In-tank system and method of subsidizing cost of providing information
The inventive subject matter provides for repurposing otherwise wasted thermal energy to drive a commercial process. Thermal energy from a two-phase immersion-cooling system containing a computer system is operably coupled with a compressor, heat exchanger, pressure regulator, and controller, to provide thermal energy at an elevated temperature to drive the commercial process. The immersion-cooling system can advantageously be used to cool computer systems, including Bitcoin miners, crypto miners, high-performance computers, AI computers, or other thermal energy producing devices. The system operates by extracting vapor of the working fluid residing in the headspace of the immersion-cooling system, increasing the pressure and temperature of the extracted vapor by compression, and then passing this vapor to a heat exchanger, thereby providing thermal energy to drive a commercial process. The pressure of the working fluid is reduced, and returned to the tank of the immersion-cooling system.
1 . A system that uses thermal energy resulting from an information processing system to drive a district heating system, comprising:
a computer system configured to generate information;
an immersion-cooling system configured with a tank that contains the computer system, a first low-pressure liquid-phase of a working fluid and a headspace containing a low-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid and a non-condensable gas, and bellows;
a compressor configured to extract the low-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid from the headspace to the compressor;
wherein the compressor is further configured to compress the low-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid to produce a high-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid at an elevated temperature above a temperature of the working fluid in the tank;
a heat exchanger configured to transfer thermal energy from the high-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid to the district heating system, during which the high-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid is condensed to a high-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid;
a pressure regulator configured to reduce the pressure of the high-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid to a second low-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid, which is returned to the tank and mixed with the first low-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid in the tank; and
a controller configured to monitor and control a commercial process, wherein the commercial process comprises sensible heating of water to a temperature above the temperature of the working fluid in the tank.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system comprises a processor configured for high-performance computing.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the tank is configured for substantially isobaric phase change of the working fluid from the first or second low-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid to the low-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the compressor is configured for nearly isentropic compression of the working fluid, from the low-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid to the high-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger is configured for substantially isobaric condensation of the working fluid, wherein thermal energy is transferred from the working fluid to the commercial process, resulting in at least a partial phase change of the working fluid from high-pressure vapor-phase of the working fluid to high-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the pressure regulator is configured for nearly isenthalpic pressure reduction of the working fluid from the high-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid to the first or second low-pressure liquid-phase of the working fluid.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the headspace includes more than 10 mol % of a non-condensable gas other than ambient air.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the non-condensable gas has no more than 2 mol % of oxygen.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control at least one of the computer system, operation of the bellows, the compressor, or the pressure regulator.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to feedback to control a rate of electrical energy usage by the computer system as a function of electrical energy cost and/or computational incentives.