Normally, it may seem to us that cooling a computer system is somewhat complicated; High-end home computers, for example, require a series of implementations that allow users to avoid problems related to high temperatures. But at the industrial level, much more powerful systems are needed for this, and if we talk about reducing temperatures, it is clear that one of the best that we can find is the one called refrigeration by immersionwhich has a lot of positives, but also presents various problems.
Immersion cooling is a technique that can be found in various data centers to reduce the temperatures that the components used in servers can reach, because unlike a normal computer, the power they have means that some systems cannot not be powerful enough to eliminate all the heat they generate. This is what led to the development of one of the best thermal solutions, although it is not something that many companies have ended up implementing due to its complexity. Below we explain what it is, how it works and why. it was not adapted as a primary cooling system.
What is immersion cooling and how does it work?
There are several techniques that we can implement when we want to reduce the temperatures of a computer, the most common that can be found in basic systems are overhead or passive, while in gaming configurations cooling Liquid has become increasingly fashionable, either through an AIO or a custom system. But on an industrial level, there is a better way to prevent components from overheating: refrigeration by immersionwhich, as its name suggests, immerses the equipment in a liquid to prevent it from heating up.
But it is obviously not a normal liquid, but a fluid with electrically insulating characteristics, called a dielectric liquid. The characteristics it possesses allow the components not to suffer any type of damage after submerging it, since in no case can they transmit a signal that electrifies them. This, added to the ability to remove heat, makes it a combination capable of cooling any type of high performance system without having to worry about errors caused in the hardware itself, whether they originate from overheating or due to the characteristics. electric they have.
In addition to this, several techniques can be used for this depending on whether or not the dielectric liquid turns into a gas once the components are immersed, i.e. there is single phase immersion (the liquid does not boil ) and two-phase immersion (liquid boils and transfers heat as gas). On the other hand, it is also necessary to take into account the frame used, which can be either closed (there is only liquid) or open (liquid-air combination), while there are others which combine the two systems to offer a hybrid.
These are the problems that mean it is not always implemented
Although it is a very good system, it also has disadvantages, which are the main reasons why most companies have implemented liquid cooling instead of using the liquid cooling system. refrigeration by immersion.
- For a component to use this technique, it must be modified to support it, allowing vendors to cancel maintenance because they are not designed for this purpose.
- It is a very expensive system, not only are the tanks and the liquid itself required, but there are also a series of additional components such as pumps, pipes, filters, sensors and others that must be included in the design.
- The footprint is really important, instead of being vertical, they must be placed horizontally, taking up much more floor space than a conventional system.
- They have a series of problems such as spills or leaks that can completely damage the system, maintenance must be very thorough to prevent this from happening, while a soil analysis is necessary to check that it can support the weight of the entire system.
