Leak mitigation in a cooling system for computing devices
Example implementations relate to a leak mitigation system for a cooling system in a computing infrastructure. The leak mitigation system may include tank that is pre-pressurized, a valve unit fluidly coupled to the tank and a cooling loop, and controller operatively coupled to the valve unit. The cooling loop comprises one or more tubes to facilitate a flow of a coolant to cool one or more computing devices. The controller may detect a leak of the coolant from the cooling loop, and in response to detection of the leak of the coolant, the controller may operate the valve unit to establish a fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop to transfer at least a portion of the coolant away from the cooling loop.
1. A leak mitigation system, comprising:
a tank that is to, in operation, be pre-evacuated to a vacuum pressure;
a valve unit fluidly coupled to the tank and a cooling loop, wherein the cooling loop comprises one or more tubes to facilitate a flow of a coolant to cool one or more computing devices; and
a controller operatively coupled to the valve unit, wherein the controller:
detects a leak of the coolant from the cooling loop; and
in response to detection of the leak, operates the valve unit to establish a fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop to transfer at least a portion of the coolant away from the cooling loop, wherein the valve unit is fluidly coupled between the tank and the cooling loop to allow flow of fluid between the tank and the cooling loop via the valve unit when the valve unit is operated to establish the fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop, wherein at least the portion of the coolant is transferred to the tank from the cooling loop as a result of exposure to the vacuum pressure when the fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop is established via the valve unit.
2. The leak mitigation system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computing devices are disposed in a plurality of racks, and wherein the tank comprises a plurality of tanks distributed across the plurality of racks.
3. The leak mitigation system of claim 1 , wherein the cooling loop further comprises a coolant circulation pump to enable the flow of the coolant in the cooling loop, wherein the controller is operatively coupled to the coolant circulation pump.
4. The leak mitigation system of claim 3 , wherein the controller suspends operation of the coolant circulation pump in response to detection of the leak.
5. The leak mitigation system of claim 1 , wherein the cooling loop is coupled to an expansion tank via the valve unit.
6. The leak mitigation system of claim 5 , wherein the controller isolates an expansion tank from the cooling loop via the valve unit in response to the detection of the leak.
7. A method, comprising:
detecting a leak of a coolant from a cooling loop, wherein the cooling loop comprises one or more tubes to facilitate a flow of the coolant to cool one or more computing devices; and
in response to detection of the leak, transferring at least a portion of the coolant away from the cooling loop by establishing a fluid coupling between a tank that is pre-pressurized to a pressure and the cooling loop via a valve unit, wherein the valve unit is fluidly coupled between the tank and the cooling loop to allow flow of fluid between the tank and the cooling loop via the valve unit when the valve unit is operated to establish the fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop, wherein the pressure is a vacuum pressure and the tank is pre-evacuated to the vacuum pressure, and wherein transferring at least the portion of the coolant away from the one or more tubes comprises transferring at least the portion of the coolant from the cooling loop into the tank as a result of exposure to the vacuum pressure when the fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop is established via the valve unit.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising suspending operation of a coolant circulation pump in response to detection of the leak, wherein the coolant circulation pump is disposed in the cooling loop to enable the flow of the coolant in the cooling loop.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising isolating an expansion tank from the cooling loop via the valve unit in response to detection of the leak, wherein the expansion tank is fluidly coupled to the cooling loop via the valve unit.
10. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions executable by a processing resource, the instructions comprising: instructions to detect a leak of a coolant from a cooling loop, wherein the cooling loop comprises one or more tubes to facilitate a flow of the coolant to cool one or more computing devices; and instructions to establish, in response to detection of the leak, a fluid coupling between a tank and the cooling loop via a valve unit to transfer at least a portion of the coolant away from the cooling loop, wherein the tank is pre-evacuated to a vacuum pressure, and wherein the valve unit is fluidly coupled between the tank and the cooling loop to allow flow of fluid between the tank and the cooling loop via the valve unit when the valve unit is operated to establish the fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop, wherein transferring at least the portion of the coolant away from the one or more tubes comprises transferring at least the portion of the coolant from the cooling loop into the tank as a result of exposure to the vacuum pressure when the fluid coupling between the tank and the cooling loop is established via the valve unit.
11. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising instructions to suspend operation of a coolant circulation pump in response to detection of the leak, wherein the coolant circulation pump is disposed in the cooling loop to facilitate a flow of the coolant in the cooling loop.
12. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising instructions to isolate an expansion tank from the cooling loop via the valve unit in response to detection of the leak, wherein the expansion tank is fluidly coupled to the cooling loop via the valve unit.