England. According to scientists at the University of Leeds, a computer server completely submerged in liquid could drastically reduce the energy requirements of Internet servers and data centers.
Its designers calculate that the server reduces power consumption for cooling by between 80% and 97%.
British company Iceotope designed and built its new server, working with the team of researchers led by Dr Jon Summers, from the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds. The first production system has been installed at the University after two years of testing prototypes.
The non-flammable refrigerant, a zero-ODP, a GWP of 1 liquid called 3M Novec, can be in direct contact with electronics as it does not conduct electricity. The properties of fluoroketone found early acceptance in firefighting systems.
Dr Jon Summers, whose team used computational fluid dynamics to model how coolant flows through new server components, said: "The important thing for the future of computing and the Internet is that it is more than 1,000 times more effective at carrying heat than air."
A simple low-energy pump is located at the bottom of the cabin, the pumping of a secondary coolant (water) to the top cascades along all 48 modules, due to gravity.
The secondary refrigerant ends up in heat exchangers inside the case by transferring heat to a third and final refrigerant, in an external loop, having the heat for external cooling or for reuse.
The high efficiency of the system means that the outlet water can reach temperatures of up to 50°C, and can be used for heating or other uses.
The server also eliminates the need for auxiliaries from data center facilities such as HVAC computing units, humidity control systems, and air purification.
