Multi-stage staggered radiator for high performance liquid cooling applications

Abstract

A fluid-based cooling system including a multistage staggered radiator is configured to distribute a parallel airflow to each radiator in the multistage radiator. Each radiator is staggered so as to expose a total frontal area of the radiators to the parallel airflow in a minimized vertical space. Air ducts are configured to provide isolated air pathways into and, in some cases, out of each radiator in the multistage radiator.

1 . A cooling system for cooling one or more heat generating devices, the cooling system comprising: 
 a. a multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger including a plurality of individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers and a plurality of independent air ducts, a specific air duct coupled to each individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger, wherein each air duct is configured to provide a portion of an input airflow received by the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger to a corresponding fluid-to-air heat exchanger, further wherein the plurality of fluid-to-air heat exchangers are positioned in a staggered configuration such that a frontal area of the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger is less than a sum of a frontal area of each fluid-to-air heat exchanger within the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger; and    b. a fluid-based cooling loop coupled to the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger, wherein the cooling loop is configured to provide heated fluid to each of the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchangers.    
   
   
       2 . The cooling system of  claim 1  wherein the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger is a multistage radiator, and each individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger within the multistage radiator is a radiator.  
   
   
       3 . The cooling system of  claim 1  further comprising one or more air movers configured to provide the input airflow to the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger.  
   
   
       4 . The cooling system of  claim 3  wherein each air mover comprises a fan.  
   
   
       5 . The cooling system of  claim 1  wherein each cooling loop further comprises one or more heat exchangers and a pump.  
   
   
       6 . The cooling system of  claim 1  wherein the cooling loop is configured to fluidically couple the plurality of individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers in series.  
   
   
       7 . The cooling system of  claim 1  wherein the cooling loop is configured to fluidically couple the plurality of fluid-to-air heat exchangers in parallel such that each individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger receives a portion of the heated fluid provided to the multistage radiator.  
   
   
       8 . The cooling system of  claim 1  wherein each independent air duct includes an output air duct dedicated to the corresponding fluid-to-air heat exchanger.  
   
   
       9 . The cooling system of  claim 8  wherein each independent air duct is configured to form an isolated air pathway through the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger via one of the individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers  
   
   
       10 . The cooling system of  claim 1  wherein each independent air duct is configured to form an isolated air pathway to the corresponding individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger.  
   
   
       11 . A multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger comprising: 
 a. a plurality of individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers positioned in a staggered configuration such that a frontal area of the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger is less than a sum of a frontal area of each individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger within the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger;    b. a plurality of air ducts, an independent air duct coupled to each individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger, wherein each air duct is configured to provide a portion of an input airflow received by the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger to a corresponding individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger; and    c. a plurality of fluid lines coupled to each of the plurality of individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers and configured to distribute fluid to each of the plurality of individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers, wherein the plurality of fluid lines includes an input fluid line to receive heated fluid and an output fluid line to output cooled fluid from the multistage radiator.    
   
   
       12 . The multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger of  claim 11  wherein the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger is a multistage radiator, and each individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger within the multistage radiator is a radiator.  
   
   
       13 . The multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger of  claim 11  wherein the plurality of individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers are fluidically coupled in series.  
   
   
       14 . The multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger of  claim 11  wherein the plurality of fluid-to-air heat exchangers are fluidically coupled in parallel such that each individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger receives a portion of the heated fluid provided to the multistage radiator.  
   
   
       15 . The multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger of  claim 11  wherein each independent air duct includes an output air duct dedicated to the corresponding fluid-to-air heat exchanger.  
   
   
       16 . The multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger of  claim 15  wherein each independent air duct is configured to form an isolated air pathway through the multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger via one of the individual fluid-to-air heat exchangers  
   
   
       17 . The multistage fluid-to-air heat exchanger of  claim 11  wherein each independent air duct is configured to form an isolated air pathway to the corresponding individual fluid-to-air heat exchanger.