In the context of the national carbon reduction initiative, the scale of computing power in data centers is rapidly expanding, leading to an increase in energy consumption. As the cornerstone of the digital economy, data centers are facing the challenges of higher power density and consumption due to the significant increase in CPU and GPU power in the post-Moore’s Law era. With the comprehensive launch of the “East Digitization, West Computing” project and the demand for green and low-carbon development of data centers, New H3C Group upholds the concept of “ALL in GREEN” and is spearheading infrastructure transformation through liquid cooling technology.
At present, mainstream server cooling technologies include air cooling, cold plate liquid cooling, and immersion liquid cooling. In practical applications, air cooling and cold plate liquid cooling still dominate data center solutions due to the maturity of precision air conditioning and cold plate technology. However, immersion liquid cooling exhibits excellent heat dissipation capabilities, presenting significant potential for future development. Immersion cooling involves the use of fluorinated liquids, a technology that currently relies heavily on foreign imports. In order to address this technological bottleneck, New H3C Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Zhejiang Noah Fluorine Chemical to jointly promote the development of immersion liquid cooling technology in the data center field.
New H3C’s immersion liquid cooling solution is based on the modification of standard servers, eliminating the need for special customization. It employs colorless, odorless, and insulating fluorinated liquids as the cooling agent, which offers good thermal conductivity, weak volatility, and high safety. Immersing the servers in the cooling liquid prevents corrosion of electronic components and eliminates the risk of short circuits and fires, ensuring safety.
After testing, the energy efficiency of immersion liquid cooling was assessed under different outdoor temperatures and varying server heat generation. Compared to traditional air-cooled data centers, the energy consumption of the liquid cooling system was reduced by over 90%. Moreover, as equipment load increases, the PUE value of immersion liquid cooling continuously optimizes, effortlessly achieving a PUE of <1.05. Taking a medium-sized data center as an example, this can lead to savings of millions in electricity costs annually, significantly improving the economic viability of immersion liquid cooling. Compared to traditional air cooling and cold plate liquid cooling, the immersion liquid cooling system achieves 100% liquid cooling coverage, eliminating the need for air conditioning and fans in the overall system. This eliminates mechanical operation, greatly optimizing the user’s operational environment. In the future, as single cabinet power density gradually increases, the economic advantages of liquid cooling technology will become increasingly prominent.
Post time: Aug-15-2023
