Liquid to Refrigerant Cooling System Challenges, Characterization, and Operational Limits: A Case Study

• Main Authors: Heydari, Ali, Soud, Qusai, Tradat, Mohammad, Gharaibeh, Ahmad, Shahi, Pardeep, Eslami, Bahareh, Chowdhury, Uschas, Rodriguez, Jeremy, Sammakia, Bahgat
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: CDU; Data Centers; Data processing; Electronic Thermal Management; Heating systems; Liquid cooling; Liquid to Refrigerant HXs; Rack; Reliability; Server; Servers; Space cooling; Thermal loading; Thermal management of electronics; Thermal stability; Thermomechanical processes
• ISSN: 2694-2135
• DOI: 10.1109/ITherm55375.2024.10709456

As data processing demands are on the rise, efficient cooling systems are becoming vital for conserving energy, space, and ensuring optimal performance. While air cooling is a straightforward and convenient method for electronic thermal management, it may struggle to manage higher heat flux effectively. Consequently, liquid cooling techniques have gained significant attention for their ability to manage the increased thermal loads generated by smaller chip sizes. In the present work, a facility-level Liquid-to-Refrigerant (L2R) system is experimentally characterized under various operational conditions. The selected system consists of an indoor chiller, an outside condenser unit, and multiple server racks. The system is capable of handling up to 200 kW of thermal load. However, various limitations are observed and studied both on the primary and secondary sides of the system. The impacts of these constraints on the stability and reliability of the chosen system are thoroughly investigated. Various Performance parameters are discussed, along with different operation aspects. Finally, recommendations for best practices related to the studied parameters are carefully documented.