Scalable thermal ride-through for immersion-cooled server systems

Abstract

A thermal management system for a computing device includes an immersion tank with a cooling fluid therein, a computing device positioned in the cooling fluid in the immersion tank, and a thermal block positioned in the cooling fluid in the immersion tank. The computing device heats the cooling fluid, and the thermal block is configured to receive heat from the cooling fluid. The thermal block includes a fluid management feature to direct flow of the cooling fluid relative to the thermal block and computing device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A thermal management system for a computing device comprising:
 an immersion tank with a cooling fluid filling at least a portion of the immersion tank;   a computing device positioned in the cooling fluid, wherein the computing device heats the cooling fluid; and   a thermal block positioned in the cooling fluid and configured to receive heat from the cooling fluid, wherein the thermal block includes:
 a fluid management feature to direct flow of the cooling fluid relative to the thermal block and computing device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block has at least one fluid outlet. 
     
     
         3 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block is a container with a second material contained in an interior volume of the thermal block. 
     
     
         4 . The thermal management system of  claim 3 , wherein the thermal block further includes a third material, and the second material is chemically reactive with the third material. 
     
     
         5 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block has an inner surface that complementarily mates with at least a portion of a topography of the computing device. 
     
     
         6 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block includes a plurality of fluid channels in an inner surface thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The thermal management system of  claim 6 , wherein one or more of the fluid channels are oriented to direct vapor bubbles of the cooling fluid toward a vapor collection point of the immersion tank. 
     
     
         8 . The thermal management system of  claim 6 , wherein one or more of the fluid channels are oriented to direct liquid cooling fluid toward a heat-generating component of the computing device. 
     
     
         9 . The thermal management system of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more fluid channels are oriented to direct liquid cooling fluid from a liquid cooling fluid return line toward the heat-generating component of the computing device. 
     
     
         10 . The thermal management system of  claim 6 , wherein the thermal block is affixed to a board with the channel oriented vertically. 
     
     
         11 . The thermal management system of  claim 6 , wherein at least a portion of the channel or other fluid management feature is curved to direct cooling fluid over a surface of the computing device. 
     
     
         12 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein an inner surface of the thermal block is complementarily shaped to a topography of the computing device. 
     
     
         13 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein an inner surface of the thermal block is positioned with a gap of between 2 millimeters (mm) and 10 mm between from a block surface of the computing device. 
     
     
         14 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block includes fiduciary marks on a top surface thereof, the fiduciary marks being visible to a machine vision system. 
     
     
         15 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is oriented with a board vertically in the immersion tank. 
     
     
         16 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device is mounted to a server rack. 
     
     
         17 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the fluid management feature is oriented horizontally or diagonally to direct cooling fluid over a surface of the computing device. 
     
     
         18 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block is positioned over a single heat-generating component of the computing device. 
     
     
         19 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block is sized to fit over or be affixed to a processor. 
     
     
         20 . The thermal management system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal block is sized to fit over or be affixed to an entirety of the computing device such that the thermal block has an area that is approximately equal to or greater than an area of a board of the computing device.