Coolant Pump Soft Start Control for Pressure Spike Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Liquid cooling systems experience pressure spikes when a redundant pump is brought back online after failure, potentially damaging components and triggering leaks.
Innovation Solution
A coolant distribution unit with a controller that gradually adjusts pump speeds to prevent sudden pressure changes by transitioning from an intermediate operational speed to a final operational speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a redundant pump is brought back online at full speed after being disabled, then the pump can immediately handle the full operation load, but this causes a pressure spike in the cooling fluid loop that may damage components
Solution Approach 1:
The pump speed is made dynamic rather than static. The controller adjusts the pump speed in stages - first bringing it online at a reduced speed, then gradually increasing to full operational speed. This dynamic adjustment prevents the harmful pressure spike while maintaining the ability to handle full operation load.
Solution Approach 2:
Before the pump reaches full operational speed, the controller performs preliminary actions by first enabling it at a reduced speed. This preliminary state allows the system to prepare for the full load without immediately introducing the harmful effect of full-speed operation, which would cause pressure spike.
2Use of energy by moving object
If all pumps run at lower speeds to optimize energy efficiency, then energy consumption is reduced, but the system may not have sufficient capacity to handle full operation load when needed
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts pump speeds based on operational needs. During normal operation, pumps run at lower speeds for energy efficiency. When a pump needs to be re-enabled or load increases, the controller dynamically increases speeds to handle the full operation load, providing adaptability across different operational states.
Solution Approach 2:
The operational parameters (pump speeds) are changed based on system needs. The controller modifies the speed parameter from low (energy-efficient mode) to high (full capacity mode) when a redundant pump is brought back online, allowing the system to adapt between energy efficiency and load handling capacity.
3Reliability
If two pumps ramp up to maintain required flow rate when one pump fails, then the system maintains reliability, but energy consumption increases compared to normal three-pump operation
Solution Approach 1:
When a pump is brought back online, the controller performs preliminary action by initially running it at reduced speed alongside the other pumps. This allows gradual load sharing and energy management, reducing the sudden energy demand that would occur if all pumps immediately operated at full speed, while still maintaining the required flow rate for reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A coolant distribution unit of a liquid cooling system comprises: a plurality of pumps configured to circulate coolant within the liquid cooling system, where a subset of the plurality of pumps is capable of handling a full operation load of the liquid cooling system when at least one pump of the plurality of pumps is not in operation; and a controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of pumps. The controller is configured to: in response to determining that the pump has been enabled, adjust the pump and remaining pumps of the plurality of pumps to a first pump speed; and adjust the pump and the remaining pumps to a second pump speed, where the first pump speed corresponds to an intermediate operational speed lower than the second pump speed and the second pump speed corresponds to a final operational speed.