Cooling system and method of cooling electronic device

• US 10,321,609 B2
• Filed: 10/19/2017
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Hirai, Keita, So, Tsuyoshi, Kosugi, Naofumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Matey, Michael A
• Application Number:
  US15/787,757
• Publication Number:
  US 20180153058A1
• Time in Patent Office: 600 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20236 by immersion
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20781 within cabinets for removing heat from server blades

Abstract

A cooling system includes an immersion tank that includes a liquid coolant sealed therein, a housing that includes through-holes formed in a top portion and a bottom portion thereof, respectively, and disposed within the immersion tank, an electronic device disposed in the housing in a state of being immersed in the coolant, a coolant flow path formed between an inner surface of the immersion tank and an outer surface of the housing to couplet he through-hole in the top portion of the housing to the through-hole in the bottom portion of the housing so that the coolant flows therethrough, and a heat transfer member that transports heat of the coolant in the coolant flow path to an outside of the immersion tank.

Claims

1. A cooling system comprising:

an immersion tank that includes a liquid coolant sealed therein;

a housing that includes through-holes formed in a top portion and a bottom portion thereof, respectively, and disposed within the immersion tank;

an electronic device disposed in the housing in a state of being immersed in the coolant;

a coolant flow path formed between an inner surface of the immersion tank and an outer surface of the housing to couple the through-hole in the top portion of the housing to the through-hole in the bottom portion of the housing so that the coolant flows therethrough; and

a heat pipe arranged through a side wall of the immersion tank, the heat pipe is a hollow cylindrical member, opposite ends of which are closed,

a hydraulic fluid is sealed in the heat pipe, and

the hydraulic fluid transports heat of the coolant in the coolant flow path to an outside of the immersion tank.

2. The cooling system according to claim 1, wherein both the immersion tank and the housing are configured with a heat insulating member.

3. The cooling system according to claim 1, wherein the housing has a space therein that is divided into a plurality of chambers by partitions, and a plurality of electronic devices is dispersively arranged in the plurality of chambers.

4. The cooling system according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of chambers has a conical shape having a wider lower side and a narrower upper side.

5. The cooling system according to claim 3, wherein the through-holes in the top portion and the bottom portion of the housing have a conical shape having a wider lower side and a narrower upper side.

6. The cooling system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a server or a storage device.

7. The cooling system according to claim 1, wherein the heat transported to an outside of the immersion tank by the heat pipe is dissipated to an atmosphere.

8. A method of cooling an electronic device, comprising:

disposing a housing having through-holes formed in a top portion and a bottom portion thereof, respectively, in a sealed immersion tank, and disposing an electronic device in the housing so that an inside of the immersion tank is filled with a liquid coolant;

generating, by heat generated in the electronic device, natural convection of the coolant that is discharged out of the housing from the through-hole in the top portion of the housing, passes through a coolant flow path between an outer surface of the housing and an inner surface of the immersion tank, and returns to an inside of the housing from the through-hole in the bottom portion of the housing; and

transporting, by a heat pipe, heat of the coolant that passes through the coolant flow path to an outside of the immersion tank,

the heat pipe is arranged through a side wall of the immersion tank,

the heat pipe is a hollow cylindrical member, opposite ends of which are closed,

a hydraulic fluid is sealed in the heat pipe, and

the hydraulic fluid transports heat of the coolant in the coolant flow path to an outside of the immersion tank.