The rise of AI applications has spurred demand for AI servers. However, the increasing computational power has also led to a growth in cooling requirements, presenting a challenge for all industry players. Traditional air cooling methods are no longer sufficient to meet the thermal management needs of AI servers. Consequently, liquid cooling solutions, including immersion cooling, have gradually emerged as a new business opportunity in the market, particularly under Nvidia's advocacy.
A league of their own
At the recent Data Centre World Asia 2024 held in Singapore, Perstorp showcased its latest liquid cooling solutions alongside partners such as Intel and Foxconn and Industrial Internet (FII). A crucial component of these solutions is the cooling fluid provided by Perstorp.
Perstorp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia's national oil company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), possesses a comprehensive solution chain in organic chemistry, process technology, and application development. The company currently operates manufacturing units across Asia, Europe, and North America.
With over a century of experience in chemicals, Perstorp has extensive knowledge regarding insulation, high safety standards, reliability, and material compatibility—critical factors related to immersion cooling in data centers. The company aims to leverage this expertise to help data centers enhance efficiency, reduce emissions, and lower energy consumption while developing new market opportunities.
AI drives market outlooks
Regarding the outlook for the liquid cooling market, Valentina Serra-Holm, Vice President of Global Lubricants at Perstorp, noted that the growing demands from advanced technologies like cloud computing, machine learning, and AI are rendering traditional air cooling methods inadequate.
According to relevant data, revenues from data centers are expected to continue growing at double-digit rates over the next few years. Specifically, the percentage of revenue generated from liquid cooling is projected to increase from 17% in 2024 to 21% in 2025, reaching 25% in 2026, and potentially exceeding 30% after 2027.
Due to their compatibility with existing data center infrastructure, single-phase cold plates still hold a higher market share compared to immersion cooling, approximately 3:1. However, as CPUs and GPUs evolve towards greater performance, there will be stricter requirements for thermal management and improved Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).
Serra-Holm believes that immersion cooling will become a key technology to meet these objectives. Simultaneously, the ongoing trend of improving PUE presents significant development opportunities for both single-phase cold plates and immersion cooling technologies.
Additionally, Serra-Holm revealed that Perstorp is actively collaborating with partners to develop and expand its product line related to cold plate cooling, with potential future solutions on the horizon.
Immersion liquid cooling systems
Regarding the development of immersion liquid cooling systems, Serra-Holm explained that various characteristics of the cooling fluid can influence each other. For instance, achieving low viscosity often requires trade-offs in flash point and fire point. From the outset of its development, Perstorp's cooling fluid was designed in close collaboration with partners, incorporating synthetic esters.
This molecular-level design approach allows for a balance of low viscosity, high flash point, high fire point, and high breakdown voltage, while also being more environmentally friendly.
Unlike traditional air cooling, where air serves as the primary medium contacting the server, immersion cooling fully submerges hardware in dielectric fluid to manage heat dissipation. Serra-Holm emphasized that due to the unique dielectric properties of liquids compared to air, signal integrity—especially for high-frequency signals—is a critical factor that all immersion cooling fluid suppliers must carefully verify.
Notably, FII's servers have been submerged in Perstorp's cooling fluid for a year, and the system continues to operate normally at the system level.
