided by a water facility, or a condenser configured for receiving vaporized dielectric cooling liquid. In such cases, a supply facility is needed for providing cooling to the heated dielectric cooling liquid. Cooling subsystems of this sort usually require extensive piping, and may increase capital expenses of the data center due to implementation of such cooling sub systems.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present technology have been developed based on developers' appreciation of shortcomings associated with the prior art. In particular, such shortcomings may include the expense and complications associated with use of a cooling subsystem, such as heat exchangers, that is separate from an immersion cooling tank. Additionally, prior art cooling subsystems often have high consumption of energy and water for cooling.

The disclosed autonomous immersive cooling container of the present disclosure is intended to overcome these shortcomings of the prior art. This also make the autonomous immersive cooling container of the present disclosure well-suited for use in telecommunications and small data center applications.

In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, the technology is implemented as an autonomous immersive cooling container configured to cool at least one electronic device. The autonomous immersive cooling container includes a container, having sidewalls, that contains a dielectric immersion cooling liquid, the at least one electronic device being, at least in part, immersed in the dielectric immersion cooling liquid. The autonomous immersive cooling container further includes a plurality of cooling structures disposed at non-perpendicular angles on the sidewalls, the plurality of cooling structures configured to transfer heat from an interior of the container to exterior air such that no additional cooling subsystem is used to cool the dielectric immersion cooling liquid.

In some implementations, the autonomous immersive cooling container includes a door that may be opened and closed to facilitate insertion and removal of the at least one electronic device. In some implementations, the door is configured to seal the autonomous immersive cooling container when closed. In some implementations, the door includes one or more cooling structures configured to transfer heat from an interior of the autonomous immersive cooling container to exterior air.

In some implementations, the cooling structures include fins. In some implementations the fins are formed as a unitary part of the sidewalls and/or the door. In some implementations, the fins include a metallic material, a thermally conductive plastic material, and/or a thermally conductive ceramic material. In some implementations, the metallic material includes aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or copper.

In some implementations, the cooling structures include heat pipes. The heat pipes include: a first end disposed within the autonomous immersive cooling container, the first end configured to collect thermal energy from the dielectric immersive cooling liquid or vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid; a second end disposed external to the autonomous immersive cooling container, the second end configured to transfer thermal energy to air outside of the autonomous immersive cooling container; and a working liquid disposed in an internal sealed chamber defined by the heat pipe, the working liquid configured to vaporize at the first end due to the thermal energy from the dielectric immersive cooling liquid or vaporized dielectric cooling liquid, and to condense at the second end as thermal energy is transferred to the air outside of the autonomous immersive cooling container.

In some implementations, the heat pipes have a cylindrical form. In some implementations, the heat pipes are shaped as fins. In some implementations, the heat pipes include a plurality of fins disposed on an external surface of the heat pipes. In some implementations, the heat pipes include a metallic material, a thermally conductive plastic material, and/or a thermally conductive ceramic material. In some implementations, the metallic material includes aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or copper. In some implementations, the heat pipes are formed as integral parts of the sidewalls and/or door.

In some implementations, the cooling structures comprise vapor chambers, thermosyphons, loop heat pipes, capillary pumped loops, and/or a geothermal heat exchanger.

In some implementations, at least one cooling structure includes a fin as described above, and at least one cooling structure includes a heat pipe as described above.

In the context of the present specification, unless expressly provided otherwise, a computer system may refer, but is not limited to, an “electronic device”, an “operation system”, a “system”, a “computer-based system”, a “controller unit”, a “monitoring device”, a “control device” and/or any combination thereof appropriate to the relevant task at hand.

In the context of the present specification, unless expressly provided otherwise, the expression “computer-readable medium” and “memory” are intended to include media of any nature and kind whatsoever, non-limiting examples of which include RAM, ROM, disks (CD-ROMs, DVDs, floppy disks, hard disk drives, etc.), USB keys, flash memory cards, solid-state-drives, and tape drives. Still in the context of the present specification, “a” computer-readable medium and “the” computer-readable medium should not be construed as being the same computer-readable medium. To the contrary, and whenever appropriate, “a” computer-readable medium and “the” computer-readable medium may also be construed as a first computer-readable medium and a second computer-readable medium.

In the context of the present specification, unless expressly provided otherwise, the words “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. have been used as adjectives only for the purpose of allowing for distinction between the nouns that they modify from one another, and not for the purpose of describing any particular relationship between those nouns.

Implementations of the present technology each have at least one of the above-mentioned object and/or aspects, but do not necessarily have all of them. It should be understood that some aspects of the present technology that have resulted from attempting to attain the above-mentioned object may not satisfy this object and/or may satisfy other objects not specifically recited herein.

Additional and/or alternative features, aspects and advantages of implementations of the present technology will become apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present technology will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a server as an example of an electronic device that may be cooled in an immersive cooling container.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an electronic device attached to a chassis for insertion in an immersive cooling container.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of an immersive cooling container that uses an external heat exchanger as a cooling subsystem to cool the dielectric immersive cooling liquid of an immersive cooling container.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of an implementation of an autonomous immersive cooling container having fins disposed horizontally on some of its sidewalls to transfer heat from an interior of the autonomous immersive cooling container to exterior air.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of an implementation of an autonomous immersive cooling container having fins disposed at a non-perpendicular angle on some of its sidewalls to transfer heat from an interior of the autonomous immersive cooling container to exterior air.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of an implementation of an autonomous immersive cooling container including heat pipes that transfer thermal energy from an interior of the autonomous immersive cooling container to exterior air.

FIG. 7 shows a close-up view of a heat pipe that includes fins for transferring thermal energy.

It should also be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified herein, the drawings are not to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The examples and conditional language recited herein are principally intended to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present technology and not to limit its scope to such specifically recited examples and conditions. It will be appreciated that those skilled in the art may devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, nonetheless embody the principles of the present technology.

Furthermore, as an aid to understanding, the following description may describe relatively simplified implementations of the present technology. As persons skilled in the art would understand, various implementations of the present technology may be of a greater complexity.

In some cases, what are believed to be helpful examples of modifications to the present technology may also be set forth. This is done merely as an aid to understanding, and, again, not to define the scope or set forth the bounds of the present technology. These modifications are not an exhaustive list, and a person skilled in the art may make other modifications while nonetheless remaining within the scope of the present technology. Further, where no examples of modifications have been set forth, it should not be interpreted that no modifications are possible and/or that what is described is the sole manner of implementing that element of the present technology.

Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and implementations of the present technology, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof, whether they are currently known or developed in the future. Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present technology.

With these fundamentals in place, we will now consider some non-limiting examples to illustrate various implementations of aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic device, such as a server, which may be cooled in an immersion cooling system. As shown in FIG. 1, the server 100 includes the one or more processors 102, a memory 110, a storage interface 120, and a network interface 140. These system components are interconnected via a bus 150, which may include one or more internal and/or external buses (not shown) to which the various hardware components are electronically coupled.

The memory 110, which may be a random-access memory or any other type of memory, may contain data 112, an operating system 114, and one or more programs 116. The data 112 may be any data that serves as input to or output from any program on the server 100. The operating system 114 is an operating system such as MICROSOFT WINDOWS or LINUX. The programs 116 may be any programs or sets of programs that include programmed instructions that may be executed by the processors to control actions taken by the server 100.

The storage interface 120 is used to connect storage devices, such as the storage device 125, to the server 100. One type of storage device 125 is a solid-state drive, which may use an integrated circuit assembly to store data persistently. Such solid-state drives are commonly used in servers, such as the server 100 as “local” storage, though other types of storage may also be used. The server 100 may also access storage that is physically located on a different electronic device, e.g., over a network.

In some implementations, the server 100 may use well-known virtual memory techniques that allow the programs of the server 100 to behave as if they have access to a large, contiguous address space instead of access to multiple, smaller storage spaces, such as the memory 110 and the storage device 125. Therefore, while the data 112, the operating system 114, and the programs 116 are shown to reside in the memory 110, those skilled in the art will recognize that these items are not necessarily wholly contained in the memory 110 at the same time.

The processors 102 may include one or more microprocessors and/or other integrated circuits, such as graphics processing units (GPUs), tensor processing units (TPUs), neural processing units (NPUs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or other special-purpose processing devices. The processors 102 execute program instructions stored in the memory 110 and/or in other memory devices (not shown) connected to or integrated with particular processors 102.

The network interface 140 is used to connect the server 100 to other systems or networked devices (not shown) via a network 160. The network interface 140 may include a combination of hardware and software that allows communicating on the network 160. The software in the network interface 140 may include software that uses one or more network protocols to communicate over the network 160. For example, the network protocols may include TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).

It will be understood that the server 100 is merely a simplified example of such a server, and many other configurations of servers could be immersion-cooled. Further, it will be recognized that the server 100 is only one type of electronic device that could be immersion-cooled, and that many other types or configurations of electronic devices could also benefit from immersion cooling in a data center environment.

FIG. 2 shows an electronic device 202 (such as the server 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) mounted on or in a chassis 200. The chassis 200 may be an open chassis (such as is shown), or may partially or fully enclose the electronic device 202. The chassis 200 is mechanically configured to facilitate placement of the electronic device 202 into an immersion cooling tank or pod (not shown in FIG. 2). For example, the chassis 200 may be configured to fit into a slot or on rails in an immersion cooling tank or pod, to secure the electronic device 202 in the immersion cooling tank, and to permit the electronic device to be inserted and removed from the immersion cooling tank.

FIG. 3 shows an immersion cooling tank 300 into which several chassis-mounted electronic devices 302 have been placed. The immersion cooling tank 300 includes an immersion cooling liquid 304, in which the chassis-mounted electronic devices 302 are submerged. The immersion cooling tank 300 may include a door 310, shown here as being on a top surface of the immersion cooling tank 300. In some implementations, the door 310 may seal the immersion cooling tank 300, for use, e.g., in a two-phase immersion cooling system.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the immersion cooling tank is connected via a piping system 306 (shown here as arrows in the interest of clarity and simplicity) to a heat exchanger 308. As discussed above, the heat exchanger 308 may be a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and/or dry cooler heat exchanger. For example, the heat exchanger 308 may be a plate heat exchanger thermally interfacing the dielectric cooling liquid with cold water provided by a water facility (not shown), or a condenser configured for receiving vaporized dielectric cooling liquid. Use of a cooling subsystem including such a heat exchanger may require complex piping (particularly, e.g., in a data center containing many such immersion cooling tanks), and potentially expensive facilities for pumping and cooling the immersion cooling liquid. Additionally, use of such a cooling subsystem consumes energy and water, e.g., for adiabatic cooling on dry coolers.

To address these issues, as shown in FIG. 4, an autonomous immersive cooling container 400 may be used, in accordance with the disclosed technology. The features of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400, and in particular its ability to cool electronic devices without an external cooling subsystem, may render it particularly useful in telecommunications (e.g., in telecommunications cabinets located away from cooling infrastructure) and small data center applications.

As depicted in FIG. 4, the autonomous immersive cooling container 400 is filled with a dielectric immersion cooling liquid 402, in which numerous chassis-mounted electronic devices 404 are submerged. In this implementation, the autonomous immersive cooling container 400 includes a door 406 on its top surface, and defines lateral walls 408. The door 406 may be opened and closed to insert and/or remove chassis-mounted electronic devices 404. In some implementations, the door 406 may seal the autonomous immersive cooling container 400, facilitating the use of two-phase immersive cooling. In some implementations, the door 406 may be a lid that is opened by removing the lid, and closed by replacing the lid on the autonomous immersive cooling container 400.

In the implementation shown in FIG. 4, external surfaces of the lateral walls 408 define a plurality of fins 420, which extend outwardly from the lateral walls 408. In the illustrative implementation of FIG. 4, a “height” of the fins 420 is defined along a horizontal plane, and a “length” of the fins 420 extends along at least a majority of a depth of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400. The fins 420 effectively increase a surface area of the lateral walls 408. The fins 420 may include the same material as the autonomous immersive cooling container, or another material selected for its thermal conductivity. For example, materials such as aluminum, copper, thermally conductive plastics, or thermally conductive ceramics may be used.

The fins 420 may be formed as a unitary part of the lateral walls 408, or may be attached to the lateral walls 408 such that heat is efficiently transferred from the lateral walls 408 to the fins 420. Additionally, in some implementations, the fins 420 may extend from any of the sidewalls of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400, or from the door 406 of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400.

In use, the electronic devices 404 generate heat, which is transferred to the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402 in which they are submerged. As the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402 that is in contact with heat-generating components of the electronic devices 404 increases in temperature, it rises in the autonomous immersive cooling container 400, causing circulation of the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402 in the autonomous immersive cooling container 400 due to convection. Via the convection current, the heated dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402 comes into contact with the lateral walls 408 of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400, and thermal energy from the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402 is transferred to the fins 420. The fins 420 then dissipate the thermal energy to the surrounding air. Thus, in some implementations, the autonomous immersive cooling container needs no additional components or external heat exchangers to dissipate the heat generated by the submerged electronic devices 404.

In use, a two-phase system operates in a similar manner, but the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402 boils, and the vaporized liquid rises to the top of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400. In such systems, fins (not shown) disposed on upper portions of the walls of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400 and/or on the door 406 may be used to disperse thermal energy. The vaporized liquid will come into contact with upper portions of the walls of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400 and/or on the door 406, and transfer thermal energy through the walls of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400 and/or the door 406, to the fins. This will cool the vaporized liquid, causing condensation of the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402, which will then flow back into lower portions of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400. It will be understood that in a two-phase system, the fins should generally be concentrated on upper portions of the container, that receive vaporized liquid, such as upper portions of the walls and/or on the door/lid of the container, to prevent the precooling of the liquid.

In some implementations, where the convection current described above does not adequately circulate the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402, an internal pump (not shown) may be used to increase circulation of the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 402 within the autonomous immersive cooling container 400. In some implementations, a fan may be used to blow air across the fins 420, to increase the dissipation of thermal energy by the fins 420.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an additional implementation of an autonomous immersive cooling container 500 in accordance with the disclosed technology is described. The autonomous immersive cooling container 500 is filled with a dielectric immersion cooling liquid 502, in which numerous chassis-mounted electronic devices 504 are submerged. The autonomous immersive cooling container 500 includes a door 506 on its top surface, and defines lateral walls 508. As in other implementations, the door 506 may be opened and closed to insert and/or remove chassis-mounted electronic devices 504. In some implementations, the door 506 may seal the autonomous immersive cooling container 500, facilitating the use of two-phase immersive cooling. In some implementations, the door 506 may be a lid that is opened by removing the lid, and closed by replacing the lid on the autonomous immersive cooling container 500.

As shown in FIG. 5, the external surfaces of the lateral walls 508 define a plurality of fins 520, which extend outwardly from the lateral walls 508 at a non-perpendicular angle. In such implementations, the “height” of the fins 520 is defined along a plane at the angle of the fins 520, and a “length” of the fins 520 extends along at least a majority of a depth of the autonomous immersive cooling container 500. In this way, the fins 520 may have the same surface area as the horizontal fins 420 described with reference to FIG. 4, while taking less space in a width direction of the autonomous immersive cooling container 500. Alternatively, the fins 520 may be configured to have greater surface area than the horizontal fins 420 described with reference to FIG. 4, while taking the same amount of space in a width direction of the autonomous immersive cooling container 500.

As before, the fins 520 may include the same material as the autonomous immersive cooling container, or another material selected for its thermal conductivity. For example, a metallic material such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy may be used. Thermally conductive plastics or ceramics could also be used. The fins 520 effectively increase a surface area of the lateral walls 408. Also as in other implementations, the fins 520 may be formed as a unitary part of the lateral walls 508, or may be attached to the lateral walls 508 such that heat is efficiently transferred from the lateral walls 508 to the fins 520. Additionally, in some implementations, the fins 520 may extend at one or more angles from any sidewalls of the autonomous immersive cooling container 500, or from the door 506 of the autonomous immersive cooling container 500. In use, the autonomous immersive cooling container 500 operates in a manner similar to the operation of the autonomous immersive cooling container 400, described above with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows an implementation of an autonomous immersive cooling container 600 that is suitable for use with two-phase immersive cooling. As discussed above, in a conventional two-phase immersive cooling containers, the dielectric cooling fluid is configured to boil such that vaporized dielectric cooling fluid may be collected (e.g. by a condenser) and carried away. It should also be understood that heat pipes such as are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 could be used in some single-phase dielectric immersion cooling applications, including both natural and forced convection applications.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the autonomous immersive cooling container 500 is at least partially filled with a dielectric immersion cooling liquid 602, in which numerous chassis-mounted electronic devices 604 are submerged. In some implementations, the autonomous immersive cooling container 600 includes a door 606 on its top surface, and defines walls 608. The door 606 may be opened and closed to insert and/or remove chassis-mounted electronic devices 604, and when closed, the door 606 seals the autonomous immersive cooling container 600, to prevent the escape of vaporized dielectric cooling liquid. In some implementations, the door 606 may be a lid that is opened by removing the lid, and closed by replacing the lid on the autonomous immersive cooling container 600.

The dielectric immersive cooling liquid 602 is configured to, in use, boil upon collecting thermal energy from the chassis-mounted electronic devices 604, thereby defining an area 610 of vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid. Walls 608 of the autonomous immersive cooling container 600 and, optionally, the door 606 define integrated heat pipes 620. Each of the heat pipes 620 extends from a respective first end 622 to a respective second end 624. The first ends 622 are disposed in a vicinity of a surface of the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 602, and/or within the area 610 of vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid, for collecting thermal energy from the vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid. The second ends 624 are located externally with respect to the autonomous immersive cooling container 600.

Each heat pipe 620 defines a sealed chamber and contains a working fluid (not shown) that, in use, is vaporized at the first end 622 due to the thermal energy of the vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid. The vaporized working fluid then flows through the heat pipe 620, spreading thermal energy within the heat pipe 620. The vaporized working fluid then condenses on an internal surface of the heat pipe 620 at the second end 624 where the thermal energy is transferred to ambient air. The condensed working fluid then flows back to an internal surface at the first end 622 of the heat pipe 620 where the process begins again.

The heat pipes 620 may have a variety of shapes. In some implementations, the heat pipes 620 may have a generally cylindrical form, and many such heat pipes 620 may protrude from the autonomous immersive cooling container 600 at a variety of angles. In some implementations, the heat pipes 620 may be shaped as fins, and may extend along, e.g., a depth direction of the autonomous immersive cooling container 600 at a variety of angles. It will be understood that other forms may also be used for the heat pipes 620.

The heat pipes 620 may include a variety of materials, selected for their thermal conductivity. For example, a metallic material such as aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or copper may be used. In some implementations, the heat pipes may include materials such as thermally conductive plastics or ceramics. The heat pipes 620 may be formed as integral parts of the walls 608 and/or door 606, or may be connected through the walls 608 and/or door 606.

In use, the electronic devices 604 generate heat, which is transferred to the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 602 in which they are submerged, causing the dielectric cooling liquid with which they are in contact to boil. The vaporized liquid rises to the top of the autonomous immersive cooling container 600, to the area 610 of vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid, where it comes into contact with the first ends 622 of the heat pipes 620. As heat is transferred into the heat pipes 620 (as described above), the vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid condenses, and flows back to a lower portion of the autonomous immersive cooling container 600. The boiling and condensation of the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 602 causes circulation of the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 602 in the autonomous immersive cooling container 600. Thus, in some implementations, the autonomous immersive cooling container needs no additional components or external heat exchangers to dissipate the heat generated by the submerged electronic devices 604.

In some implementations, where the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 602 is not adequately circulated by the boiling and condensation described above, an internal pump (not shown) may be used to increase circulation of the dielectric immersive cooling liquid 602 within the autonomous immersive cooling container 600. In some implementations, a fan may be used to blow air across external portions (including the second ends 624) of the heat pipes 620, to increase the dissipation of thermal energy by the heat pipes 620.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the heat pipes 620 could be replaced by other cooling structures. For example, vapor chambers, thermosyphons, loop heat pipes, capillary pumped loops, and/or a geothermal heat exchanger could also be used. Depending on the nature of the cooling structures used, the cooling structures may be disposed on different portions of the autonomous immersive cooling container. For example, a geothermal heat exchanger could extend into the ground from a bottom portion of the autonomous immersive cooling container, and/or a condenser for geothermal heat exchange may be positioned beneath the autonomous immersive cooling container.

FIG. 7 shows a scaled-up view of a heat pipe 702 that is similar to the heat pipes 620 that are discussed above with reference to FIG. 6. The heat pipe 702 illustratively extends through a wall 704 of an autonomous immersive cooling container. The heat pipe 702 contains a working fluid 706. Numerous fins 708 extend from the heat pipe 702 on a portion of the heat pipe 702 that is outside of the autonomous immersive cooling container. The fins 702 effectively provide a greater area in contact with the air for transfer of thermal energy from vaporized working fluid 702 to the air surrounding the autonomous immersive cooling container.

It will be understood that, although the embodiments presented herein have been described with reference to specific features and structures, various modifications and combinations may be made without departing from the disclosure. For example, it is contemplated that in some implementations, the features described above may be used in different arrangements, or in other combinations. For example, it is contemplated that some implementations may combine the fins described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 with the heat pipes described with reference to FIG. 6. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded simply as an illustration of the discussed implementations or embodiments and their principles as defined by the appended claims, and are contemplated to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents that fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An autonomous immersive cooling container configured to cool at least one electronic device, the autonomous immersive cooling container comprising:

a container, having sidewalls, that contains a dielectric immersion cooling liquid, the at least one electronic device being, at least in part, immersed in the dielectric immersion cooling liquid; and

a plurality of cooling structures disposed at non-perpendicular angles on the sidewalls, the plurality of cooling structures configured to transfer heat from an interior of the container to exterior air such that no additional cooling subsystem is used to cool the dielectric immersion cooling liquid.

2. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 1, further comprising a door that may be opened and closed to facilitate insertion and removal of the at least one electronic device.

3. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 2, wherein the door is configured to seal the autonomous immersive cooling container when closed.

4. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 2, wherein the door comprises one or more cooling structures configured to transfer heat from an interior of the autonomous immersive cooling container to exterior air.

5. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 1, wherein the cooling structures comprise fins.

6. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 5, wherein the fins are formed as a unitary part of the sidewalls and/or the door.

7. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 5, wherein the fins comprise a metallic material, a thermally conductive plastic material, and/or a thermally conductive ceramic material.

8. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 7, wherein the metallic material comprises aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or copper.

9. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 1, wherein the cooling structures comprise heat pipes, the heat pipes comprising:

a first end disposed within the autonomous immersive cooling container, the first end configured to collect thermal energy from the dielectric immersive cooling liquid or vaporized dielectric immersive cooling liquid;

a second end disposed external to the autonomous immersive cooling container, the second end configured to transfer thermal energy to air outside of the autonomous immersive cooling container; and

a working liquid disposed in an internal sealed chamber defined by the heat pipe, the working liquid configured to vaporize at the first end due to the thermal energy from the dielectric immersive cooling liquid or vaporized dielectric cooling liquid, and to condense at the second end as thermal energy is transferred to the air outside of the autonomous immersive cooling container.

10. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 9, wherein the heat pipes have a cylindrical form.

11. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 9, wherein the heat pipes are shaped as fins.

12. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 9, wherein the heat pipes include a plurality of fins disposed on an external surface of the heat pipes.

13. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 9, wherein the heat pipes comprise a metallic material, a thermally conductive plastic material, and/or a thermally conductive ceramic material.

14. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 13, wherein the metallic material comprises aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or copper.

15. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 9, wherein the heat pipes are formed as integral parts of the sidewalls and/or door.

16. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 1, wherein the cooling structures comprise vapor chambers, thermosyphons, loop heat pipes, capillary pumped loops, and/or a geothermal heat exchanger.

17. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one cooling structure comprises a fin and the at least one cooling structure comprises a heat pipe.

18. The autonomous immersive cooling container according to claim 1, wherein the autonomous immersive cooling container is adapted for use in a telecommunications cabinet or in a small data center.