Safety-relevant components of an aircraft, for example electronic devices, are provided in a redundant design, i.e. they are provided in duplicate, for example, in the aircraft. As electronic devices dissipate power, they must be cooled. For this purpose the electronic devices are typically disposed on a cooling plate and accommodated in so-called electronics cabinets. A coolant flows through the cooling plates, which is being circulated by means of one or a plurality of pump(s) and cooled in a heat exchanger or another heat sink. As the electronic components are provided redundantly, redundant cooling is also required in order to ensure that the flight continues safely if one cooling device fails. A separate cooling device is therefore associated with each of the redundant electronic devices. If a cooling device fails, for example due to a leakage, the electronic device which is cooled by means of the latter can no longer be operated. This has a limiting effect on the operation of the aircraft, as although the flight can continue on account of the electronic device used in a redundant design, a new take off must no longer take place for reasons of safety. The availability of the aircraft is as a result reduced.
An object of the invention is to provide a redundant aircraft cooling system for redundant aircraft components.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds