A lab-scale spray cooled rack system with a server and simulated heaters, operating with near-ambient temperature coolant of approximately 30 °C, was developed for data center cooling application. This system has significant energy saving potential as it eliminates the need for a chiller unit, which is usually necessary in conventional air-cooling schemes. The system was designed to dissipate a maximum heat load of 5.6 kW. Despite its higher operating temperature, our investigation shows that the spray cooled system leads to better cooling performance of the microprocessors as compared to conventional air-cooling scheme. A durability study for more than 40 h of cumulative intermittent operation showed no degradation in system performance when operated at high chamber temperature conditions (>35 ℃). The thermal performance of the spray cooled system and the effects of parameters such as spray nozzle flow rate, condenser fan power, condenser flow rate and heat loads were systematically characterized. It is found that the thermal performance of the simulated heaters is mainly affected by the spray nozzle flow rate, while the condenser fan power and condenser cooling water flow rate strongly affect the condensation rate and are, therefore, critical parameters for spray chamber pressure control. In summary, this work demonstrates the possibility of employing the newly developed spray cooled system for the thermal management of high-performance servers of data centers in tropical climates and identified key operating parameters that are useful for the design, operation and implementation of this system.

实验室规模的喷雾冷却机架系统带有服务器和模拟加热器，使用大约 30 °C 的接近环境温度的冷却剂运行，用于数据中心冷却应用。该系统具有显着的节能潜力，因为它消除了对冷水机组的需求，而这在传统的空气冷却方案中通常是必需的。该系统的设计旨在散发最大 5.6 kW 的热负荷。尽管工作温度较高，但我们的调查表明，与传统的空气冷却方案相比，喷雾冷却系统可带来更好的微处理器冷却性能。超过 40 小时的累积间歇运行的耐久性研究表明，在高腔室温度条件下（> 35 ℃）运行时，系统性能没有下降。系统地表征了喷雾冷却系统的热性能以及喷雾喷嘴流量、冷凝器风扇功率、冷凝器流量和热负荷等参数的影响。发现模拟加热器的热性能主要受喷嘴流量的影响，而冷凝器风扇功率和冷凝器冷却水流量对冷凝率影响很大，因此是雾化室压力控制的关键参数。总之，这项工作证明了采用新开发的喷雾冷却系统对热带气候下数据中心的高性能服务器进行热管理的可能性，并确定了对该系统的设计、操作和实施有用的关键操作参数。