Patent Publication Number: US-2023156975-A1

Title: Cooling System and Data Center

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202122841225.8, filed on Nov. 18, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This application relates to the field of cooling technologies, and in particular, to a cooling system and a data center. 
     BACKGROUND 
     With rapid advancement of big data, an industrial scale of a data center rapidly expands. A cooling system of the data center is configured to cool and dissipate heat for a device of the data center. In a conventional liquid-cooled cooling system, a plurality of load devices (for example, servers) are installed in one tank, there is coolant in the tank, and the plurality of devices are immersed in the coolant. However, efficiency of the cooling system is relatively low, and therefore it is difficult to meet a current data center with a relatively high power density. 
     UTILITY MODEL CONTENT 
     Embodiments of this application provide a cooling system and a data center that can improve cooling efficiency. 
     According to a first aspect, this application provides a cooling system, including at least one liquid cooling module unit. Each liquid cooling module unit includes a liquid storage vessel and a heat exchange capsule, the liquid storage vessel is configured to store a first cooling medium, the heat exchange capsule is accommodated in the liquid storage vessel, at least a part of the heat exchange capsule can be immersed in the first cooling medium, the heat exchange capsule is configured to store a second cooling medium, and the first cooling medium is configured to exchange heat with the second cooling medium. 
     The heat exchange capsule is configured to carry a to-be-cooled load, and the to-be-cooled load is immersed in the second cooling medium in the heat exchange capsule. The to-be-cooled load generates heat when working. The second cooling medium absorbs the heat generated by the to-be-cooled load when the to-be-cooled load works, and a temperature of the second cooling medium increases. Because the heat exchange capsule is accommodated in the liquid storage vessel and immersed in the first cooling medium in the liquid storage vessel, the first cooling medium exchanges heat with the second cooling medium and absorbs heat of the second cooling medium, so that the first cooling medium cools the second cooling medium. When the second cooling medium cools and dissipates heat for the to-be-cooled load, the first cooling medium cools the second cooling medium, thereby helping improve cooling efficiency of the cooling system. The first cooling medium is placed in the liquid storage vessel, and the second cooling medium is placed in the heat exchange capsule, thereby helping reduce a usage amount of the first cooling medium and a usage amount of the second cooling medium. 
     For example, cooling water with low costs may be selected as the first cooling medium, and cooling liquid (for example, fluorinated liquid) with relatively high costs and a relatively good cooling effect may be selected as the second cooling medium. In this way, usage costs of the cooling system can be reduced. 
     There is at least one heat exchange capsule in each liquid cooling module unit. 
     In addition, the liquid cooling module unit uses a modular design, to facilitate transportation and deployment, thereby effectively shortening a deployment period. When the cooling system and a data center need to be scaled down or scaled up, it is only necessary to reduce or increase a quantity of liquid cooling module units. 
     According to the first aspect of this application, in a first possible implementation of this application, the heat exchange capsule includes a capsule body and a connection interface disposed in the capsule body, the capsule body is configured to store the second cooling medium, and the connection interface is configured to be electrically connected to the to-be-cooled load immersed in the second cooling medium, thereby facilitating assembly and disassembly of the to-be-cooled load. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first possible implementation of this application, in a second possible implementation of this application, the cooling system further includes a control unit, and the control unit is electrically connected to the connection interface, thereby facilitating power distribution and monitoring of the to-be-cooled load. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first and the second possible implementations of this application, in a third possible implementation of this application, the cooling system further includes a recycling unit, and the recycling unit is connected to the liquid storage vessel by using pipelines and is configured to recycle a first cooling medium flowing out of the liquid storage vessel. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first to the third possible implementations of this application, in a fourth possible implementation of this application, the liquid storage vessel includes a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet, the recycling unit includes a heat storage region and a cold storage region that are separately disposed, the heat storage region is connected to the liquid outlet of the liquid storage vessel by using a pipeline, the heat storage region is configured to store the first cooling medium flowing out of the liquid outlet of the liquid storage vessel, the cold storage region is connected to the liquid inlet of the liquid storage vessel by using a pipeline, the cold storage region is configured to store a first cooling medium, and a temperature of the first cooling medium in the heat storage region is higher than a temperature of the first cooling medium in the cold storage region. 
     The first cooling medium flowing out of the liquid outlet of the liquid storage vessel becomes a hot first cooling medium due to a temperature increase caused by heat exchange with the second cooling medium. The heat storage region stores the hot first cooling medium flowing out of the liquid outlet of the liquid storage vessel, so that excess heat of the liquid cooling module unit can be effectively recycled, thereby saving energy. The cold storage region is configured to supplement the liquid storage vessel with the first cooling medium. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first to the fourth possible implementations of this application, in a fifth possible implementation of this application, the recycling unit is a recycling vessel, the heat storage region and the cold storage region are disposed in a height direction of the recycling vessel, and the cold storage region is located at a bottom of the recycling vessel. 
     The heat storage region for heat storage and the cold storage region for cold storage are disposed in the same vessel, thereby simplifying a structure of the cooling system. The heat storage region and the cold storage region are stacked in the height direction of the recycling unit, thereby effectively reducing a floor area of the recycling unit, and improving space utilization of the cooling system. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first to the fifth possible implementations of this application, in a sixth possible implementation of this application, the heat storage region includes a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet, the liquid inlet of the heat storage region is connected to the liquid outlet of the liquid storage vessel, the liquid outlet of the heat storage region is located at an end that is of the heat storage region and that is away from the cold storage region, and a valve is disposed at the liquid outlet of the heat storage region and is configured to open or close the liquid outlet of the heat storage region, thereby facilitating obtaining of the hot first cooling medium. The first cooling medium is layered with temperatures in a height direction of the heat storage region. For example, a first cooling medium with a highest temperature is located at an uppermost layer. The liquid outlet is disposed at a relatively high position in the height direction of the heat storage region, so that a first cooling medium flowing out of the liquid outlet always keeps at an optimal heat recycling temperature. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first to the sixth possible implementations of this application, in a seventh possible implementation of this application, the recycling unit further includes a bypass component disposed between the heat storage region and the cold storage region, and the bypass component is configured to transport the first cooling medium in the heat storage region to the cold storage region, to adjust the temperature of the first cooling medium in the cold storage region, thereby adapting to different temperature requirements of the first cooling medium. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first to the seventh possible implementations of this application, in an eighth possible implementation of this application, the liquid storage vessel includes a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet, the recycling unit includes a cooling tower and/or a dry cooler, the recycling unit is connected to the liquid inlet of the liquid storage vessel, the recycling unit is connected to the liquid outlet of the liquid storage vessel, and the recycling unit is configured to: cool the first cooling medium flowing out of the liquid outlet of the liquid storage vessel, and transport a cooled first cooling medium to the liquid storage vessel from the liquid inlet of the liquid storage vessel, so that the first cooling medium is cyclically used, thereby reducing a usage amount of the first cooling medium. 
     According to the first aspect of this application or the first to the eighth possible implementations of this application, in a ninth possible implementation of this application, the cooling system further includes a pump disposed on the pipeline between the recycling unit and the liquid storage vessel, and the pump is configured to drive the first cooling medium in the liquid storage vessel to the recycling unit, thereby improving working efficiency of the cooling system. 
     A second aspect of this application provides a data center, including the cooling system according to the first aspect of this application or the first to the ninth possible implementations of this application and a to-be-cooled load. The to-be-cooled load is accommodated in the heat exchange capsule and can be immersed in the second cooling medium. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram of a data center according to a first implementation of this application; 
         FIG.  2    is an enlarged schematic diagram of assembling a liquid cooling module unit and a to-be-cooled load together; and 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram of a data center according to a second implementation of this application. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     In a conventional data center cooling system, in particular, a direct expansion refrigeration system or a system that partially performs refrigeration through direct expansion, energy efficiency is limited by a system component, and therefore a requirement of power usage effectiveness (power usage effectiveness, PUE) of a data center cannot be met. There is also a liquid-cooled cooling system in which a plurality of load devices (for example, servers) are installed in one tank, there is coolant in the tank, and the plurality of devices are immersed in the coolant. However, efficiency of the cooling system is relatively low, and therefore it is difficult to meet a current data center with a relatively high power density. 
     Based on this, this application provides a cooling system and a related data center thereof, to improve cooling efficiency. The cooling system includes at least one liquid cooling module unit. Each liquid cooling module unit includes a liquid storage vessel and a heat exchange capsule, the liquid storage vessel is configured to store a first cooling medium, the heat exchange capsule is accommodated in the liquid storage vessel, at least a part of the heat exchange capsule can be immersed in the first cooling medium, the heat exchange capsule is configured to store a second cooling medium, and the first cooling medium is configured to exchange heat with the second cooling medium. 
     The following further describes the cooling system and the related data center thereof with reference to specific implementations and accompanying drawings. 
     Referring to  FIG.  1    and  FIG.  2   , a first implementation of this application provides a data center  100 , configured to transfer, accelerate, display, calculate, and store data information. The data center  100  includes a cooling system  101  and a to-be-cooled load  103 . The cooling system  101  is configured to cool and dissipate heat for the to-be-cooled load  103 . The to-be-cooled load  103  includes a server, a power distribution device, or the like. Details are not described herein. 
     The cooling system  101  includes a liquid cooling module unit  10  and a recycling unit  30  that are disposed through pipeline connection. The liquid cooling module unit  10  is configured to cool and dissipate heat for the to-be-cooled load  103 . The recycling unit  30  is configured to recycle a cooling medium flowing out of the liquid cooling module unit  10 . 
     The liquid cooling module unit  10  includes a liquid storage vessel  11  and a heat exchange capsule  13 . 
     The liquid storage vessel  11  is configured to store a first cooling medium  201 . The liquid storage vessel  11  may be a tank, such as a horizontal fuel tank, to facilitate assembly and transportation. The horizontal fuel tank is usually a long vessel configured to store crude oil, vegetable oil, a chemical solvent, water, or other petroleum products. The horizontal fuel tank usually includes an end cover, horizontal round or oval tank walls, and a saddle. It may be understood that a shape of the horizontal fuel tank may be alternatively an irregular shape. The liquid storage vessel  11  may be alternatively a container. A liquid inlet  111  and a liquid outlet  113  are disposed in the liquid storage vessel  11 . The liquid inlet  111  is configured to input the first cooling medium  201 . The liquid outlet  113  is configured to output the first cooling medium  201 . 
     The heat exchange capsule  13  is accommodated in the liquid storage vessel  11 . At least a part of the heat exchange capsule  13  can be immersed in the first cooling medium  201  in the liquid storage vessel  11 . The heat exchange capsule  13  is configured to accommodate a second cooling medium  203  and the to-be-cooled load  103 . At least a part of the to-be-cooled load  103  is immersed in the second cooling medium  203  in the heat exchange capsule  13 . The second cooling medium  203  is configured to cool and dissipate heat for the to-be-cooled load  103 . The first cooling medium  201  is configured to exchange heat with the second cooling medium  203 , to cool and dissipate heat for the second cooling medium  203 . 
     When the cooling system  101  is used, the to-be-cooled load  103  is immersed in the second cooling medium  203 . The second cooling medium  203  is configured to absorb heat emitted by the to-be-cooled load  103 . After the second cooling medium  203  absorbs the heat emitted by the to-be-cooled load  103 , a temperature of the second cooling medium  203  increases. Because the heat exchange capsule  13  is immersed in the first cooling medium  201  in the liquid storage vessel  11 , the first cooling medium  201  exchanges heat with the second cooling medium  203 , a temperature of the first cooling medium  201  increases, and the temperature of the second cooling medium  203  decreases, that is, the first cooling medium  201  cools and dissipates heat for the second cooling medium  203 . When the second cooling medium  203  cools and dissipates heat for the to-be-cooled load  103 , the first cooling medium  201  cools the second cooling medium  203 , thereby helping improve cooling efficiency of the cooling system  101 . 
     Because the liquid cooling module unit  10  is a modular design, when the data center  100  needs to be constructed, it is only necessary to directly transport the liquid cooling module unit  10  to a selected address to perform simple pipeline connection, thereby effectively shortening a deployment period. When the cooling system  101  and the data center  100  need to be scaled down or scaled up, it is only necessary to reduce or increase a quantity of liquid cooling module units  10 . 
     The heat exchange capsule  13  includes a capsule body and a connection interface disposed in the capsule body. The capsule body is configured to store the second cooling medium  203 . In this implementation, the first cooling medium  201  includes but is not limited to cooling water, and the second cooling medium  203  includes but is not limited to fluorinated liquid. The fluorinated liquid has inert features: insulated and non-flammable, and is usually applied to a data center for liquid cooling. The connection interface may be disposed on an inner wall of the capsule body, and is configured to be connected to the to-be-cooled load  103 . The connection interface includes a communication interface, a power supply terminal, and the like, to help implement functions such as power supply and communication of the to-be-cooled load  103 . 
     In this implementation, there are a plurality of liquid cooling module units  10 , there are a plurality of heat exchange capsules  13  in each liquid cooling module unit  10 , and the plurality of heat exchange capsules  13  may be evenly and orderly arranged in a liquid storage vessel  11 . For example, a plurality of heat exchange capsules  13  in one liquid cooling module unit  10  are spaced apart in a straight line. Each heat exchange capsule  13  can accommodate one to-be-cooled load  103 . A plurality of to-be-cooled loads  103  are respectively placed in a plurality of heat exchange capsules  13 , thereby reducing a usage amount of the second cooling medium  203 , and also improving cooling and heat dissipation efficiency of the cooling system  101 . 
     It may be understood that, in another implementation, there may be one or more heat exchange capsules  13  in each liquid cooling module unit  10 , and there may be one or more to-be-cooled loads  103  in the heat exchange capsule  13 . 
     The recycling unit  30  is connected to the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11  by using a pipeline, to transport the first cooling medium  201  to the recycling unit  30  for recycling. The recycling unit  30  is connected to the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11  by using the pipeline. 
     In this implementation, the recycling unit  30  is a recycling vessel. The recycling unit  30  includes a heat storage region  31  and a cold storage region  33  that are separately disposed. For example, an inner cavity of the recycling vessel is physically separated by using a separator, to form the heat storage region  31  and the cold storage region  33 . The heat storage region  31  is connected to the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11  by using the pipeline, and the heat storage region  31  is configured to store the first cooling medium  201  flowing out of the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11 . The cold storage region  33  is connected to the liquid inlet  111  of the liquid storage vessel  11  by using a pipeline. The cold storage region  33  is configured to store a first cooling medium  201 , and is configured to supplement the liquid storage vessel  11  with the first cooling medium  201 . A temperature of the first cooling medium in the heat storage region  31  is higher than a temperature of the first cooling medium in the cold storage region  33 . In other words, the heat storage region  31  is a heat storage region, and the cold storage region  33  is a cold storage region. A thermal insulation material is disposed on inner walls and/or outer walls of the heat storage region  31  and the cold storage region  33 , and the thermal insulation material can perform thermal insulation storage on the first cooling medium  201  in the heat storage region  31 . 
     The first cooling medium  201  flowing out of the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11  becomes a hot first cooling medium  201  due to a temperature increase caused by heat exchange with the second cooling medium  203 . The “hot first cooling medium” herein is merely described relative to a first cooling medium  201  existing before heat exchange with the second cooling medium  203 . It may be understood that a temperature of the hot first cooling medium is not limited. The heat storage region  31  stores the first cooling medium  201  flowing out of the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11 , so that excess heat of the liquid cooling module unit  10  can be effectively recycled, thereby saving energy. 
     The heat storage region  31  and the cold storage region  33  are stacked in a height direction of the recycling unit  30 . The cold storage region  33  is located at a bottom of the recycling unit  30 . The heat storage region  31  includes a liquid inlet  311  and a liquid outlet  313 . The liquid inlet  311  of the heat storage region  31  is connected to the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11 . The liquid outlet  313  of the heat storage region  31  is located at an end that is of the heat storage region  31  and that is away from the cold storage region  33 . A valve  34  is disposed at the liquid outlet  313  of the heat storage region  31  and is configured to open or close the liquid outlet  313  of the heat storage region  31 , thereby facilitating obtaining of the hot first cooling medium  201 . 
     The first cooling medium  201  is layered with temperatures in a height direction of the heat storage region  31 . For example, a first cooling medium  201  with a highest temperature is located at an uppermost layer. The liquid outlet  313  is disposed at a relatively high position in the height direction of the heat storage region  31 , so that a first cooling medium  201  flowing out of the liquid outlet  313  always keeps at an optimal heat recycling temperature. 
     A liquid outlet  331  is disposed in the cold storage region  33 . The liquid outlet  331  is connected to the liquid inlet  111  of the liquid storage vessel  11  by using the pipeline. The heat storage region  31  for heat storage and the cold storage region  33  for cold storage are disposed in the same vessel, thereby simplifying a structure of the cooling system  101 . The heat storage region  31  and the cold storage region  33  are stacked in the height direction of the recycling unit  30 , thereby effectively reducing a floor area of the recycling unit  30 , and improving space utilization of the cooling system  101 . 
     It may be understood that, in another implementation, the heat storage region  31  and the cold storage region  33  of the recycling unit  30  may not be stacked in the height direction of the recycling unit  30 , provided that the heat storage region  31  and the cold storage region  33  are separated. For example, the recycling unit  30  includes a first vessel and a second vessel, the first vessel includes the heat storage region  31 , and the second vessel includes the cold storage region  33 . 
     The recycling unit  30  further includes a bypass component  35  connected between the heat storage region  31  and the cold storage region  33 . When the bypass component  35  is opened, the heat storage region  31  can transport the first cooling medium  201  to the cold storage region  33 , to adjust the temperature of the first cooling medium  201  in the cold storage region  33 . 
     The cooling system  101  further includes a pump  50  disposed on the pipeline between the recycling unit  30  and the liquid storage vessel  11 , and the pump  50  is configured to drive the first cooling medium  201  to circulate in a loop, thereby reducing a usage amount of the first cooling medium  201 . 
     The cooling system  101  further includes a control unit  70 , and the control unit  70  is electrically connected to the connection interface, so that the control unit  70  establishes a communication connection and an electrical connection to the to-be-cooled load  103 , thereby facilitating power distribution and monitoring of the to-be-cooled load  103 . The control unit  70  is communicatively connected to the pump  50  and is configured to control the pump  50 . It may be understood that the recycling unit  30  may be directly connected to the liquid storage vessel  11 . 
     According to the cooling system  101  and the data center  100  provided in this application, the liquid cooling module unit  10  is a modular design, thereby facilitating transportation. Therefore, flexibility of distributed deployment is improved, and nearly half time is estimated to be saved for a deployment period compared with a conventional data center. In addition, a single-phase/two-phase immersion solution is compatible, and transportation costs can be greatly reduced due to a modular structure. In the single-phase immersion solution, for example, both the first cooling medium  201  and the second cooling medium  203  are liquid in a working process. In the two-phase immersion solution, for example, the second cooling medium  203  may be converted between a vapor phase and a liquid phase in a working process. An indoor/outdoor solution may be selected based on an application scenario. A heat exchange path is extremely short, and heat exchange efficiency is high. The second cooling medium  203  in the heat exchange vessel  13  does not need a pump, peak power consumption is low, a power output rate of the data center is high, and a power density of a supported device (load) is higher. A filling amount of the second cooling medium (for example, fluorinated liquid) can be greatly reduced through distributed design. 
     Referring to  FIG.  3   , a second implementation of this application provides a data center  300 , having a substantially same structure as the data center  100  provided in the first implementation. A difference lies in a structure of a recycling unit  30 . 
     In this implementation, the recycling unit  30  includes a cooling tower or a dry cooler. The recycling unit  30  is connected to a liquid outlet  113  of a liquid storage vessel  11  by using a pipeline, and the recycling unit  30  is connected to a liquid inlet  111  of the liquid storage vessel  11  by using a pipeline. A first cooling medium  201  flowing out of the liquid outlet  113  of the liquid storage vessel  11  is transported to the recycling unit  30  for recycling and cooling. A first cooling medium  201  obtained after the recycling unit  30  performs cooling is transported to the liquid storage vessel  11 . In this way, a liquid cooling module unit and the recycling unit  30  form a circulation loop of the first cooling medium  201 , to implement cyclical usage of the first cooling medium  201 . 
     The cooling system  101  further includes a pump  50  disposed on the pipeline between the recycling unit  30  and the liquid storage vessel  11 , and the pump  50  is configured to drive the first cooling medium  201  to circulate in the loop, thereby reducing a usage amount of the first cooling medium  201 . 
     It should be understood that the expressions such as “include” and “may include” that can be used in this application represent existence of disclosed functions, operations, or constituent elements, and are not limited to one or more additional functions, operations, or constituent elements. In this application, the terms such as “include” and/or “have” can be construed as representing a particular feature, quantity, operation, constituent element, component, or a combination thereof, but cannot be construed as excluding existence or addition possibility of one or more other features, quantities, operations, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof. 
     In addition, in this application, the expression “and/or” includes any and all combinations of associated listed words. For example, the expression “A and/or B” may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B. 
     In this application, the expressions including ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” may modify elements. However, the elements are not limited by the expressions. For example, the expressions do not limit an order and/or importance of the elements. The expressions are only used to distinguish an element from another element. For example, first user equipment and second user equipment indicate different user equipment, although both the first user equipment and the second user equipment are user equipment Similarly, without departing from the scope of this application, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. 
     When a component is referred to as “being connected to” or “accessing” another component, it should be understood that the component may be directly connected to or access the another component, or there may be another component between the component and the another component. In addition, when a component is referred to as “being directly connected to” or “directly accessing” another component, it should be understood that there is no component between the component and the another component. 
     The foregoing description is merely a specific implementation of this application, but is not intended to limit the protection scope of this application. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.