OPENABLE AND CLOSEABLE CONDENSING APPARATUS
20220003433 · 2022-01-06
Inventors
Cpc classification
F28F9/0246
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F2009/0297
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28D1/03
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F9/264
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F24F1/0063
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F2009/0285
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F9/0219
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F2280/105
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28D2021/0028
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28D2021/007
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F1/422
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F1/16
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F2275/20
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F9/0278
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28D1/0426
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
H05K7/20818
ELECTRICITY
F28D1/05366
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28F1/022
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F28D2021/0063
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
International classification
Abstract
The present invention discloses an openable and closeable condensing apparatus, which is particularly applied in a two-phase liquid immersion cooling system. When servers start to operate, a large amount of heat will be dissipated from servers. The coolant is vaporized into a rising coolant vapor by absorbing heat dissipated from servers. Upon contact with a condenser, the coolant vapor is condensed back into a cooling liquid that is returned to the coolant-containing tank. By the heat exchange cycle in which heat dissipated from serves is absorbed by the coolant, servers can be maintained at a normal working temperature. However, in the process of condensation, the rising coolant vapor tends to scatter in all directions resulting in a failure to condense all of the coolant vapor. Therefore, the uncondensed coolant vapor will cause the pressure in the system to gradually rise, which eventually leads to an ineffective cooling of servers. In view of this problem, the disclosed invention provides an enclosed-type condensing apparatus for completely condensing all of the coolant vapor.
Claims
1. An openable and closeable condensing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of condensing assemblies arranged adjacent to one another, each of the plurality of condensing assemblies including two condensing plates that are symmetrical and inclined against each other for condensing a high temperature vapor, each of the condensing plates including: a rectangular body within which a plurality of fluid passages is provided; a fluid inlet distribution plate provided with a plurality of inlet distribution holes, the fluid inlet distribution plate which is connected with one short-side portion of the rectangular body; a fluid inlet drainage module provided with an inlet drainage pipe at a lower end thereof, the fluid inlet drainage module which is in connection with the fluid inlet distribution plate to form a first accommodation space; a fluid outlet distribution plate provided with a plurality of outlet distribution holes, the fluid outlet distribution plate which is connected with the other short-side portion of the rectangular body; and a fluid outlet drainage module provided with an outlet drainage pipe at a lower end thereof, the fluid outlet drainage module which is in connection with the fluid outlet distribution plate to form a second accommodation space; a fluid inlet manifold configured for allowing a condensation fluid to flow into the condensing assemblies, the fluid inlet manifold including a fluid inlet tube provided with a plurality of inlet holes that are disposed at a fixed distance apart from one another on an upper wall thereof, and a plurality of fluid inlet chambers disposed on the upper wall of the fluid inlet tube, each of the fluid inlet chambers communicating with the fluid inlet tube through each of the inlet holes, wherein each of the fluid inlet chambers is provided with an inlet pipe at each of the two ends of a long sidewall thereof facing towards the condensing assemblies, and the inlet pipe is rotatably sleeved in the inlet drainage pipe; and a fluid outlet manifold configured for allowing the condensation fluid to flow out from the condensing assemblies, the fluid outlet manifold including a fluid outlet tube provided with a plurality of outlet holes that are disposed at a fixed distance apart from one another on an upper wall thereof, and a plurality of fluid outlet chambers disposed on the upper wall of the fluid outlet tube, each of the fluid outlet chambers communicating with the fluid outlet tube through each of the outlet holes, wherein each of the fluid outlet chambers is provided with an outlet pipe at each of the two ends of a long sidewall thereof facing towards the condensing assemblies, and the outlet pipe is rotatably sleeved in the outlet drainage pipe.
2. The openable and closeable condensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inlet distribution holes have different diameters.
3. The openable and closeable condensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outlet distribution holes have the same diameter.
4. The openable and closeable condensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein a plurality of O-rings and a dowel pin are disposed between the inlet drainage pipe and the inlet pipe.
5. The openable and closeable condensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rectangular body is provided with a plurality of protruding blocks that are disposed on a sidewall thereof, and the sidewall is adapted to be in exposure to or contact with the high temperature vapor.
6. The openable and closeable condensing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the fluid passages are provided with a plurality of protruding blocks that are disposed on an inner wall thereof.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The description of the illustrative embodiments can be read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements. Embodiments incorporating teachings of the present disclosure are shown and described with respect to the figures presented herein, in which:
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[0020]
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[0022]
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, specific exemplary embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosed embodiments. For example, specific details such as specific method orders, structures, elements, and connections have been presented herein. However, it is to be understood that the specific details presented need not be utilized to practice embodiments of the present disclosure. It is also to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, architectural, programmatic, mechanical, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from general scope of the disclosure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
[0027] References within the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “embodiments”, or “one or more embodiments” are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. The appearance of such phrases in various places within the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments.
[0028] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another.
[0029] It is understood that the use of specific component, device and/or parameter names and/or corresponding acronyms thereof, such as those of the executing utility, logic, and/or firmware described herein, are for example only and not meant to imply any limitations on the described embodiments. The embodiments may thus be described with different nomenclature and/or terminology utilized to describe the components, devices, parameters, methods and/or functions herein, without limitation. References to any specific protocol or proprietary name in describing one or more elements, features or concepts of the embodiments are provided solely as examples of one implementation, and such references do not limit the extension of the claimed embodiments to embodiments in which different element, feature, protocol, or concept names are utilized. Thus, each term utilized herein is to be given its broadest interpretation given the context in which that term is utilized.
[0030] Within the descriptions of the different views of the figures, the use of the same reference numerals and/or symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items, and similar elements can be provided similar names and reference numerals throughout the figure(s). The specific identifiers/names and reference numerals assigned to the elements are provided solely to aid in the description and are not meant to imply any limitations (structural or functional or otherwise) on the described embodiments. In the illustration of the various embodiments, two different figures can be provided that have overlaps and/or similarities in the components within the two figures (e.g.,
[0031] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware components and basic configuration depicted in any of the figures illustrated by the drawings and described herein may vary. For example, the illustrative components within a condensing plate (
[0032] The object of the present invention is to provide an openable and closeable condensing apparatus, particularly applied in a two-phase liquid immersion cooling system. The condensing apparatus is specially designed to comprise a plurality of condensing assemblies that have two condensing plates forming an enclosed condensing volume. During the operation of servers, a coolant is heated to a boiling point temperature by absorbing heat dissipated from the servers generating a coolant vapor, which rises from a surface level of the coolant. The rising coolant vapor can be totally retained within the enclosed condensing volume formed by the two condensing plates, preventing the rising coolant vapor from passing through the condensing apparatus and being left uncondensed. In other words, the enclosed-type condensing apparatus can completely condense all the rising coolant vapor, thereby ensuring the reliability of the two-phase liquid immersion cooling system during operation and the sustainability of the cooling capacity thereof.
[0033] Turning now to the figures,
[0034] Next, in order to further describe the special structural design of the condensing plate, with reference to
[0035] Furthermore, the rectangular body 311 is provided with a plurality of fluid passages T1, T2, T3, T4. The fluid inlet distribution plate 312 is provided with a plurality of inlet distribution holes A1, A2, A3, A4. The fluid outlet distribution plate 314 is provided with a plurality of outlet distribution holes B1, B2, B3, B4. An inlet drainage pipe H1 is disposed near a lower part of the fluid inlet drainage module 313, and an outlet drainage pipe E1 is disposed near a lower part of the fluid outlet drainage module 315. In a specific embodiment, the fluid inlet drainage module 313 is tightly connected with the fluid inlet distribution plate 312 to form a first accommodation space S1, and the fluid outlet drainage module 315 is tightly connected with the fluid outlet distribution plate 314 to form a second accommodation space S2. The condensation fluid can flow into the first accommodation space S1 from the inlet drainage pipe H1 of the fluid inlet drainage module 313, and then separately flow through each of the fluid passages T1, T2, T3, T4 disposed within the rectangular body 311 by passing through the inlet distribution holes A1, A2, A3, A4 of the fluid inlet distribution plate 312. Specifically, the first inlet distribution hole A1 is located in correspondence to the first fluid passage T1, the second inlet distribution hole A2 is located in correspondence to the second fluid passage T2, and so on. After the condensation fluid flows through each of the fluid passages T1, T2, T3, T4, it confluently flows into the second accommodation space S2 by passing through the outlet distribution holes B1, B2, B3, B4 of the fluid outlet distribution plate 314. Specifically, the first outlet distribution hole B1 is located in correspondence to the first fluid passage T1, the second outlet distribution hole B2 is located in correspondence to the second fluid passage T2, and so on. Finally, the condensation fluid flows out from the outlet drainage pipe E1 of the fluid outlet drainage module 315.
[0036] According to a preferred embodiment, the inlet distribution holes A1, A2, A3, A4 of the fluid inlet distribution plate 312 have different diameters. The size of the inlet distribution holes A1, A2, A3, A4 is as follows: A4>A3>A2>A1.
[0037] In other words, the first inlet distribution hole A1 has the smallest diameter, and the fourth inlet distribution hole A4 has the largest diameter. The purpose of designing so is to make each of the fluid passages T1, T2, T3, T4 have the same inflow volume of the condensation fluid, thereby ensuring that the condensing plates 31 have the same condensation efficiency. Specifically, as shown in
[0038] According to a preferred embodiment, the outlet distribution holes B1, B2, B3, B4 of the fluid outlet distribution plate 314 have the same diameter.
[0039] According to a preferred embodiment, in order to ensure that the rectangular body 311, the fluid inlet distribution plate 312 and the fluid inlet drainage module 313 are firmly connected with one another, the fluid inlet distribution plate 312 is further provided with a plurality of bolt holes 317, and the fluid inlet drainage module 313 is further provided with a plurality of bolts 316. The plurality of bolts 316 penetrates through the plurality of the corresponding bolt holes 317 of the fluid inlet distribution plate 312 so as to bolt the fluid inlet drainage module 313 onto the rectangular body 311. Similarly, the fluid outlet distribution plate 314 is further provided with a plurality of bolt holes 317, and the fluid outlet drainage module 315 is further provided with a plurality of bolts 316. The plurality of bolts 316 penetrates through the plurality of the corresponding bolt holes 317 of the fluid outlet distribution plate 314 so as to bolt the fluid outlet drainage module 315 onto the rectangular body 311.
[0040] According to a preferred embodiment, in order to improve the condensation performance of the condensing plate 31, a plurality of protruding blocks 3100 is provided on the sidewall of the rectangular body 311, which is in exposure to or contact with the high temperature vapor. Specifically, the entire surface of the sidewall is provided with the protruding blocks 3100. In addition, a plurality of protruding blocks 3100 is also provided on the inner wall of each fluid passage T1, T2, T3, T4. The inner wall is adjacent to the sidewall of the rectangular body 311, which is in exposure to or contact with the high temperature vapor. Specifically, the entire surface of the inner wall is provided with the protruding blocks 3100. The protruding blocks 3100 can increase the total surface area of the condensing plate 31 for the heat exchange with the high temperature vapor, thereby improving the condensation efficiency.
[0041] Next, to further describe the specific structure of the fluid inlet manifold used in the present invention, with reference to
[0042] Furthermore, to further describe the specific structure of the fluid outlet manifold used in the present invention, with reference to
[0043] As above mentioned, the openable and closeable condensing apparatus disclosed in the present invention is particularly applied in a two-phase liquid immersion cooling system. It is noteworthy that conventional condensing devices in a two-phase liquid immersion cooling system are located in an open-type manner above the plurality of servers and in a direct path of rising coolant vapor created when the coolant absorbs sufficient heat from the servers to reach a boiling point temperature of the coolant. Therefore, in cases where condensing devices are provided as open-type in a two-phase liquid immersion cooling system, when many servers keep in operation at the same time for a long period, a great deal of heat will be continuously generated. After the coolant is vaporized into the coolant vapor by absorbing heat dissipated from servers, the coolant vapor rises from the surface level of the coolant and scatters in all directions, causing a portion of the rising coolant vapor to unavoidably pass through the open-type condensing devices without being condensed. The uncondensed coolant vapor gradually accumulates in the system and eventually causes the pressure therein to rise, concomitantly resulting in the rise in both the boiling point of the coolant and the internal temperature of the two-phase liquid immersion cooling system.
[0044] Therefore, in order to completely condense all of the coolant vapor, the present invention provides a specially designed condensing apparatus. Now turning to
[0045] Next, in order to describe in detail how the condensing apparatus of the present invention condenses the coolant vapor, with reference to
[0046] As shown in
[0047] Furthermore, with reference to
[0048] As aforementioned, the condensing assemblies 3 can operate independently. The two condensing plates 31 are designed openable and closeable in that the inlet pipe 121 is rotatably sleeved in the inlet drainage pipe H1 and the outlet pipe 221 is rotatably sleeved in the outlet drainage pipe E1. Preferably, the two condensing plates 31 rotate at an angle of between 40° and 50°. When the servers are in operation, the two condensing plates are in a closed state so as to form an enclosed condensing volume, thereby retaining all of the coolant vapor in the enclosed condensing volume for the purpose of condensation. On the other hand, when the servers are to be placed into or removed from the coolant, the two condensing plates are in an open state so as to facilitate the manipulation of the servers for the purpose of the routine maintenance.
[0049] Based on the foregoing disclosure of technical features, the present invention has the following advantages compared with the prior art: [0050] 1. The inverted V-shaped condensing plates are designed to be mutually inclined closed, forming an enclosed condensing volume, thereby completely condensing all of the coolant vapor; and [0051] 2. The openable and closeable condensing assemblies can operate independently. Therefore, in a process of routine maintenance of the servers, a specifically chosen condensing assembly can be separately opened to extract a server without affecting other condensing assemblies.
[0052] The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The described embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
[0053] While the disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular system, device or component thereof to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed for carrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.