Patent ID: 8144467

Claim:
An apparatus for facilitating cooling of an electronics rack, the apparatus comprising: a dehumidifying air-to-liquid heat exchanger configured to reside at an air inlet side of the electronics rack, wherein the electronics rack comprises the air inlet side and an air outlet side, the air inlet side and the air outlet side respectively enabling ingress and egress of air through the electronics rack, and wherein the dehumidifying air-to-liquid heat exchanger is positioned for ingressing air to pass thereacross before passing through the electronics rack, the dehumidifying air-to-liquid heat exchanger being in fluid communication with a coolant loop for passing chilled coolant therethrough, and the dehumidifying air-to-liquid heat exchanger with chilled coolant passing therethrough dehumidifying ingressing air to the electronics rack to lower a dew point temperature of air flowing through the electronics rack; a condensate collector disposed at the air inlet side of the electronics rack for collecting liquid condensate from the dehumidifying air-to-liquid heat exchanger's dehumidifying of ingressing air to the electronics rack; and a condensate evaporation system for humidifying air egressing from the electronics rack, the condensate evaporation system being coupled in fluid communication with the condensate collector at the air inlet side of the electronics rack and evaporating liquid condensate received therefrom, the condensate evaporation system comprising a re-humidifying structure configured to reside at the air outlet side of the electronics rack so that air egressing from the air outlet side of the electronics rack passes through the re-humidifying structure, and a condensate delivery mechanism delivering liquid condensate from the condensate collector disposed at the air inlet side of the electronics rack to the re-humidifying structure disposed at the air outlet side of the electronics rack, the re-humidifying structure re-humidifying air egressing from the air outlet side of the electronics rack.