British industrial lubricant company Castrol has launched a new direct-to-chip cooling fluid designed to address the high thermal demands of AI and high-performance computing data centers.
Castrol ON Direct Liquid Cooling PG 25 is a propylene glycol-based cooling fluid designed explicitly for direct-to-chip cooling applications in data centers. It is ready to use and offers protection against corrosion and bacterial growth.
"As data centers continue to push the boundaries of computing power, direct-to-chip cooling offers an opportunity for data centers to manage the increasing thermal demands of next-generation processors," said Peter Huang, global vice president of thermal management, Castrol.
Direct-to-chip cooling systems deliver liquid coolant directly to heat generating components, enabling faster heat transfer and reducing the reliance on energy intensive air conditioning systems.
The take-up of these systems has been mixed. Last year, Uptime’s global survey of the sector found that 56 percent of data center operators were still using air cooling for their highest-density (40kW and above) cabinets.
However, the direct-to-chip cooling market is expected to displace traditional air cooling over the rest of the decade due to its ability to manage heat generated by AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing. Omdia research has projected that the global data center cooling market will reach $16.8 billion by 2028, with direct-to-chip cooling taking a significant market share.
Castrol is at the forefront of the liquid cooling sector. Last year, the company partnered with server IT equipment manufacturer Hypertec to collaborate on immersion cooling technology.
Castrol develops and tests its cooling technology at its headquarters in Pangbourne, UK. In 2022, the company committed £50 million ($64.55m) to the headquarters to develop new immersion fluids and enable customers and partners to test liquid cooling techniques adapted to new server equipment.
The same year, Castrol partnered with immersion cooling expert Submer to supply, standardize, and develop next-generation immersion fluids for immersion cooling systems such as Submer's SmartPods.
Castrol is a subsidiary of BP, which acquired the company in 2002 for $4.73 billion.