Submerged datacenter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10285309-B2
Application number	US-201715481427-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 6, 2017
Priority date	Jun 30, 2014
Publication date	May 7, 2019
Grant date	May 7, 2019

Abstract

The subject disclosure is directed towards a submerged datacenter, which may be made up of modules, into a body of water such as the ocean. The submersion facilitates cooling of the datacenter as well as providing protection of the datacenter from environmental conditions that exist at or near the surface. Power may be generated from the datacenter heat, and power generated by or near the body of water (e.g., via waves, tides, wind, currents, temperature differences) may be used to help power the datacenter.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A datacenter module configured for submersion in water, the datacenter module comprising: a sealed double hull comprising:
a first hull portion; and a second hull portion surrounding the first hull portion with a space between the first hull portion and the second hull portion; a dielectric fluid implemented within the space between the first hull portion and the second hull portion, wherein the dielectric fluid is sealed within the space before the space is submerged;
a sensor set implemented within the space between the first hull portion and the second hull portion and detecting a change in pressure and resistance of the dielectric fluid; a plurality of electrical components implemented within the first hull portion; and
a heat transfer subsystem coupled to the sealed double hull that transfers heat away from the datacenter module submerged in the water to the water outside the second hull portion, wherein the heat transferred away from the datacenter powers at least one power generator.

2. The datacenter module of claim 1 , wherein the second hull portion includes chamfered edges.

3. The datacenter module of claim 1 , wherein the first hull portion is sealed to contain the plurality of electrical components, and wherein the second hull portion is sealed to contain the dielectric fluid.

4. The datacenter module of claim 1 , wherein at least one sensor of the sensor set detects a resistance of the dielectric fluid, and wherein a change in the detected resistance of the dielectric fluid indicates a leak.

5. The datacenter module of claim 1 , wherein the detected change in the pressure indicates a leak.

6. The datacenter module of claim 1 , wherein at least one sensor of the sensor set detects a rate of change of at least one of the detected change in pressure or the detected change of resistance of the dielectric fluid.

7. The datacenter module of claim 1 , wherein the first hull portion further includes a dielectric fluid that transfers heat away from the plurality of electrical components.

8. The datacenter module of claim 1 , wherein the first hull portion further includes a dielectric fluid that equalizes a pressure of the first hull portion.

9. The datacenter module of claim 1 , further comprising:
a heat transfer subsystem that transfers heat away from the second hull portion to the water in which the datacenter module is submerged.

10. A system comprising:
a submersible datacenter having a sealed double hull, a first portion of the sealed double hull including a sealed container comprising a plurality of electrical components, a second portion of the sealed double hull including a sealed container surrounding the first portion of the sealed double hull and comprising a set of sensors detecting a change in pressure and resistance of a dielectric fluid disposed within a space between the first portion and the second portion of the sealed double hull, wherein the dielectric fluid is sealed within the space before the space is submerged; and
a heat transfer subsystem coupled to the sealed double hull that transfers heat away from the submersible datacenter to water outside the second portion of the sealed double hull, wherein the heat transferred away from the datacenter powers at least one power generator.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the heat transfer subsystem further comprises a radiator that transfers heat from an environment within the space between the first portion and the second portion of the sealed double hull to an environment outside the submersible datacenter.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first portion of the sealed double hull including the sealed container comprising the plurality of electrical components further comprises dielectric fluid circulated to transfer heat away from the plurality of electrical components.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the second portion of the sealed double hull further includes chamfered edges.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one sensor of the set of sensors detects a resistance of the dielectric fluid disposed within the space between the first portion and the second portion of the sealed double hull, and wherein a change in the detected resistance of the dielectric fluid indicates a leak.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one sensor of the set of sensors detects a pressure within the space between the first portion and the second portion of the sealed double hull, and wherein a change in the detected pressure indicates a leak.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one sensor of the set of sensors detects a rate of change of at least one of a detected pressure or a detected resistance of the dielectric fluid disposed within the space between the first portion and the second portion of the sealed double hull.

17. A method for detecting a leak in a submerged datacenter, the method comprising:
monitoring, with one or more sensors implemented within a sealed space disposed between a first portion and a second portion of a sealed double hull, a dielectric fluid implemented within the sealed space, the first portion surrounding the second portion to form the sealed double hull of the submerged datacenter, wherein the dielectric fluid is sealed within the sealed space before the sealed space is submerged;
detecting, with the one or more sensors, a change in resistance of the dielectric fluid within the sealed space; and
determining, based on the detected change in resistance, whether a leak is present in the sealed double hull of the submerged datacenter; and
transferring heat away from the submersible datacenter, via a heat transfer subsystem, to water outside the second portion, wherein the heat transferred away from the datacenter powers at least one power generator.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
detecting, with the one or more sensors, another change in resistance of the dielectric fluid within the space; and
based on the detected change and the other detected change, determining a rate of change in resistance of the dielectric fluid to determine whether the leak is slow or significant.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the change in resistance of the dielectric fluid indicates water intrusion in the space between the first portion and the second portion of the sealed double hull.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
detecting, with the one or more sensors, a change in pressure within the space between the first portion and the second portion of the sealed double hull; and
determining, based on the detected change in pressure, whether a leak is present in the sealed double hull of the submerged datacenter.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• James Sean
• Rawlings Todd Robert

Classifications

• H05K7/1497 Primary

  Rooms for data centers; Shipping containers therefor · CPC title

• H05K7/2079

  within rooms for removing heat from cabinets · CPC title

• G01M3/40

  by using electric means, e.g. by observing electric discharges · CPC title

• F03B13/22

  using the flow of water resulting from wave movements to drive a motor or turbine {(F03B13/144 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G01M3/3263

  using a differential pressure detector (G01M3/3245, G01M3/3272 take precedence) · CPC title