CoolerChips: Revolutionizing Data Center Design with Advanced Cooling Technologies

Data centers play a crucial role in our digital landscape, providing the power for AI language models, cloud services, streaming platforms, and more. However, their energy consumption presents significant obstacles to sustainability and efficiency.

Now, imagine a data center that is designed with a capacity of 100-200kW per rack, utilizing cost-effective servers and MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) systems. Each rack would have the capability to handle ten times (10X) the workload of current designs. It may sound like something out of science fiction, but this vision could soon become a reality.

Enter CoolerChips – CoolerChips is an initiative led by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Its objective is to revolutionize the data center industry by developing innovative technologies that will redefine how we operate these facilities. This includes advancements in power densities, cooling techniques, and environmental management.

The very name of the program, Cooling Operations Optimized for Leaps in Energy, Reliability, and Carbon Hyperefficiency for Information Processing Systems (COOLERCHIPS), reflects the ambitious goals it aims to achieve. One of the key areas of focus for CoolerChips is heat management within servers. They plan to accomplish this through the use of cutting-edge thermal interface materials (TIM) technology.

By leveraging TIM technology, CoolerChips seeks to pioneer a new era of heat management in data centers. This will enhance energy efficiency, improve reliability, and reduce carbon emissions. Advanced nanotechnology, along with these Temperature-Reducing Interface Materials (TIMs), can significantly lower temperatures by up to 35°C compared to traditional methods. This cooling technology breakthrough will substantially improve performance, reliability, efficiency, and energy savings.

In addition to this, there are projected innovations in cooling technologies, such as impingement jet cooling solutions, Ribbon Oscillating Heat Pipes (OHPs), and hybrid two-phased cold plates. These advancements will have a profound impact on the entire data center ecosystem. We can anticipate various changes in the industry, ranging from equipment manufacturing to MEP infrastructure designs and even rack or container layouts.

There are a wide range of anticipated benefits from CoolerChips:

Enhanced Server Performance: Lower operating temperatures enable higher clock speeds and improved processing capabilities.

Reduced Energy Consumption: Less heat generation means less cooling demand, leading to lower electricity demand and reduced carbon emissions.

Advanced Thermal Management Strategies: Utilizing innovative techniques such as two-phase cooling, liquid cooling systems, and hybrid cooling solutions.

Extended Equipment Lifespans: Reducing temperature stress helps prevent premature hardware failure and extends equipment lifetimes.

Improved Reliability: Extensive MEP infrastructure redundancies may not be needed due to the reliability gains in the server equipment. TBD.

Collaborative Development: Engaging with industry leaders and academia to create advanced cooling solutions tailored to specific application needs.

The participating companies and universities currently consist of the following:

• Flexnode - HP - HRL Laboratories - Intel - JETCOOL Technologies - National Renewable Energy Laboratory - NVIDIA - Purdue University?- Raytheon Technologies Research Center?- University of California, Davis - University of Florida - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -University of Maryland - University of Missouri - University of Texas at Arlington

By adopting CoolerChips technologies, data centers will be able to experience substantial improvements in performance, reliability, efficiency, and environmental responsibility, ultimately shaping the future of the digital infrastructure landscape.

Let’s see how these technologies develop, including the RobotFM/Smart Hands ??

.