JP2001085883A - Device for cooling electronics - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a condenser and cold plate so as to demonstrate the same cooling ability when any system is operated while an installing space is made smaller in a device for cooling electronics having redundancy by combining a plurality of refrigerating cycles. SOLUTION: In a device for cooling electronics in which a plurality of systems of refrigerating cycles I, II, which are independent in consideration to redundancy, are combined, the respective systems of refrigerating cycles share a shared condenser 50 and shared cold plate 30 each having a single structure. Here, the shared condenser is provided with a plurality of systems of refrigerant piping individually corresponding to the respective systems of refrigerating cycles I, II therein. The shared cold plate having a heat generating element such as electronics mounted thereon is provided with a plurality of systems of refrigerant paths 3a-I, 3a-II individually corresponding to the respective refrigerating cycles formed therein.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cooling device for electronic equipment which cools a heating element by combining a refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For a large-sized computer, a cold plate, which is heat-coupled to a heat-generating element (semiconductor element) having a large heat value (heat loss) upon energization, is used as an evaporator of a refrigerator to cool the element. A cooling device for an electronic device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-196395.

FIG. 6 shows a refrigeration cycle of a conventional cooling apparatus for electronic equipment. In the figure, 1 is a heating element (such as a semiconductor element) of an electronic device, 2 is a power supply thereof,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a cold plate attached to the heating element 1 as a heat sink. The cold plate 3 is used as an evaporator, and is combined with an electric compressor 4, a condenser 5, and an expansion valve (temperature expansion valve or electronic expansion valve) 6. The refrigeration cycle is configured by connecting the components to each other by a refrigerant pipe 7. The condenser 5 is a fin tube type condenser equipped with a fan 5a, and a radiation fin 5c is connected to a refrigerant pipe 5b arranged in a meandering shape as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b). Configuration. In addition, 5d is a refrigerant inlet and 5e is a refrigerant outlet.

[0004] The operation of such a refrigeration cycle is well known.
The high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 4 is condensed and liquefied in a condenser 5, then decompressed by an expansion valve 6 and sent to a cold plate 3 (evaporator) where it evaporates and is cooled. After generating cold heat in the compressor 3, the refrigerant circulates back to the compressor 4 again. With this refrigeration cycle, the heat generated by the heating element 1 is removed.

In the above-described cooling device, if the cooling device should fail and the function of cooling the heating element 1 is stopped during operation while the electronic equipment is energized, the heating element 1 rises above the allowable temperature and is damaged. May be affected. Moreover, in the above-described direct expansion type cooling system, it is expected that the cooling device will not operate normally due to, for example, a refrigerant leak or a malfunction of the compressor. In addition, since continuous operation is performed particularly in an electronic device such as a large-sized computer, if the operation is stopped due to a failure of the cooling system, a great deal of damage will occur.

For this reason, in a cooling system for an electronic device such as a large-sized computer, it is essential to have a redundancy for continuously cooling the electronic device in some way even if a failure occurs in the cooling device. Further, even when a failed cooling device is repaired, there is a need for a support system capable of continuing cooling of the electronic device by some method and continuing operation of the electronic device in any situation.

Furthermore, in order to continuously operate the electronic equipment in a stable state, it is necessary to keep a heating element whose operating characteristics change depending on the element temperature at a constant temperature within an allowable temperature. Even when the cooling system breaks down and the electronic device is continuously cooled in some way, it is necessary to always keep the heating element within the allowable temperature.

In order to cope with such a problem, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 8, a cooling system is provided which is equipped with two systems of cooling systems including a spare cooling system to increase redundancy. Have been. That is, the cooling system of FIG. 8 includes two independent refrigeration cycles I and II each having the same configuration as the cooling device shown in FIG. 6, and the cold plates 3I and 3II of the refrigeration cycles I and II are connected to electronic equipment. A cooling system is provided by heat transfer with the heat generating element 1 of FIG. .

In such a configuration, the heating element 1 is cooled by operating only one of the two refrigeration cycles I and II at all times. If this occurs, the operation of the refrigeration system is switched from the refrigeration cycle I to II and the continuous operation is performed.

Thus, even if, for example, a refrigerant leak occurs in the refrigeration cycle I during operation, the piping of each refrigeration cycle is separated, so that the other (reserve side) refrigeration cycle
II can be operated without any effect. In addition, even when the operation of the failed refrigeration cycle is stopped and repaired, or when maintenance such as maintenance and inspection is performed, the heating element 1 is operated while the operation of the electronic device is continued by using the other refrigeration cycle. Can be cooled. Further, if the cooling capacity of each of the refrigeration cycles I and II is the same, the heating element 1 can be similarly cooled in any of the refrigeration cycles.

[0011]

In the case where the cooling system of an electronic device is combined with two independent refrigeration cycles to increase the redundancy, the above-mentioned conventional configuration is not sufficient in terms of space. There are the following problems.
(1) When installing electronic equipment such as a large computer at the location, the installation space for the cooling device, which is an auxiliary machine, is often limited, and as shown in FIG. The installation of the cooling device requires a large installation space because the condensers 5I and 5II of the respective systems I and II are independent structures, and also increases equipment costs because two condensers are required. It is not advisable to reduce the size of the condenser due to the limitation of the installation space because the heat exchange capacity is reduced and the refrigerant pseudo-shrinkage temperature is increased to cause insufficient cooling capacity and reduced cooling efficiency.

(2) In the configuration of FIG. 8, two independent sets of cold plates 3I and 3II are combined with the heating element 1, but a heat sink of the heating element 1 such as a semiconductor element is generally used. The cold plates 3I and 3II are not symmetrical, and the contact surfaces of the cold plates 3I and 3II change depending on the shape of the mating heat sink, and if the contact area changes, the heat conductivity is also affected. For this reason, two independent heating elements are used.
It is difficult to provide the same cooling capacity by attaching a set of cold plates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a cooling device for an electronic device in which a plurality of refrigeration cycles are combined in consideration of redundancy. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cooling device for an electronic device that can exhibit the same cooling capacity when any system is operated, in addition to reducing the installation space by improving the device and the cold plate.

[0014]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a cold plate is conductively attached to a heating element of an electronic apparatus, and the cold plate is used as an evaporator and an electric compressor. , A condenser, and an expansion valve are combined to form a refrigeration cycle for an electronic device. In this system, a plurality of refrigeration cycles are combined in consideration of the redundancy of the refrigeration system. The common condenser and the common cold plate are shared by a common condenser and a common cold plate, each having a single structure (claim 1). Here, the common condenser and the common cold plate are configured in the following manner. .

(1) The common condenser is constituted by providing a plurality of refrigerant pipes respectively corresponding to the refrigeration cycle of each system inside the condenser having a single structure (claim 2).

(2) The common cold plate is formed by forming a plurality of refrigerant passages corresponding to the respective refrigeration cycles inside the cold plate having a single structure (claim 3).

In the above configuration, the refrigerating cycle of each system shares a single condenser and a fan, and is smaller and more compact than a case where an independent condenser is provided for each refrigerating cycle. Therefore, the installation space can be reduced by half. Also, by configuring a plurality of refrigerant passages inside a single cold plate and connecting them to the refrigeration cycle of each system, even if cooling operation is performed in any system, a configuration using a plurality of independent cold plates On the other hand, it is possible to solve the problem that the cooling capacity differs depending on the state of contact between the cold plate and the heating element.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
A description will be given based on the embodiment shown in FIGS. In the drawings of each embodiment, members corresponding to those in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire cooling system according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a single fin-tube type common condenser 50 shared by refrigeration cycles I and II is provided as a condenser, and a single common cold plate shared by refrigeration cycles I and II is further provided as a cold plate. 30 is heat conductively attached to the heating element 1.

Next, specific embodiments of the common condenser 50 are shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) and FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). That is,
The shared condenser 50 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 shares a fan 5a and a radiation fin 5c, and has a refrigerant pipe 5b-I corresponding to the refrigeration cycle I and a refrigerant pipe 5b- corresponding to the refrigeration cycle II inside the condenser. II, and each refrigerant pipe 5b-I, 5b
For each b-II, the refrigerant inlet 5d-I and outlet 5e-I are connected to the refrigerant line 7-I of the refrigerating cycle I described above, and the refrigerant inlet 5d-I
I and outlet 5e-II are connected to the refrigerant line 7-II of the refrigeration cycle II.

Here, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the refrigerant pipe 5b
-I and 5b-II are distributed to the front and rear positions with respect to the radiation fin 5c, and in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the refrigerant pipes 5b-I and 5b-II cross the radiation fin 5c. It is plumbed.

With this configuration, the fan 5a and the radiating fin 5c are shared as compared with the condenser 5 used in the conventional cooling system shown in FIG. 8 (refer to FIG. 7 for the structure of the condenser 5). In addition to requiring less space, it can also be manufactured at a lower cost than in the case where two condensers 5 shown in FIG. 7 are installed. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 in which the refrigerant pipes 5b-I and 5b-II are crossed, the heat radiation surface of the heat radiation fin 5c is different from the embodiment of FIG. Embodiments are shown in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c) and FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c). That is, in the common cold plate 30 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, two independent refrigerant passages 3a-I and 3a-II are formed inside a single cold plate on which the heating element 1 is mounted. The refrigerant inlet 3b-II and the outlet 3c-I are connected to the refrigerant line 7-I of the refrigeration cycle I described above for each of the refrigerant passages 3a-I and 3a-II.
The refrigerant inlet 3b-II and outlet 3c-II are connected to the refrigeration cycle II.
Is connected to the refrigerant line 7-II.

With this configuration, when the refrigeration cycle I is operating, the refrigerant flows through the refrigerant passage 3a-I, and when the operation is switched to the refrigeration cycle II, the refrigerant flows into the refrigerant passage 3a-II.
Flow through. In any case, since the cold plate on which the heat generating resin 1 is mounted is common, substantially the same cooling capacity can be exhibited.

In the configuration of the illustrated example, the distance of the heat transfer path between the heating element 1 and the refrigerant passage 3a-I is different from the distance of the heat transfer between the heating element 1 and the refrigerant passage 3a-II. When the refrigerant passages 3a-I and 3a-II have the same passage cross section as in the configuration of FIG. 4, when the refrigeration cycles I and II are operated under the same conditions, the element temperature of the heating element 1 is slightly lower in the latter. Expected to be higher.

To solve the above problem, FIG.
In this embodiment, the cross-sectional area of the refrigerant passage 3a-II having a longer heat transfer distance with respect to the heating element 1 is set larger than that of the refrigerant passage 3a-I so as to increase the heat transfer area with the cold plate. Thereby, the cooling performance can be exhibited regardless of whether the refrigeration cycle I or II is operated while compensating for the difference in the heat transfer distance.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, a cold plate is heat conductively attached to a heating element of an electronic device, and the cold plate is used as an evaporator, and an electric compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and the like. A cooling system for an electronic device configured as a refrigeration cycle by combining a plurality of refrigeration cycles in consideration of the redundancy of the cooling system. A common condenser and a common cold plate, each of which has a single structure, shall be shared by the common condenser. Pipes are provided, and the common cold plate has a single structure inside the cold plate. With formed to constitute a condenser made independently structure for each refrigeration cycle of each system, as compared with the conventional structure provided with cold plates individually, the effect of the next follow.

(1) With respect to the condenser, a single common condenser is shared by a plurality of refrigeration cycles, thereby ensuring the necessary condensation capacity for each refrigeration cycle.
Its external size and installation space can be greatly reduced.

(2) Regarding the cold plate, a plurality of refrigeration cycles share a single common cold plate on which a heating element of an electronic device is mounted. The heating element can be effectively cooled without a problem that causes a difference in performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a refrigeration cycle system diagram of a cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a common condenser in FIG. 1;
Is a rear view, (b) is a side view

3A and 3B are configuration diagrams of an embodiment of a common condenser different from FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 3A is a rear view and FIG.

4A and 4B are configuration diagrams of a common cold plate in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 4A is a plan view, and FIGS.
X, Y-Y sectional view

5 (a) is a plan view, and FIGS. 5 (b) and (c are cross-sectional views taken along lines XX and YY in FIG. 5 (a), respectively.

FIG. 6 is a system diagram of a conventional electronic device cooling device including a single-system refrigeration cycle.

7 is a configuration diagram of the condenser in FIG. 6, (a) is a rear view, and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 8 is a system diagram of a conventional electronic device cooling system configured with two refrigeration cycles in consideration of redundancy.

[Explanation of symbols]

 I, II Refrigeration cycle of each system 1 Heating element 30 Shared cold plate 3a-I, 3a-II Refrigerant passage 4I, 4II Compressor 50 Shared condenser 5a Fan 5b-I, 5b-II Refrigerant pipe 5c Radiation fin 7-I , 7-II refrigerant line

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takehide Itoyama 1-1-1 Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (reference) 5E322 AA01 AA11 AB11 BB03 DB02 DB06 FA01 5F036 AA01 BA05 BB21 BD01

Claims (3)

[Claims] A cooling plate is mounted on a heat-generating element of an electronic device so as to conduct heat, and the cold plate is used as an evaporator to cool an electronic device which constitutes a refrigeration cycle by combining an electric compressor, a condenser, and an expansion valve. A combination of a plurality of refrigeration cycles in consideration of redundancy of the cooling device, wherein a condenser for each refrigeration cycle,
A cooling device for electronic equipment, wherein a cold plate is shared by a common condenser and a common cold plate, each having a single structure. 2. The condenser according to claim 1, wherein the common condenser is provided with a plurality of refrigerant pipes respectively corresponding to the respective refrigeration cycles inside the condenser having a single structure. Characteristic electronic equipment cooling device. 3. The cold plate according to claim 1, wherein the common cold plate is formed by forming a plurality of refrigerant passages in the cold plate having a single structure, respectively corresponding to the respective refrigeration cycles. A cooling device for an electronic device, comprising: