Heat Dissipation Apparatus for Data Center

The present invention discloses a heat dissipation apparatus that comprises at least a boiling houses, a condenser and an air channel. Each boiling house is provided to receive heat from at least a server, and is connected with a loop pipe filled with a first fluid. Each condenser is connected with the loop pipe so as to remove the heat from each boiling house. The cooling conduit is provided to receive a second fluid for conveying the second fluid to each condenser. The air channel is provided to receive a third fluid for transferring the heat from the condenser into a predetermined space.

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Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates to a heat dissipation apparatus for cooling at least a server in a data center, and more particularly to the heat dissipation apparatus for cooling servers in a data center using one of the heat pipes, heatsinks, heat pipe assisted heat sinks and vapor chambers or combination thereof to effectively remove heat source from one or more servers in the date center.

2. Description of Related Art

The conventional cooling approach to removing multiple heat sources from a plurality of servers in a data center is to apply a plurality of air conditioning devices arranged in a place adjacent to the multiple heat sources so that each air conditioning device can deal with each heat source generated by each server for heat removal in the data center. However, such conventional cooling approach may cause energy waste in power consumption and produce a large cost for managing the data center by the service providers.

Another conventional cooling approach to removing multiple heat sources from the plurality of servers in the data center is to apply one huge air conditioning device to cool the whole heat sources generated from the plurality of servers in the data center for trying to reduce the power consumption and managing cost. However, such conventional cooling approach may also cause the significantly inconsistent temperature distribution in each server in the data center. For example, the closer to the huge air conditioning device the server locates, the better heat transfer effect the server has in the data center. It is obvious that part of servers near the huge air conditioning device have an average temperature lower than that of other part of servers away from the huge air conditioning device. Moreover, the heat generated by some servers cannot be removed effectively because the servers are located further away from the huge air conditioning device, and thus the servers will be damaged from the uncontrollable heat.

Hence, it is imperative to resolve the above-mentioned problems of multiple heat sources from the plurality of servers in the data center, so as for the service providers to manage the multiple heat sources in a less power consumption and optimum cost approach.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the problems and the drawbacks encountered in the prior arts, the present invention discloses a heat dissipation apparatus that comprises at least a boiling house, a condenser and an air channel. Each boiling house is provided to receive heat from at least a server in a data center, and is connected with a loop pipe filled with a first fluid. Each condenser is connected with the loop pipe so as to remove the heat from each boiling house. The air channel is provided to receive a second fluid for transferring the heat away from the condenser into a predetermined space. Moreover, a cooling conduit is further provided to receive a third fluid for conveying the third fluid to each condenser. The first fluid flows in one direction along the loop pipe so as to transfer the heat from each boiling house into each condenser via the loop pipe. The second and third fluids are different than the first fluid. Besides, the second and third fluids can be the same liquid. Besides, a middle conduit is further provided to connect the cooling conduit so as to maintain a uniform temperature distributed at each of the middle conduits.

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the invention to propose a heat dissipation apparatus for cooling one or more servers in a data center by means of providing the air channel with the second fluid like ambient air for the purpose of cooling the heat source in the data center, and thereby greatly reducing the maintenance expenditure on the air conditioning.

It is a secondary objective of the invention to propose a heat dissipation apparatus for cooling one or more servers in a data center by means of further providing the cooling conduit with the third fluid like cool air so that a uniform temperature is distributed at each of the condensers for the purpose of greatly improving the heat transfer in the data center.

Besides, the present invention provides another heat dissipation apparatus for cooling one or more servers in a data center, and the heat dissipation apparatus comprises at least a boiling house, a cold plate, a cold box and a water pipe. Each of the boiling houses is provided to receive heat from the server, and is connected with a loop pipe filled with a first fluid. Each cold plate is filled with the first fluid, and is allocated corresponding to each server and transfers the heat away from the boiling houses via the loop pipe so as to remove the heat away from the servers. Each of the cold boxes is arranged opposite to each of the cold plates so as to transfer the heat from each cold plate to each cold box. The water pipe is provided with a second fluid and is connected with each of the cold boxes so as to remove the heat from the cold boxes.

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the invention to propose a heat dissipation apparatus for cooling one or more servers in a data center by means of providing the cold plate in contact with the corresponding cold boxes connected with the water pipe so that cold water is provided in the water pipe for cooling the heat at the cold box transferred from the cold plate, and hot water flows out of the cold box because of the cold water absorbing the heats in the cold box, and thereby allowing the hot water to be cooled into cold water again to achieve the green and recyclable solution friendly to the environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objectives can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying diagrams.

FIG. 1A is a schematic plan view that shows a heat dissipation apparatus with an air channel for cooling a plurality of servers in a data center according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a schematic plan view that shows a heat dissipation apparatus with an air channel and a cooling conduit for cooling a plurality of servers in a data center according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A a schematic view that shows a heat dissipation apparatus for cooling a plurality of servers in a data center according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a schematic 3D exploded view that shows the connection between each cold plate and each cold box according to the second preferred embodiment of the invention.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A heat dissipation apparatus for cooling a plurality of servers in a data center has been disclosed in the invention; wherein the principles of heat transfer employed in the loop pipe may be easily comprehended by those of ordinary skill in relevant technical fields, and thus will not be further described hereafter. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the drawings referred to in the following paragraphs only serve the purpose of illustrating structures related to the characteristics of the disclosure, and are not necessarily drawn according to actual scales and sizes of the disclosed objects.

Refer to FIG. 1A, which is a schematic plan view that shows a heat dissipation apparatus for cooling a plurality of servers (not shown) in a data center according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention. The heat dissipation apparatus comprises a plurality of boiling houses 11, a plurality of condensers 12, and an air channel 17. Each of the boiling houses 11 is usually located on the server's component (not shown), and receives heat from the server's component, for example, mainly from CPU, GPU, disk, or RAM in each server. Each boiling house 11 is connected to one another through a loop pipe 15 that is filled with a first fluid. The first fluid can be selected from one of water, ammonia, solvent, refrigerant and coolant, or combination thereof. Each condenser 12 is allocated corresponding to each server (or server rack) and connected with the loop pipe 15, and each condenser 12 receives the heat from the boiling houses 11 via the loop pipe 15 so as to remove the heat away from the boiling houses 11. Besides, the air channel 17 is provided with a second fluid (e.g. ambient air) for transferring the heat on the condenser 12 into a predetermined space. It is noted that the predetermined space can be located either outside the data center or inside the data center dependent on the actual case.

Refer back to FIG. 1A, a plurality of fans 16 are further provided herein for each of which is arranged opposite to each condenser 12 so that the fan 16 can blow the heat on the condenser 12 like hot air away from the air channel 17. Besides, each condenser 12 further comprises a plurality of fins (not shown) arranged in an interleaving fashion according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention so that the condenser 12 can receive the heat transferred from the boiling houses 11 via the loop pipe 15 in an effective way. It is noted that the fins (not shown) are configured in such a particular structure as described in PCT Patent Publication No. WO/2009/86825. Besides, the cooling mechanism for transferring the multiple heats from the boiling houses 11 to the condenser 12 via the loop pipe 15 is also disclosed in PCT Patent Publication No. WO/2009/86825 and US Patent Publication No. US20070273024 as well.

It is noted that the afore-mentioned embodiment is also applicable to an environment in which one boiling house is connected with one condenser via one loop pipe to cool one server (or server rack). Besides, the height of the first fluid in the loop pipe 15 is not necessarily higher than that of each boiling house such that the first fluid may flow in one direction along the loop pipe 15. Along the heat transfer path of the loop pipe 15 between the boiling houses 11 and the condenser 12, the first fluid is a vapor-type heat when it flows to the condenser 12 after passing the last boiling houses 11 along the loop pipe 15 because the first fluid absorbs the heat from the two boiling houses 11, and the first fluid is a liquid-type fluid because it releases the heat through the condenser 12 after passing the condenser 12 along the loop pipe 15. On the other hand, the vapor-type heat is formed because the first fluid absorbs the heat. Similarly, the liquid-type fluid is formed because the first fluid releases the heat via the condenser 12. Therefore, the air channel 17 uses ambient air to remove the multiple heat sources of servers from the data center so as to greatly reduce the maintenance expenditure compared with the conventional air conditioning.

Refer to FIG. 1B, which is a schematic plan view that shows another heat dissipation apparatus for cooling a plurality of servers (not shown) in a data center according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention. The heat dissipation apparatus comprises a plurality of boiling houses 11, a plurality of condensers 12, a plurality of middle conduits 13, an air channel 17 and a cooling conduit 14. Each of the boiling houses 11 is usually located on the server's component (not shown), and receives heat from the server's component, for example, mainly from CPU, GPU, disk, or RAM in each server. Each boiling house 11 is connected to one another through a loop pipe 15 that is filled with a first fluid. The first fluid can be selected from one of water, ammonia, solvent, refrigerant and coolant, or combination thereof. Each of the condensers 12 is allocated corresponding to each server (or server rack) and connected with the loop pipe 15, and each condenser 12 receives the heat from the boiling houses 11 via the loop pipe 15 so as to remove the heat away from the boiling houses 11.

Similarly, the example is also applicable to the environment including one boiling house connected with one condenser via one loop pipe to cool one server (or server rack). It is noted that the height of the first fluid in the loop pipe 15 is not necessarily higher than that of each boiling house such that the first fluid may flow in one direction along the loop pipe 15. Along the heat transfer path of the loop pipe 15 between the boiling houses 11 and the condenser 12, the first fluid is a vapor-type heat when it flows to the condenser 12 after passing the last boiling houses 11 along the loop pipe 15 because the first fluid absorbs the heat from the two boiling houses 11, and the first fluid is a liquid-type fluid because it releases the heat through the condenser 12 after passing the condenser 12 along the loop pipe 15. On the other hand, the vapor-type heat is formed because the first fluid absorbs the heat. Similarly, the liquid-type fluid is formed because the first fluid releases the heat via the condenser 12.

Refer back to FIG. 1B, the cooling conduit 14 is provided with a third fluid like cool air for conveying the third fluid to each condenser 12. Besides, each of the middle conduits 13 can be further provided to connect the cooling conduit 14 so as to guide the cool air from the cooling conduit 14 to cool down the heat on the condenser 12. Therefore, both the first temperature TH1 at one of the middle conduits 14 and the second temperature TH2 at another can reach an almost equal cool temperature. On the other hand, the two temperatures TH1′ and TH2′ respectively at an exit of each condenser can also be controlled at almost equal warm temperature after the heat absorption, so as to greatly improve the heat transfer in the data center. Besides, the air channel 17 is provided with a second fluid like ambient air for transferring the warm air (which is formed because of the cool air cooling down the heat) on the condensers 12 into a predetermined space. It is noted that the predetermined space can be located either outside the data center or inside the data center dependent on the actual case. Therefore, the air channel 17 together with the cooling conduit 14 can effectively remove the multiple heat sources of the condensers 12 in an optimum cooling efficiency because an equal temperature is uniformly distributed at each of the condensers, and thereby greatly improving the heat transfer in the data center. It is noted that the second and third fluids can be the same fluid. For example, for the sake of cost saving, both the second and third fluids can be ambient air.

Besides, a plurality of fans 16 are further provided to connect the middle conduits 14. Each fan 16 is arranged opposite to each condenser 12, and connected to each middle conduit 13 filled with cool air so that the heat of the condenser 12 can be cooled down to the warm air in an effective way. Besides, each condenser 12 has a plurality of fins (not shown) arranged in an interleaving fashion according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention so that the condenser 12 can receive the heat transferred from the boiling houses 11 via the loop pipe 15 in an effective way. It is noted that the fins (not shown) are configured in such a particular structure as described in PCT Patent Publication No. WO/2009/86825. Besides, the cooling mechanism for transferring the multiple heats from the boiling houses 11 to the condenser 12 via the loop pipe 15 is also disclosed in PCT Patent Publication No. WO/2009/86825 and US Patent Publication No. US20070273024 as well.

Refer to FIG. 2A, which is a schematic view that shows a heat dissipation apparatus for cooling a plurality of servers (not shown) in a data center according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention. The heat dissipation apparatus comprises a plurality of boiling houses 21, a plurality of cold plates 22, 23, and a plurality of cold boxes 22′, 23′. Each of the boiling houses 21 is usually located on the server's component (not shown), and receives heat from the server's component, for example, mainly from CPU, GPU, disk, or RAM in each server. Each boiling house 21 is connected to one another through a loop pipe 25 that is filled with a first fluid. The first fluid can be water, ammonia, solvent, refrigerant and coolant, or combination thereof. Each of the cold plates 22, 23 is filled with the first fluid so as to remove the heat from the boiling houses 21. Each of the cold plates 22, 23 is allocated corresponding to each server (or server rack) and connected with the loop pipe 15, and receives the heat from the boiling houses 21 via the loop pipe 25 so as to remove the heat away from the boiling houses 21 adjacent to one server (or server rack). It is noted that the height of the first fluid in the loop pipe 25 is not necessarily higher than that of each boiling house 21 such that the first fluid may flow in one direction along the loop pipe 25. Along the heat transfer path of the loop pipe 25 between the boiling houses 21 and one of the cold plates 22, 23, the first fluid is a vapor-type heat when it flows to the cold plate 22, 23 after passing the two boiling houses 21 along the loop pipe 25 because the first fluid absorbs the heat from the two boiling houses 21, and the first fluid is a liquid-type fluid because it releases the heat through the cold plate 22, 23 after passing the cold plate 22, 23 along the loop pipe 25. On the other hand, the vapor-type heat is formed because the first fluid absorbs the heat. Similarly, the liquid-type fluid is formed because the first fluid releases the heat via the cold plate 22, 23.

Refer back to FIG. 2A, each of the cold boxes 22′,23′ is arranged opposite to each of the cold plates 22, 23 so as to transfer the heat from each of the cold plates 22, 23 to each of the cold boxes 22′,23′. Besides, each of the cold plates 22, 23 has on its one side a thermal interface material 28 for use in contact with each of the corresponding cold boxes 22′, 23′, for example, the cold plate 22 in contact with the cold box 22′, and the cold plate 23 in contact with the cold box 23′ via the thermal interface material 28, respectively, so as to allow the heat to be transferred away from the cold plates. On the other hand, each cold plate and each cold box (22 vs 22′, 23 vs 23′) are spaced by the thermal interface material 28. The thermal interface material 28 has heat-transfer characteristics such that the heat can be transferred from each cold plate to each corresponding cold box in an effective way.

Refer to FIG. 2B, a water pipe is provided and filled with a second fluid (e.g. water provided in this case). A chiller 26 is further provided to connect with the water pipe so as to cool the second fluid for recycling. The water pipe has a lower pipe 24 and an upper pipe 29 to connect with one entrance and another exit of the inner conduit (not shown) in each cold box, respectively, and thus the lower pipe 24 allows cool water to flow from a chiller 26 into the cold box 22′, 23′ via its entrance, and the upper pipe 29 allows the hot water to flow out of cold box 22′, 23′ via its exit where the hot water is formed because of the cold water absorbing the heat in the cold box, so as to completely transfer the heat from the cold box in a water recycling fashion. In order to facilitate water recycling, a pump 27 can be provided for connecting the water pipe so as to facilitate the water recycling in an effective way. Besides, each cold plate can be made of aluminum or copper so that the heat transfer can be effectively implemented. Therefore, the second preferred embodiment combines the cold plates with the corresponding cold boxes and the water pipe so as to remove the multiple heat sources in a green and recyclable way, and further to meet the friendly environment. It is noted that the afore-mentioned embodiment is also applicable to an environment in which one boiling house is connected with one cold plate via one loop pipe for further connecting one cold box so as to cool one server (or server rack).

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described for purposes of illustration, it is understood that various changes and modifications to the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A heat dissipation apparatus, for cooling at least one server in a data center, comprising:

at least one boiling house, receiving heat from said at least one server and being connected with a loop pipe filled with a first fluid;
a condenser, connected with said loop pipe so as to remove the heat from said at least one boiling house; and
an air channel, receiving a second fluid for transferring the heat from said condenser into a predetermined space;
wherein said first fluid flows in one direction along said loop pipe so as to transfer the heat from said at least one boiling house into said condenser via said loop pipe, and said first fluid is different than said second fluid.

2. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cooling conduit that receives a third fluid for conveying said third fluid to said condenser.

3. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a middle conduit that connects said cooling conduit.

4. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first fluid is selected from the group consisting of water, ammonia, solvent, refrigerant and coolant, or combination thereof.

5. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second fluid is ambient air.

6. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said third fluid is cool air.

7. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said second fluid and said third fluid are the same fluid.

8. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined space is outside said data center.

9. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined space is inside said data center.

10. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a fan, said fan being arranged opposite to said condenser and being connected to said middle conduit so as to remove the heat from said condenser.

11. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said middle conduit maintains a uniform average temperature.

12. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first fluid is a vapor-type heat before it flows to said condenser from said at least one boiling house along said loop pipe, and is a liquid-type fluid when it flows after said condenser.

13. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said condenser further comprises a plurality of fins arranged in an interleaving fashion.

14. A heat dissipation apparatus, for cooling at least one server in a data center, comprising:

at least one boiling house, receiving heat from said at least one server and being connected with a loop pipe filled with a first fluid;
a cold plate, connected with said loop pipe and filled with said first fluid so as to remove the heat from said at least one boiling house;
a cold box, arranged opposite to said cold plate so as to transfer the heat from said cold plate to said cold box; and
a water pipe, filled with a second fluid to connect with said cold box so as to remove the heat from said cold box;
wherein said first fluid flows in one direction along said loop pipe.

15. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said cold plate is selected from the group consisting of aluminum and copper.

16. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said first fluid is selected from the group consisting of water, ammonia, solvent, refrigerant and coolant, or combination thereof.

17. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said cold plate has on its one side a thermal interface material for connecting said cold box.

18. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said first fluid is a vapor-type heat when it flows to said cold plate from said at least one boiling house along said loop pipe, and is a liquid-type fluid when it flows after said cold plate along said loop pipe.

19. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a chiller to connect with said water pipe so as to cool said second fluid for recycling.

20. The heat dissipation apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising a pump to connect with said water pipe so as to facilitate recycling of said second fluid.

Patent History
Publication number: 20110198060
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 12, 2010
Publication Date: Aug 18, 2011
Inventors: Torben B. Lange (Fredensborg), Chi-Liang Chen (Fengshan City), Robert Horstmeyer (Palo Alto, CA), Greer P. Person, JR. (Pleasanton, CA), Robert Senior (Morgan Hill, CA)
Application Number: 12/704,963
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: Cooling Electrical Device (165/104.33)
International Classification: F28D 15/00 (20060101);