Thermoelectric-enhanced, inlet air cooling for an electronics rack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9629286-B2
Application number	US-201514870297-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2015
Priority date	Jul 6, 2015
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

Thermoelectric-enhanced, rack-level cooling of airflow entering an electronics rack is provided by a cooling apparatus, which includes: an air-to-liquid heat exchanger; a coolant loop coupled to the heat exchanger, the coolant loop including a first loop portion and a second loop portion, where the heat exchanger exhausts heated coolant to the first loop portion and receives cooled coolant from the second loop portion. The cooling apparatus further includes a heat rejection unit and a thermoelectric heat pump(s). The heat rejection unit is coupled to the coolant loop between the first and second loop portions, and provides partially-cooled coolant to the second loop portion. The thermoelectric heat pump is disposed with the first and second loop portions coupled to opposite sides to transfer heat from the partially-cooled coolant within the second loop portion to provide the cooled coolant before entering the air-to-liquid heat exchanger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
selectively providing rack-level cooling of an airflow entering an air-inlet side of an electronics rack to facilitate cooling one or more electronic components of the electronics rack, the selectively providing comprising:
providing an air-to-liquid heat exchanger in association with the electronics rack, disposed at the air-inlet side of the electronics rack, the air-to-liquid heat exchanger extracting heat from the airflow entering the electronics rack and dissipating the heat to coolant passing through the air-to-liquid heat exchanger;
coupling a coolant loop to the air-to-liquid heat exchanger, the coolant loop comprising a first loop portion and a second loop portion, the air-to-liquid heat exchanger exhausting heated coolant to the first loop portion and receiving cooled coolant from the second loop portion;
providing a heat rejection unit coupled to the coolant loop between the first loop portion and the second loop portion, the heat rejection unit rejecting heat from the heated coolant passing through the first loop portion to provide partially-cooled coolant to the second loop portion; and
providing at least one thermoelectric heat pump disposed with the first loop portion of the coolant loop coupled to a first side of the at least one thermoelectric heat pump, and the second loop portion of the coolant loop coupled to a second side of at least one thermoelectric heat pump, wherein the at least one thermoelectric heat pump transfers heat from the partially-cooled coolant within the second loop portion to the heated coolant within the first loop portion to provide the cooled coolant for the air-to-liquid heat exchanger.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a door assembly coupled to the electronics rack at the air-inlet side of the electronics rack, the door assembly facilitating the cooling, at least in part, of the airflow into the electronics rack, and thereby, cooling of one or more electronic components within the electronics rack, the door assembly comprising:
a door frame with an airflow opening facilitating passage of the airflow through the door assembly and into the electronics rack;
wherein the air-to-liquid heat exchanger is disposed within the door assembly so that, at least in part, the airflow through the airflow opening passes across the air-to-liquid heat exchanger, the air-to-liquid heat exchanger extracting heat from the airflow passing thereacross.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one thermoelectric heat pump and the heat rejection unit are each disposed within at least one of the electronics rack or the door assembly, and the method further comprises providing a coolant pump in fluid communication with the coolant loop to circulate the coolant through the coolant loop, the air-to-liquid heat exchanger, and the heat rejection unit.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the heat rejection unit comprises a radiator heat exchanger rejecting heat from the heated coolant passing through the radiator heat exchanger to air passing across the radiator heat exchanger, the radiator heat exchanger being located within the door assembly.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising providing an air-moving device facilitating the air passing across the radiator heat exchanger, the air-moving device being disposed within the electronics rack.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the heat rejection unit comprises:
providing an air-cooled cooling station comprising:
a coolant-to-air heat exchanger; and
ducting for directing a cooling airflow across the coolant-to-air heat exchanger.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the air-cooled station comprises a separate, external structure from the electronics rack, and wherein the cooling airflow comprises outdoor air drawn into the air-cooled cooling station.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first loop portion of the coolant loop comprises a first heat exchange element and the second loop portion of the coolant loop comprises a second heat exchange element, and wherein the heated coolant in the first loop portion passes through the first heat exchange element, and the partially-cooled coolant in the second loop portion passes through the second heat exchange element, the first heat exchange element being coupled to the first side of the at least one thermoelectric heat pump, and the second heat exchange element being coupled to the second side of the at least one thermoelectric heat pump, the first heat exchange element and the second heat exchange element facilitating transfer of heat across the at least one thermoelectric heat pump from the partially-cooled coolant passing through the second heat exchange element to the heated coolant passing through the first heat exchange element.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the air-to-liquid heat exchanger is associated with only the electronics rack, and provides self-contained, rack-level cooling of the airflow entering the electronics rack.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coolant loop couples the air-to-liquid heat exchanger, the first loop portion, the heat rejection unit, and the second loop portion in series-fluid communication, the first loop portion being coupled between an outlet of the air-to-liquid heat exchanger and an inlet of the heat rejection unit, and the second loop portion being coupled between an outlet of the heat rejection unit and an inlet of the air-to-liquid heat exchanger.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Campbell Levi A
• David Milnes P
• Demetriou Dustin W
• Ellsworth Jr Michael J
• Schmidt Roger R
• Simons Robert E

Classifications

• H05K7/20836

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

• H05K7/20736

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title

• H05K7/20781 Primary

  within cabinets for removing heat from server blades · CPC title