Power supply optimized for immersed computing

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

Powerbox has claimed an industry-first power supply solution for immersed computing applications such as hyper-loaded computing machines. The PRBX OFI600A12 has been under development for two years and validated by Powerbox’s R&D and quality teams as a certified platform for a new generation of power supplies for “immerged” applications.

“Besides requiring a new mechanical approach to facilitate fluid circulation through and around the power supply, designers had to investigate every single component for compatibility with cooling fluids to guarantee they will maintain their mechanical and electrical performances when immerged, e.g. risk of corrosion,” said Powerbox. “The development process also included a thorough risk analysis to verify that when immerged the final product operates with the highest level of safety for users and equipment.”

The OFI600A12 is based on an interleaved transition mode power factor correction (PFC) design with an LLC converter as the second stage. It features built-in supervising functions that allows the power supply to be factory reconfigured to meet specific tasks and demands.

In addition, the power supply is designed to have the lowest possible inrush current, less than 10 A at 264 VAC. Other specs include an input voltage of 187 to 265 VAC, dual outputs comprising a master 12 V/600 W and an independent auxiliary of 5 V/10 W. Efficiency is rated up to 93%.

The OFI600A12 includes remote on/off, remote reset, over-current and over-voltage protection and complies with safety and EMC regulations. Output protection may be required to be one of several different configurations — switch off, hiccup mode or constant current — meeting this requirement, said Powerbox. The OFI600A12 can be reconfigured as appropriate. Based on firmware defined profiles and the output protection configuration, the mode of operation can be factory selected in a few minutes.

The unit is protected by a conformal coating and complies with the RoHS and REACH directives.

“With increased concerns for the environment and energy optimization, immersed data centers are becoming widespread and a number of industrial embedded applications have adopted immersed computers requiring compliant power supplies that are designed, tested and certified to work safely when immerged in a cooling fluid,” Patrick Le Fèvre, Powerbox’s chief marketing and communication officer, said in a statement.