Coolant Distribution Unit with Hot-Swappable Pump and Refresh Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coolant distribution units (CDUs) experience downtime during maintenance or coolant refresh, leading to reduced cooling capabilities and potential structural integrity issues for electrical components.
Innovation Solution
The CDU design incorporates a pump and a coolant refresh device that are interchangeably implementable within the unit, allowing for hot swapping without downtime. This enables continuous cooling operations while swapping between the pump and the coolant refresh device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the CDU undergoes maintenance or coolant refresh, then the coolant can be renewed and maintained, but the CDU experiences downtime and reduced cooling capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The CDU is divided into multiple independent pump units (first pump, second pump) that can operate independently. During maintenance, one pump can be serviced while the other continues to circulate coolant, ensuring continuous cooling operation and eliminating downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is configured in advance with multiple pumps and a bypass line with valve. This preliminary arrangement allows the system to switch to an alternative configuration during maintenance, enabling one pump to be serviced while the other maintains cooling operation.
2Device complexity
If a single pump is used in the CDU, then the device complexity is reduced, but the CDU must shut down during pump maintenance causing downtime
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple pump units are combined within a single CDU system with a common coolant reservoir and piping. This merging allows the pumps to work together or independently, providing redundancy while maintaining a relatively simple overall system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple pumps serve dual purposes: during normal operation, they can work together to provide enhanced cooling capacity; during maintenance, one pump can service the other, ensuring continuous operation. The bypass line with valve provides an additional universal pathway for coolant circulation.
3Device complexity
If the pump and coolant refresh device share the same housing, then the device complexity is reduced and space is optimized, but they cannot operate simultaneously requiring sequential swapping
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between different operational configurations. The valve in the bypass line can be adjusted to direct coolant flow through different paths, allowing the system to adapt between pump operation mode and coolant refresh mode even though the devices share the same housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The bypass line with valve acts as an intermediary element that mediates between the pump and coolant refresh device. It provides an alternative coolant circulation path that allows either device to operate independently, enabling flexible operational sequences without requiring physical swapping of components.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a housing of a coolant distribution unit, a pump of the coolant distribution unit configured to circulate coolant between the coolant distribution unit and an external component, and a coolant refresh device of the coolant distribution unit. The coolant refresh device is configured to direct coolant from a coolant source into the coolant distribution unit and to discharge coolant out of the coolant distribution unit, and the pump and the coolant refresh device are interchangeably implementable in the housing such that the pump and the coolant refresh device are configured to swap and replace one another in the housing to install one of the pump or the coolant refresh device in the housing at a time.