American researchers have proposed a revolutionary solution to combat overheating in data centers. They have created a cooling system that mimics animal sweating. This could significantly reduce energy consumption and the cost of cooling server equipment.
American researchers have proposed a revolutionary solution to combat overheating in data centers. They have created a cooling system that mimics animal sweating. This could significantly reduce energy consumption and the cost of cooling server equipment.
A team from the University of California, San Diego has developed a passive evaporative cooling system that can effectively dissipate heat without using additional energy, TechXplore reports, citing a publication in the journal Joule.
The technology is based on a special fiber membrane with a system of fine pores. Thanks to the capillary effect, the coolant is distributed over the surface and evaporates, absorbing heat. This approach allows to remove the thermal load of more than 800 W per square centimeter — a record figure for systems of this type.
Engineers note that the membranes were originally designed for filtration, but their structure turned out to be ideal for evaporative cooling. Careful selection of pore size and mechanical reinforcement made the membrane not only efficient, but also stable even at high temperatures.
The main advantages of the new technology:
The researchers are now refining the design and preparing to commercialize the development through a startup. Their goal is to provide data centers with an energy-efficient and scalable solution in light of the global growth in cloud computing and AI needs.
Industry estimates suggest that cooling already accounts for up to 40% of data center energy consumption, and that this cost could double by 2030. Therefore, solutions like «sweat technology» could be a game-changer for high-performance computing.
As a reminder, we also published an article about how oil giant Shell unexpectedly entered the market for data center cooling solutions. The company presented an innovative cooling fluid for AI servers, which should reduce electricity consumption and increase the efficiency of modern IT infrastructure.
