Rack heat exchanger to reduce room-level datacenter heat load
View Patent ↗An in-rack cooling system is disclosed. The cooling system includes one or more computer drawers, one or more open areas in the rack, a heat exchanger, and one or more fans in the open areas of the rack. The open areas are areas within the rack where computer drawers could be installed, but are not. The fans direct air exhausted from the computer drawers through the heat exchanger. Further the air flowing through the heat exchanged flows through the heat exchanger in a first airflow direction when flowing from the computer drawers and a second airflow direction when flowing through the open areas.
1 . A system for cooling a computing system in a rack comprising:
a first portion of the rack and a second portion of the rack;
a first air mover component and an air-to-liquid heat exchanger disposed in the first portion of the rack not having electronic computing equipment installed, wherein a first airflow path passes through the air-to-liquid heat exchanger towards the first air mover component; and
a second air mover component disposed in the second portion of the rack having electronic computing components, wherein a second airflow path passes through the second air mover component towards the electronic computing components, wherein the first airflow path is in an opposite direction to the second airflow path.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an air blocker located between the first portion of the rack and the second portion separating the first airflow path and the second airflow path.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first air mover component and the second air mover component are located on a first side of the rack.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the rack is located above the second portion of the rack.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the air-to-liquid heat exchanger extends beyond a top frame of the rack.
6 . The system of claim 5 , further comprising:
a third air mover component located external to the rack opposite a portion of the air-to-liquid heat exchanger that extends beyond the top frame of the rack.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein a third airflow path passes through the portion of the air-to-liquid heat exchanger that extends beyond the top frame of the rack towards the third air mover component.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the third airflow path is in a direction similar to the first airflow path.
9 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third air mover component located on another rack, wherein a third airflow path passes through the third air mover component towards other electronic computing components on the another rack, wherein the third airflow path is opposite the second airflow path.
10 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third air mover component located on another rack, wherein a third airflow path passes through another air-to-liquid heat exchanger on the another rack towards the third air mover component, wherein the third airflow path is opposite the first airflow path.
11 . An in rack cooling system comprising:
a first portion of a rack and a second portion of the rack;
one or more open areas within the first portion of the rack;
one or more computer drawers disposed within the second portion of the rack;
a heat exchanger disposed within the first portion of the rack, the heat exchanger configured to remove heat from a first airflow path as air flows past the heat exchanger; and
a first fan disposed within the second portion of the rack, the first fan is configured to direct a second airflow path exhausted from the one or more computer drawers, wherein the first airflow path is in an opposite direction to the second airflow path.
12 . The in rack cooling system of claim 11 , further comprising:
an air blocker located between the first portion of the rack and the second portion separating the first airflow path and the second airflow path.
13 . The in rack cooling system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a second fan configured to direct the first airflow path through the heat exchanger;
wherein the first fan and the second fan are located on a first side of the rack.
14 . The in rack cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the first portion of the rack is located above the second portion of the rack.
15 . The in rack cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the heat exchanger extends beyond a top frame of the rack.
16 . The in rack cooling system of claim 15 , further comprising:
a third fan located external to the rack opposite a portion of the heat exchanger that extends beyond the top frame of the rack.
17 . The in rack cooling system of claim 16 , wherein a third airflow path passes through the portion of the heat exchanger that extends beyond the top frame of the rack towards the third fan.
18 . The in rack cooling system of claim 17 , wherein the third airflow path is in a direction similar to the first airflow path.
19 . The in rack cooling system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a third fan located on another rack, wherein a third airflow path passes through the third fan towards other electronic computing components on the another rack, wherein the third airflow path is opposite the second airflow path.
20 . The in rack cooling system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a third fan located on another rack, wherein a third airflow path passes through another heat exchanger on the another rack towards the third fan, wherein the third airflow path is opposite the first airflow path.