I think direct contact liquid cooling (DCLC)solutions from Asetek and > CoolIT are much more practical, as are immersion cooling systems using 3M > Novec engineered fluid. Novec is really appealing because of the heat > transfer efficiency of the change of state. I believe it was originally > designed as an electronic parts cleaner, too. It evaporates at room temp > like other electronic cleaners, so when you pull hardware out the liquid, > it's dry in a matter of seconds, and very clean, too! Much more practical > than mineral oil in that regard. 3M claims it has a very low global warming > factor, too. > > Personally, I think DCLC since any leaks in the data center should be > smaller than if a tank-like chassis springs a leak, and there one is scared > of the environmental impact of water, even when antifreeze and other water > treatment chemicals are added to it, as would be needed in this use case. >
2 phase solutions are sexy but ultimately impractical. * what happens when your recondensing loop fails? and you've evaporated all the fluid off... * try and get a permit to hold large volumes of it in a computer room * try and find a computer room that will allow it in * the above two are mostly due to the low boiling point of the fluid * expensive (~ an order of magnitude) AND you don't actually need a 2 phase solution to get the heat off the cpu's etc. A single phase solution works just fine. -- Dr Stuart Midgley sdm...@sdm900.com
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