Seeking a solution to data centre cooling demand
26th July 2024
USA: The University of Missouri is developing a new type of cooling system which it claims could dramatically reduce energy demands on data centres.
University researcher Chanwoo Park and his team are developing a two-phase cooling system designed to efficiently dissipate heat from server chips through phase change, such as boiling a liquid into vapour in a thin, porous layer.
“The liquid goes in different directions and evaporates on a thin metal surface,” Park said. “Using this boiling surface, we’re able to achieve very efficient heat transfer with low thermal resistance.”
The system also includes a mechanical pump that is activated to absorb more heat only when needed.
The system can operate passively without consuming any energy when less cooling is needed. Even in active mode, where the pump is used, it consumes only a negligible amount of energy.
The project, known as Cooler Chips, was awarded $1.65m by the US Department of Energy to find new ways to cool data centres. In 2022, data centres used more than 4% of all electricity in the US, with 40% of that energy being spent to keep equipment cool. As demand on data centres increases, even more energy will be required.
“Eventually there will be limitations under current cooling systems, and that’s a problem,” Park said. “We’re trying to get ahead of the curve and have something ready and available for the future of AI computing. This is a futuristic cooling system.”
The team is now fabricating the cooling system — designed to easily connect and disconnect within server racks. Park hopes they’ll be in use within the coming decade just as AI-powered computers become mainstream.
