- Earthly cooling, like sweat, can reduce the use of energy in data centers
- New fiber membrane handles heat with zero coupled energy use
- Researchers cool the filtration material for cooling electronics
As AI and cloud computing increases, increasing demand for data processing is increasing the heat output, with cooling already about 40% of the data center’s energy use and is estimated to be more than doubled worldwide by 2030.
Researcher on California San Diego University A new cooling technique is developed that mimics animals to regulate body temperature … through sweat.
The inactive system removes heat from electronics using evaporation, providing a possible option for traditional cooling methods in data centers and other high-power computing environments.
Find “sweet place”
The origin of the system is a fiber membrane, with a network of small, interconnected pores that use capillary action to draw cooling liquid on the surface.
As the liquid evaporates, it efficiently removes heat without the need of additional energy.
“Compared to traditional air or liquid cooling, evaporation can spread high heat flows using low energy,” said Renkun Chen, a professor Renkun Chen, a professor of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in UC San Diego. Chen co-detailed the project with professors Shengkiang Cai and Abhishek Saha.
Was published in research journal JaulExplaining how the chain team, in which Ph.D. Student Tianshi Feng and PostDoctoral researcher U Pei tested the membrane under variable heat conditions.
This handled a record for this type of cooling system, more than 800 watt per square centimeters. It performed continuously in several hours.
Traditional porous membranes have often failed due to clogging or boiling. Chen reported that the team found a “sweet space” with the hole shape and structure of the membrane.
“These fiber membranes were originally designed for filtration, and no one first detected their use in evaporation,” Chen said. “We admitted that their unique structural features – interconnected hole and just right holes – could make them ideal for skilled evaporation.
Researchers believe that the membrane is still working below its full potential.
They are now refining the design and working on ways to integrate it in cold plates, flat devices that are used to cool chips like CPU and GPU.
The group is also preparing to commercialize technology through a startup. Their goal is to provide scalable, low-energy cooling solutions as global data demand continues to increase.
Through Tech explore
