Patent ID: 11937406
Assignee: OVH
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  F | IPC H

Claim 4:
5. A cooling system for cooling electronic equipment, the cooling system providing cooling to an infrastructure having a plurality of heat-generating units, the cooling system comprising:
a plurality of internal cooling units, at least one internal cooling unit of the plurality of internal cooling units being thermally connected to each of the plurality of heat-generating units;
an external cooling unit configured to dissipate thermal energy of a heat-transfer fluid circulating in the plurality of internal cooling units;
a cooling circuit connecting the plurality of internal cooling units and the external cooling unit;
a pump configured to maintain a flow of the heat-transfer fluid circulating in the cooling circuit, allowing to transfer thermal energy from the plurality of heat generating units to the heat-transfer fluid and allowing to transfer thermal energy from the heat-transfer fluid to the external cooling unit;
a first reservoir thermally connected to a section of the cooling circuit, the first reservoir containing a first phase change material (PCM), the first PCM changing from a solid state to a liquid state when a temperature of the heat-transfer fluid flowing in the section of the cooling circuit causes a temperature of the first PCM to increase above a phase-change temperature value, thereby causing thermal energy to transfer from the cooling circuit to the first PCM, the first PCM changing from the liquid state to the solid state when the temperature of the heat-transfer fluid flowing in the section of the cooling circuit causes the temperature of the first PCM to decrease below the phase-change temperature value, thereby causing thermal energy to dissipate from the first PCM;
a supplemental cooling device thermally connected to the first reservoir containing the first PCM and configured to dissipate heat from the first reservoir containing the first PCM to the atmosphere; and
a cooling arrangement configured for autonomous cooling of a rack hosting at least one heat-generating component in case of abnormal operating conditions of the cooling system, the cooling arrangement comprising:
a closed loop cooling circuit comprising:
at least one fluid cooling unit thermally coupled to the at least one heat-generating component, the at least one fluid cooling unit comprising a fluid channel configured for transferring heat from the at least one heat-generating component to a first fluid flowing in the fluid channel,
a primary side of a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, the primary side being fluidly connected to the fluid channel of the at least one fluid cooling unit, and
an inner pump fluidly connected between the primary side of the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger and the at least one fluid cooling unit, the inner pump being configured for causing the first fluid to flow within the closed loop cooling circuit;

an open loop cooling circuit comprising:
a secondary side of the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, the secondary side being thermally coupled to the primary side for transfer of heat from the primary side to the secondary side when a temperature of the primary side is higher than a temperature of the secondary side, the secondary side being configured to receive a second fluid from a cold supply line and to return the second fluid to a hot return line, and
one or two valves connected to the cold supply line or to the hot supply line and configured to close under abnormal operating conditions; and
a second reservoir containing a second PCM, the second reservoir being thermally connected to a section of the closed loop cooling circuit, the second PCM changing from the liquid state to the solid state to transfer thermal energy from the second PCM to the closed loop cooling circuit when a temperature of the first fluid flowing in the section of the closed loop cooling circuit is less than a phase change temperature value of the second PCM, the second PCM changing from the solid state to the liquid state to transfer thermal energy from the closed loop cooling circuit to the second PCM when the temperature of the first fluid flowing in the section of the closed loop cooling circuit reaches or exceeds the phase change temperature;
wherein, in normal operating conditions of the cooling system, the cooling arrangement and the at least one heat-generating component are combined to form the internal cooling unit and the heat-generating unit, heat generated inside the infrastructure by the at least one heat-generating component being evacuated by the cooling arrangement via the hot return line to the cooling circuit, in order to be externally dissipated to the atmosphere by the cooling system, the fluid flowing in the cooling circuit having been cooled by the cooling system being then supplied to the cooling arrangement via the cold supply line.