JPH109735A - Cooling device for electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid condensation on a cold water system which is not in operation, prevent a protecting device from making an erroneous detection and avoid detrimental effect on electronic equipment in a water-cooled type cooling device for use in cooling a plurality of pumps and electronic devices having a heat exchanger installed therein. SOLUTION: A heat exchanger 5b within a stopped cold water system in a plurality of cold water systems is supercooled through convection and conduction from heat exhaust side, the heat exchanger 5b and connected pipes before and after the heat exchanger are cooled to a temperature lower than a dew point to form dew. A dew sensor 7b detects this phenomenon and when detection is transmitted to a control circuit 8, the control circuit 8 changes over an operation to the stopped pump 3b, circulates the cold water warmed by heat removed by the electronic device 1 to the cold water system producing dew and then the heat exchanger 5b and the connecting pipes before and after the heat exchanger is heated to a temperature higher than the dew temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a cooling device for electronic equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Systems for liquid-cooling heat-generating electronic devices are already known. It is also known that, in a liquid cooling system, when cooling is performed rapidly, moisture in indoor air is dewed and adversely affects an electronic circuit. The countermeasure is to make the electronic circuit part an airtight structure to prevent moisture from entering,
In addition, there is a control (Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-12209) for delaying the start-up time of an electronic circuit after power is turned on.

[0003]

In the prior art, dew condensation and start-up of electronic equipment have been considered, but no consideration has been given to a cooling device for supplying chilled water. A cooling device that cools electronic devices that generate heat, such as a computer, with cold water is installed in the same room, and it is common to install a water leak sensor that detects water leaks. Condensed water may be erroneously detected as a water leak.
In addition, a backup system is prepared for a computer because the influence of the system down is so great that a cooling system is usually prepared for the backup system. Moreover, since the backup system must be started immediately when a failure occurs, it cannot be started immediately if the control that delays the start-up time is performed as in the prior art, and the connection between the cooling device and the exhaust heat side during operation during standby is also not possible. There is a problem that dew condensation occurs due to convection and heat transfer transmitted from the pipe, and a water leak sensor erroneously detects.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device that efficiently controls a system for cooling an electronic device that generates heat, such as a computer, with cold water so that dew condensation does not occur.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cooling device according to the present invention has a configuration described in the claims.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a chilled water system diagram of the cooling device of the present embodiment. A pump 3 for supplying cold water to an internal flow path of a cooling plate 2 closely attached to the electronic device 1, a tank 4 for absorbing water expansion, a heat exchanger 5 for cooling water, and a check for preventing backflow of water The valves 6 are sequentially connected by pipes. Two pumps 3 and two heat exchangers 5 are provided for operation (cold water system A) and for backup (cold water system B), and a check valve 6 prevents backflow. Next, a dew condensation sensor 7 and a control circuit 8 that inputs information obtained from the dew condensation sensor 7 and controls the pump 3 are configured at the outlet of the heat exchanger 5 so that dew condensation does not occur in the chilled water system.

It is now assumed that the chilled water system A is in operation. In the chilled water system B of the backup system, since the pump 3b is stopped, the chilled water does not circulate but stays in the heat exchanger 5b, and is supercooled when the exhaust heat side circulates. As a result, the heat exchanger 5b
In addition, the surface temperature of the chilled water pipes surrounding it becomes lower than the dew point temperature due to convection and conduction, and a dew condensation phenomenon occurs. In order to avoid this, the present invention performs the following control. As described above, when a condensation phenomenon occurs in the heat exchanger 5b and the surrounding cold water piping, the condensation sensor 7 detects it and transmits it to the control circuit 8. The received control circuit 8 activates a chilled water system B (a backup system in which dew condensation occurs) which is supposed to be activated when a failure occurs, and utilizes the chilled water which has taken heat from the electronic device 1 by the cooling plate 2 and the heat exchanger 5b and the heat exchanger 5b. Control so that the surface temperature of the surrounding chilled water pipe is higher than the dew point temperature. This is summarized in a flowchart as shown in FIG. That is, the pump 3
Determines which of the chilled water system A and system B is operating,
When the dew condensation sensor 7 of the stopped chilled water system detects dew condensation, the pump 3 is switched, and thereafter the dew condensation state is similarly detected by the dew condensation sensor 7, and the pump 3 is alternately operated. As described above, dew condensation can be prevented even when the number of cold water supply systems is plural.
Instead of the condensation sensor 7, a temperature sensor 9 and a humidity sensor 10 for detecting room temperature may be used, and information obtained from the sensor may be processed and controlled by the control circuit 8. In the embodiment, the operation of the pump 3 is controlled to maintain the temperature equal to or higher than the dew point. However, the heater 11 is provided at the outlet of the heat exchanger 5 instead of the pump 3, and when the dew condensation occurs, the control circuit 8 energizes the heater 11, Control may be performed so that the surface temperature of the heat exchanger 5b and the chilled water piping around the heat exchanger 5b is equal to or higher than the dew point temperature.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the operation of the pump 3 is controlled via the dew sensor 7 and the control circuit 8 even if a dew condensation phenomenon occurs in the standby chilled water supply system in a plurality of chilled water supply systems. Accordingly, the temperature can be maintained at the dew point temperature or higher, the dew condensation phenomenon can be prevented, and the adverse effect on the electronic device can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of cold water of a cooling device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control flowchart of the cooling device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic equipment, 2 ... Cooling plate, 3 ... Pump, 4 ... Expansion tank, 5 ... Heat exchanger, 6 ... Check valve, 7 ... Condensation sensor, 8 ...
Control circuit, 9: temperature sensor, 10: humidity sensor, 11 ...
heater.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A water-cooling type cooling device for cooling electronic equipment with cold water, wherein at least one tank is provided in a suction side system path of a pump, and a plurality of sets of a cold water supply system in which the pump and a heat exchanger are connected by piping. In electronic equipment cooling devices provided in parallel,
A cooling device for an electronic device, wherein a dew condensation sensor and a control circuit for calculating and processing information of the dew condensation sensor are provided at an outlet pipe of the heat exchanger in each of the chilled water supply systems, and the operation control of the pump is performed.