Cylindrical convective air-cooling system

Abstract

The method and system providing counter-flowing regime of a convective air-chilling of a fluid based on usage of a hollow fan is disclosed.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the air conditioning technique. Particularly, the present invention relates to the problem of cooling of a fluid that is flowing through a round tube.

2. Description of the Related Art

The last decade of development of the integrated circuits, especially CPUs (Central Processing Unit) and GPUs (Graphic Processing Unit), evidently demonstrated that we have reached the limits of frequencies, at which the traditional air cooling of working processors can provide reliable evacuation of the generated parasitic heat in order to keep said processors within safe domain of their temperatures. It became clear that future progress in the increasing of working frequencies of processors is possible only by implementation of the convective cooling of processors by the circulating fluid coolant, particularly water. Water cooling of servers already became a routine practice in the big Data Centers.

All implemented solutions for water cooling of computers are employing well known and very traditional fans, the general front look of which is shown in FIG. 1. The usual method of the convective air cooling of a fluid that is flowing into a pipe is the following: Using conventional fan (object A in FIG. 1) and lattice of metallic fins welded to a round pipe (object B—in face look, and C—in side look in FIG. 1), fan A is placed in such way (object D—in face look, and D—in side look in FIG. 1) that chilling air is blowing in the direction, which is normal to the direction of flow of the cooled fluid into the pipe.

However, the theory of the convective cooling teaches that the most efficient method of cooling of one fluid by another fluid is that, when said fluids are propagating in opposite directions (not in normal directions).

The object of present invention is the method and system that provides a convective air chilling of a fluid, which is flowing in a pipe, in manner when air blows in opposite direction to the direction of the fluid's flow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to teach the method and system for a convective cooling of a fluid by an ambient air in the regime of counter-flow of said substances.

The invented method and system are based on the usage of a novel design of the fan that creates a flow of the ambient air—with hole over its axis, around which the fan's blade-wheel is rotating.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Advantages and features of the present invention are better understood with the reference to the following more detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings, in which like elements are identified with like symbols.

FIG. 1 shows the schematics of the traditional manner of a convective air cooling of a fluid in a pipe.

FIG. 2 shows the schematics of the invented manner of a convective air cooling of a fluid in a pipe.

FIG. 3 shows the frontal look of the invented fan.

FIG. 4 shows the cross-section AA that is designated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows the drawing of detailed setting and assembling of the invented hollow fan.

FIG. 6 shows the cross-section BB that is designated in FIG. 5 placed inside the magnet ring.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The best mode for carrying out the invention is presented in terms of its preferred embodiment, herein depicted within the Figures.

1. General Description

The manner of the convective air cooling of a fluid in the tube according to the invented method and system is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2.

The basic element of entire invention is a hollow fan (object A in FIG. 2). Further, the invention requires that the straight tube, which the cooled fluid is flowing through, should be equipped with a cassette of metallic fins—the metallic strips that are oriented along the radii of the used round tube (object B in FIG. 2—a lateral look, and object C in FIG. 2—a frontal look), which are enveloped by a metallic cylinder (object D in FIG. 2—a face look), and all said elements are forming a well heat-conducting cassette, which is in the best possible thermal contact with said round tube (welded, soldered, glued, etc.; manner of doing that is not a subject of the present invention). It is recommended to make enveloping cylinder having radii that is equal to radii of the blade wheel of the used hollow fan. Attaching the said hollow fan to the tube with said cassette on it as that is shown in FIG. 2 (object E—a frontal look, and object R—a lateral look) one gets a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

It is recommended to modify all inner surfaces of a used cassette with a lattice of some irregularities (that bare not objects of the present invention) in order to enhance the heat exchange on the air streamlined surfaces.

2. Detailed Description

The FIG. 3 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invented hollow fan, where a certain frame [001] for easy attachment to the cassette with a cooled fluid is introduced. FIG. 4 shows a complete drawing of cross-section AA that is designated in FIG. 3. For easier understanding the setting and assembling of the invented hollow fan it is useful to consider drawings in FIG. 5 together with main drawing in FIG. 4.

As FIG. 4 shows, the blades [002] of the invented fan are attached to a hollow cylindrical cup [003], and this setting provides the blade wheel (object e in FIG. 5). Said blade wheel is attached to the surface of an external ring of a bearing [004].

The ring of coils [006] (object d in FIG. 5) consist of set of coils in their individual cartridges [009] each, and with individual ferromagnetic (usually—made of iron plates) cores [005] inside each cartridge. The cross-section BB (which is designated in FIG. 5) of said ring of coils is shown in FIG. 6. (Number of coils in different embodiments can vary). The shape of coils' cartridges [009] is made such that cylinder

and the external ring of said bearing [004] do not touch said ring of coils when the ring of coils is sitting co-axially on the top of the inner ring of bearing [004]. Each cartridge [009] has two metallic pins [013] that are the electrodes to which the ends of coil are soldered.

The magnet ring [007] precisely fits the corresponding niche inside cylinder [003] and is fixed by the metal ring [008] placed on the top of said magnet ring; both just mentioned rings do not touch the ring of coils [006] (object d in FIG. 5) that is sitting co-axially on the top of the inner ring of bearing [004].

The toroidal box [011] with electronics that manages a working electric current in coils [006] (and which is not an object of the present invention), inside of it has a system of holes in its bottom that are exactly matching the set of pin-shaped electrodes [013] on the top of each coils' cartridge in the ring of coils (object in FIG. 5), so that, when said toroidal box [011] sits on the top of said ring of coils [006] all pin shaped [013] are passed through inside of the toroidal box [011] and can be soldered to mother board of an appropriate electronics that is inside said box, just as it is shown as position [010] in FIG. 4.

As soon as all objects f, e, d, c, b and a, that shown in FIG. 5, are co-axially attached on each other in designated order, the frame [001] is added on the top of such setting and the metallic cylinder [012] goes inside the formed cylindrical hole of this setting and is sealed on its top end into frame [001]. Entire construction becomes reliably sealed and blades wheel can freely rotate about the axis of symmetry of the entire construction. The same metallic cylinder [012] goes in the corner holes in the used frame and is sealed on its top end into frame [001], which forms the cylindrical walls of this corner channel that can be used for a tube (not shown in Figures) that provides a back-flow of the cooled fluid.

3. The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are made for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to precise forms disclosed and, obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in light of the aforementioned teaching. The embodiments are chosen and described in order to best explain principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and its various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that a scope of the invention be defined broadly by the Drawings and Specification appended hereto and to their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the invention is in no way to be limited only by the following exemplary claims nor by any possible, adverse inference under the rulings of Warner-Jenkins Company, v. Hilton Davis Chemical, 520 US 17 (1997) or Festo Corp. V. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., 535 U.S. 722 (2002), or other similar case law or subsequent precedent should not be made if such claims are amended subsequent to this Non-provisional (Utility) Patent Application.

Claims

1. The method and system for a convective heat exchange of between two fluids comprising:

a tube for stream of the first working fluid;

a set of well heat-conducting flat fins that are stretched along a central core and directed out of said core, while said core has a hole inside it that allows said tube for stream of the first working fluid to fit in, having a reliable heat-conductive contact with said core;

a cylindrical well heat-conducting envelope, inside which said tube with attached fins can be placed in such manner that free edge (which is opposite to the fin's edge that is contacting with said tube for stream of the first fluid) of each fin will come in a reliable (in order to provide a good thermal contact with said envelope) contact with inner surface of said envelope;

wherein said tube with said set of fins being placed inside said cylindrical envelope forms a cassette of channels: central one—inside said tube, and a multitude of sector-shaped channels for a second fluid, while each of these channels is stretched parallel to the said tube and has the surfaces of two neighbor fins as its side walls, external surface of said core as its bottom wall, and the internal surface of said envelope as its top wall.

2. The method and system of claim 1, further comprising said cassette and a fan that has a co-axial hole in its stator, around which a blade wheel can rotate, wherein the central tube of said cassette goes through fan's co-axial hole and rotating blade wheel of fan is pushing the ambient air through set of the sector-shaped channels of said cassette.

3. The hollow fan of claim 2 comprising:

a straight regular bearing;

a cylindrical cup with co-axial hole in its bottom that has a diameter matching to the external diameter of said bearing and due to which said cup can be attached to the external surface of said bearing;

set of blades that are equidistantly attached to said cylindrical cup's external side surface;

a magnet ring that can be co-axially placed in a niche inside said cylindrical cup, wherein said cylindrical cup with a magnet ring inside of it and said blades attached outside of it form a rotor of made blade wheel, which can freely rotate around said inner part of used bearing;

a ring of coils, each in a cartridge with a ferromagnetic core and pin shaped electrodes connected with ends of coil, that can be fit co-axially on the top of inner part of said bearing without touching said blade wheel anywhere;

a toroidal box with set of holes in its bottom that are exactly matching the disposition of said pin shaped electrodes and with electronics that is needed for managing the electric current in coils;

a thin metal cylinder for fixing entire setting to an appropriate frame;

wherein said ring of coils is placed co-axially on the top of said inner part of said blade wheel's bearing, said toroidal box with electronics is co-axially placed on the top of said ring of coils, so that all pin shaped electrodes are passed into said box and are soldered there with needed points servicing an electric current, and no said object of setting does not touch any component of said rotor of made blade wheel, so that it can freely conduct an axial rotation, and entire setting is attached to the external frame by said tinny metal cylinder.