Experimental Study on Rack Cooling System based on a Pulsating Heat Pipe

A rack cooling system based on a large scale flat plate pulsating heat pipe is proposed. The heat generated from IT equipment in a closed rack is transferred by the rear door pulsating heat pipe to the chilled air passage and is avoided to release into the room. The influence of the start-up performance of the heat pipe, the load of the rack and the load dissipation to the temperature and the velocity distribution in the rack are discussed. It is found that the temperature would be lower and the temperature distribution would be more uniform in the rack when the pulsating heat pipe is in operation. Also, the effect of rack electricity load on temperature distribution is analyzed. It is indicated that higher velocity of chilled air will improve heat transfer of the rack.