Method for providing cooling to electronic racks using liquid cooling and air cooling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10334763-B2
Application number	US-201715811552-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2017
Priority date	Nov 13, 2017
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

An electronic rack includes computing nodes arranged in a stack. Each computing node includes electronics which are liquid cooled using liquid cold plates and air cooled using fans. The electronic rack further includes cooling fans, each corresponding to a computing node to provide air cooling to the computing node. The electronic rack further includes a pair of rack supply manifold and rack return manifold, and an air-to-liquid (A/L) heat exchanger. The rack supply manifold receives cooling liquid from a coolant distribution unit (CDU). The rack return manifold receives and returns warmer liquid carrying the heat back to the CDU. The A/L heat exchanger is connected to the rack liquid supply. The rack supply manifold receives the cooling liquid from the A/L heat exchanger, then to distribute the cooling liquid to each computing node to provide liquid cooling to processors.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic rack used in a data center, comprising:
a housing to house a front panel, a back panel, and a plurality of computing nodes arranged in a stack, each computing node containing at least one processor attached to a liquid cold plate, wherein a front aisle is formed between the front panel and the stack of computing nodes, and a back aisle is formed between the back panel and the stack of computing nodes;
a plurality of cooling fans, each of the cooling fans corresponding to at least one of the computing nodes to provide air cooling to the corresponding computing node, wherein each cooling fan generates an airflow flowing through an airspace of the computing node;
a rack supply line to receive cooling liquid from a coolant distribution unit (CDU);
a rack return line coupled to each of the computing nodes to receive and return warmer liquid carrying at least a portion of heat from the computing node back to the CDU; and
an air-to-liquid (A/L) heat exchanger located underneath the stack of computing nodes at a bottom of the electronic rack and coupled to the rack supply line to receive the cooling liquid, to exchange heat carried by the airflows generated by the cooling fans using the cooling liquid, and then to distribute the cooling liquid to each of the computing nodes to provide liquid cooling to a corresponding processor via a corresponding liquid cold plate;
wherein the airflows are to flow from the A/L heat exchanger into the front aisle as cool airflows, to flow across the airspaces of the computing nodes to exchange at least a portion of the heat generated by the computing nodes, to enter the back aisle as warmer airflows carrying the exchanged heat, and to circulate back to the A/L heat exchanger.

2. The electronic rack of claim 1 , further comprising a bypass mechanism to receive the cooling liquid from the rack supply line and to provide the cooling liquid directly to the computing nodes without going through the A/L, heat exchanger.

3. The electronic rack of claim 2 , wherein the cooling liquid flows through the bypass mechanism when the A/L, heat exchanger is disconnected from the rack supply line.

4. The electronic rack of claim 2 , further comprising:
a rack supply manifold coupled to an output of the A/L heat exchanger to receive and to distribute the cooling liquid to cold plates of the computing nodes, wherein an input of the A/L, heat exchanger is coupled to the rack supply line; and
a rack return manifold coupled to the cold plates of the computing nodes and the rack return line, wherein the rack return manifold is to receive the warmer liquid from the cold plates and to return the warmer liquid to the rack return line.

5. The electronic rack of claim 4 , wherein the bypass mechanism comprises:
a switch configured to control the cooling liquid to flow either through the A/L, heat exchanger or directly to the rack supply manifold bypassing the A/L, heat exchanger;
wherein the bypass logic is coupled to the switch to control the switch to allow the cooling liquid to go through the A/L, heat exchanger or directly to the rack supply manifold.

6. The electronic rack of claim 5 , wherein the bypass logic is configured to detect whether a door of the housing is opened, and wherein in response to determining that the door of the housing is opened, the bypass logic causes the switch to allow the cooling liquid flowing directly to the rack supply manifold without going through the A/L heat exchanger.

7. The electronic rack of claim 1 , wherein the airflows flow upwardly within the front aisle, and wherein the airflows flow downwardly within the back aisle.

8. The electronic rack of claim 1 , wherein the CDU is located within the electronic rack.

9. The electronic rack of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the cooling fans are mounted on a backend of the housing to cause the airflows flowing from a frontend of the housing to the backend of the housing.

10. A data center, comprising:
an array of electronic racks, each of the electronic racks including
a housing to house a front panel, a back panel, and a plurality of computing nodes arranged in a stack, each computing node containing at least one processor attached to a liquid cold plate, wherein a front aisle is formed between the front panel and the stack of computing nodes, and a back aisle is formed between the back panel and the stack of computing nodes,
a plurality of cooling fans, each of the cooling fans corresponding to at least one of the computing nodes to provide air cooling to the corresponding computing node, wherein each cooling fan generates an airflow flowing through an airspace of the computing node,
a rack supply line to receive cooling liquid from a coolant distribution unit (CDU),
a rack return line coupled to each of the computing nodes to receive and return warmer liquid carrying at least a portion of heat from the computing node back to the CDU,
an air-to-liquid (A/L) heat exchanger located underneath the stack of computing nodes at a bottom of the electronic rack and coupled to the rack supply line to receive the cooling liquid, to exchange heat carried by the airflows generated by the cooling fans using the cooling liquid, and then to distribute the cooling liquid to each of the computing nodes to provide liquid cooling to a corresponding processor via a corresponding liquid cold plate, and
wherein the airflows are to flow from the A/L heat exchanger into the front aisle as cool airflows, to flow across the airspaces of the computing nodes to exchange at least a portion of the heat generated by the computing nodes, to enter the back aisle as warmer airflows carrying the exchanged heat, and to circulate back to the A/L heat exchanger.

11. The data center of claim 10 , wherein each electronic rack further comprises a bypass mechanism to receive the cooling liquid from the rack supply line and to provide the cooling liquid directly to the computing nodes without going through the A/L, heat exchanger.

12. The data center of claim 11 , wherein the cooling liquid flows through the bypass mechanism when the A/L, heat exchanger is disconnected from the rack supply line.

13. The data center of claim 11 , wherein each electronic rack further comprises:
a rack supply manifold coupled to an output of the A/L heat exchanger to receive and to distribute the cooling liquid to cold plates of the computing nodes, wherein an input of the A/L, heat exchanger is coupled to the rack supply line; and
a rack return manifold coupled to the cold plates of the computing nodes and the rack return line, wherein the rack return manifold is to receive the warmer liquid from the cold plates and to return the warmer liquid to the rack return line.

14. A method of providing cooling to an electronic rack, the method comprising: receiving, via a rack supply line disposed within an electronic rack, cooling liquid from a coolant distribution unit (CDU), wherein the electronic rack contains a front panel, a back panel, and a plurality of computing nodes arranged in a stack, each computing node containing at least one processor attached to a liquid cold plate, wherein a front aisle is formed between the front panel and the stack of computing nodes, and a back aisle is formed between the back panel and the stack of computing nodes;
providing air cooling using a plurality of cooling fans, each of the cooling fans corresponding to at least one of the computing nodes, wherein each cooling fan generates an airflow flowing through an airspace of the computing node;
performing an air-to-liquid (A/L) heat exchange using an A/L heat exchanger coupled

Assignees

• Baidu Usa Llc

Inventors

• Gao Tianyi
• Cui Yan

Classifications

• H05K7/20218

  using a liquid coolant without phase change in electronic enclosures (in cabinets of standardized dimensions H05K7/20536; in server cabinets H05K7/20709; in vehicle electronic casings H05K7/20845; in power control electronics H05K7/2089; in displays H05K7/20954) · CPC title

• H05K7/20172

  Fan mounting or fan specifications · CPC title

• H05K7/20836 Primary

  Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control · CPC title

• H05K7/20745

  within rooms for removing heat from cabinets, e.g. by air conditioning device · CPC title

• H05K7/20818

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title