Cooling apparatus for use in an electronic system

An electronic system cooling apparatus, comprising:

• a plurality of cooling units connected together in parallel for supplying a cooling liquid to a liquid-cooled electronic system;
• each of said cooling units having a supply of cooling liquid, a pump, a heat exchanger for cooling the cooling liquid, said pump circulating the cooling liquid through the heat exchanger and the electronic system for cooling the electronic system, a temperature sensor, a mixing valve for diverting a part of the flow of the cooling liquid past said heat exchanger to adjust a temperature of the cooling liquid and a controller connected to the temperature sensor and the pump for controlling the pump and the mixing valve flow to control the temperature of the cooling liquid in accordance with the sensed temperature;
• wherein each one of said cooling units has a different said controller respectively connected to ones of said temperature sensor and said pump that correspond to said one cooling unit;
• wherein at least one of said cooling units is in a standby mode and the others of said cooling units are in an operating mode during normal operation;
• and
• wherein said controllers of each of said cooling units are connected together so that when a fault occurs in one of said cooling units in the operation mode, said controller of said cooling unit in a standby mode takes over for said cooling unit in which the fault occurs without interruption of cooling of the electronic cooling system.

An electronic system cooling apparatus, comprising:

• at least two control units connected in parallel for supplying a cooling liquid to a liquid-cooled electronic system;
• a plurality of heat exchangers,
• each of said control units having a supply of cooling liquid, a pump for circulating the cooling liquid through the heat exchangers, a temperature sensor and a controller connected to the temperature sensor and the pump for controlling the pump and the temperature of the cooling liquid in accordance with the sensed temperature;
• wherein each one of said control units has a different said controller respectively connected to ones of said temperature sensor and said pump that correspond to said one cooling unit;
• wherein one of said control units and one of said heat exchangers is in a standby mode and the others of said control units and said heat exchangers are in an operating mode during normal operation;
• wherein when one of said heat exchangers has a fault in operation, said controller controls said heat exchanger in the standby mode to take over for said heat exchanger in which said fault has occurred;
• and
• wherein said controllers of each of said control units are connected together so that when a fault occurs in said control unit in the operation mode, said controller of said control unit in a standby mode takes over for said control unit in which the fault occurs without interruption of cooling of the electronic cooling system.

An electronic system cooling apparatus, comprising:

• a plurality of control units connected together in parallel for supplying a cooling liquid to a liquid-cooled electronic system;
• a plurality of heat exchangers for cooling the cooling liquid,
• each of said control units having a supply of cooling liquid, a pump for circulating the cooling liquid through the heat exchanger and the electronic system for cooling the electronic system, a temperature sensor, a first distribution header for directing the flow of the cooling liquid to the heat exchangers and a controller connected to the temperature sensor and the pump for controlling the pump and the heat exchangers to control the temperature of the cooling liquid in accordance with the sensed temperature;
• wherein each one of said control units has a different said controller respectively connected to ones of said temperature sensor and said pump that correspond to said one cooling unit;
• wherein at least one of said control units is in a standby mode and the others of said control units are in an operating mode during normal operation;
• wherein at least one of said heat exchangers is in a standby mode and the others of said heat exchangers are in an operating mode under control of said controllers of said control units in an operating mode so that when a fault is detected in one of said heat exchangers in the operating mode, said heat exchanger in said standby mode takes over for said heat exchanger in which said fault occurs;
• and
• wherein said controllers of each of said control units are connected together so that when a fault occurs in one of said control units in the operation mode, said controller of said control unit in a standby mode takes over for said control unit in which the fault occurs without interruption of cooling of the electronic cooling system.