Mainframes and Supercomputers
As electronic computers became larger and more complex, cooling of the active components became a critical factor for reliable operation. Early vacuum-tube computers, with relatively large cabinets, could rely on natural or forced air circulation for cooling. However, solid state devices were packed much more densely and had lower allowable operating temperature.
Starting in 1965, IBM and other manufacturers of mainframe computers sponsored intensive research into the physics of cooling densely-packed integrated circuits. Many air and liquid cooling systems were devised and investigated, using methods such as natural and forced convection, direct air impingement, direct liquid immersion and forced convection, pool boiling, falling films, flow boiling, and liquid jet impingement. Mathematical analysis was used to predict temperature rises of components for each possible cooling system geometry.
IBM developed three generations of Thermal Conduction Module (TCM) which used a water-cooled cold plate in direct thermal contact with integrated circuit packages. Each package had a thermally conductive pin pressed onto it, and helium gas surrounded chips and heat conducting pins. The design could remove up to 27 watts from a chip and up to 2000 watts per module, while maintaining chip package temperatures around 50 C. Systems using TCMs were the 3081 family (1980), ES/3090 (1984) and some models of the ES/9000 (1990). In the IBM 3081 processor, TCMs allowed up to 2700 watts on a single printed circuit board while maintaining chip temperature at 69 C. Thermal conduction modules using water cooling were also used in mainframe systems manufactured by other companies including Mitsubishi and Fujitsu.
The Cray-1 supercomputer designed in 1976 had a distinctive cooling system. The machine was only 77 inches (1950 mm) in height and 56 1/2 inches (1430 mm) in diameter, and consumed up to 115 kilowatts; this is comparable to the average power consumption of a few dozen Western homes. The integrated circuits used in the machine were the fastest available at the time, using emitter-coupled logic; however, the speed was accompanied by high power consumption compared to later CMOS devices.
Heat removal was critical. Liquid Freon was circulated through piping embedded in vertical cooling bars in twelve columnar sections of the machine. Each of the 1662 printed circuit modules of the machine had a copper core and was clamped to the cooling bar. The system was designed to maintain the cases of integrated circuits at no more than 54 degrees Celsius, with Freon coolant circulating at 21 C. Final heat rejection was through a Freon to water heat exchanger. Piping, heat exchangers, and pumps for the cooling system were arranged in an upholstered bench seat around the outside of the base of the computer. About 20 per cent of the machine's weight in operation was coolant.
In later Cray-2, with its more densely packed modules, Seymour Cray had trouble effectively cooling the machine using the metal conduction technique with Freon gas so he switched to 'Liquid Immersion' cooling. This method involved filling the chassis of the Cray-2 with a liquid called Fluorinert. Fluorinert, as its name implies, is an inert liquid that does not interfere with the operation of electronic components. As the components came to operating temperature, the heat would dissipate into the Fluorinert, which was pumped out of the machine to a chilled water heat exchange system.
Performance per watt of modern systems has greatly improved; many more computations can be carried out with a given power consumption than was possible with the integrated circuits of the 1980s and 1990s. Recent supercomputer projects such as Blue Gene rely on air cooling, which reduces cost, complexity, and size of systems compared to liquid cooling.
Read more about this topic: Computer Cooling