Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new cooling technology that could significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers and high-powered electronics.
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new cooling technology that could significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers and high-powered electronics. The technology features a specially engineered fiber membrane that passively removes heat through evaporation. It offers a promising alternative to traditional cooling systems like fans, heat sinks and liquid pumps. It could also reduce the water use associated with many current cooling systems.
The advance is detailed in a paper published on June 13 in the journal Joule.
As artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing continue to expand, the demand for data processing—and the heat it generates—is skyrocketing. Currently, cooling accounts for up to 40% of a data center’s total energy use. If trends continue, global energy use for cooling could more than double by 2030.
The new evaporative cooling technology could help curb that trend. It uses a low-cost fiber membrane with a network of tiny, interconnected pores that draw cooling liquid across its surface using capillary action. As the liquid evaporates, it efficiently removes heat from the electronics underneath—no extra energy required. The membrane sits on top of microchannels above the electronics, pulling in liquid that flows through the channels and efficiently dissipating heat.
Read more at University of California - San Diego
Image: Illustration of a fiber membrane removing heat from an electronic chip through evaporation. (Credit: Tianshi Feng)
