College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Mechanical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Mechanical Engineering
College - Author 3
College of Engineering
Department - Author 3
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 3
BS in Mechanical Engineering
Date
12-2021
Primary Advisor
Eileen Rossman, College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
The Compact Dielectric Cooling team consisting of Josh Hannaman, Marshall Reid, and Salvador Landeros worked with Aria Technologies to create a thermal management system for data centers that can easily implement liquid cooling into current infrastructure for high density computing servers. The project was to design, build, and test a compact immersion cooling system for a senior project at California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo. Immersion cooling is a liquid-cooling process that involves the immersion of electrical IT equipment and the removal of heat from the hot IT components using dielectric liquid. The goal was to build a proof of concept that has the potential to be scaled to have 50 kW of cooling capacity per server rack at full-scale. This report consists of technical background information on pumps, heat exchangers, dielectric fluids, IT housing equipment, and liquid cooling solutions that are currently on the market. This report outlines Aria Technologies' specifications and requirements while displaying our design process taken and the design decisions that have been made to meet these said requirements. The design of the compact dielectric cooling system consists of a 1/3 horsepower centrifugal pump that will run between 0.75 and 1.5 gallons per minute while overcoming a system head of about 20 feet. The heat exchanger is a stainless-steel, liquid-to-air heat exchanger that is rated up to a maximum cooling capacity of 1230 watts with a maximum flow rate of 2 gallons per minute. The medium in which the heat is transferred from the IT equipment and into the ambient air is Fluid Manufacturer’s Fluid C synthetic hydrocarbon which is a single-phase dielectric fluid. The chassis where the IT equipment would reside, and the sensible heat transfer takes place was manufactured out of ½” polycarbonate sheet. The cable/chassis interface was designed with CAD and 3D printed with polylactic acid (PLA). All the major system components are connected using 10-millimeter inner diameter fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) tubing and 3/8-inch NPT stainless steel pipe. The final verification prototype system dimensions and specifications are designed for the DELL R6515 server. The two main tests completed on the verification prototype were a cooling capacity at steady state temperature test and a system pressure vs flowrate test.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/mesp/633