System for cooling an electronics rack comprising a fluidly connected air-to-liquid heat exchanger and at least one cooling plate

摘要

A cooling apparatus for an electronics rack includes an air-to-liquid heat exchanger 530, one or more coolant-cooled structures 520 and a tube; the heat exchanger 530, is disposed to cool air passing through the rack, includes a plurality of distinct, coolant-carrying tube sections, each tube section having a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet, one of which is coupled in fluid communication with a coolant loop to facilitate flow of coolant through the tube section; the coolant-cooled structure(s) 520 are in thermal contact with an electronic component(s) of the rack, and facilitates transfer of heat from the component(s) to the coolant; the tube connects in fluid communication one coolant-cooled structure 520 and the other of the coolant inlet or outlet of the one tube section, and facilitates flow of coolant directly between that coolant-carrying tube section of the heat exchanger 530 and the coolant-cooled structure 520. Also disclosed is a method of fabricating the above cooling apparatus and a cooled electronic system comprising the above cooling apparatus and an electronics rack. The cooling apparatus may also comprise an airflow director 512 configured to redirect airflow exhausting from the electronics rack at the outlet side through an airflow return pathway 531 to the inlet side of the rack, where the heat exchanger 530 may be provided in the airflow return pathway 531.