Castrol: Helping Reduce Cooling Fluid Risks in Data Centres

Primary facility cooling is a foundational component of modern data centre infrastructure, yet it often becomes an overlooked vulnerability as facilities age. 

While the initial commissioning process usually receives intense scrutiny from engineering teams, the long-term maintenance of cooling fluids can easily slip down the priority list. 

Facility operators naturally seek to streamline their daily processes to reduce operational overheads, but this search for efficiency can inadvertently introduce significant risks to the broader system.

The hidden threat of fluid degradation

When a data centre first goes live, facility water systems are tightly managed. However, the vigilance required to maintain these complex thermal environments frequently fades.

Steve Hickson, CEO and CTO at Liquitherm Group, explains the reality of long-term system management.

"When it’s first installed, it’s cared for, but over a period of years it often becomes less loved," Steve says. 

He points out that ignoring these vital systems inevitably leads to complications such as poor corrosion performance and bacterial contamination.

Stephen Zhao, Data Centre Market Development Director at bp/Castrol, agrees that keeping a regular eye on fluid systems becomes less of a concern over time. He highlights that operators often reduce the parameters they analyse to save time.

"In the end, that creates the conditions for something to start going wrong," Stephen notes. "You then get bacteria build-up, and over time that can create a very large issue that leads to downtime in the data centre and very extensive remediation works."

Bridging the facility and technical gap

The risks of poor fluid management do not remain isolated within the primary cooling loop. They interface directly with the technical loop through the coolant distribution unit. Fluid health must be maintained across both domains to protect high-density hardware.

"The efficiency of the CPU and the direct-to-chip cooling is totally reliant upon the efficiency and condition of the fluid," Steve explains. 

He advocates for proactive monitoring on a monthly basis or through permanent system sensors to check fluid reserves and inhibitors.

"There has to be a regime from end to end from the facilities loop, through the CDU, into the technical loop," he says.

Testing the fluid is only the first step. Data centres also require the correct technical support to action the results. 

Stephen highlights the necessity of a strong service relationship with a fluid provider. Operators sometimes conduct fluid health checks but lack the specific knowledge to interpret the data. Having a partner to translate these results ensures that immediate action is taken if a system falls outside of its specification.

A chiller-to-chip partnership

To address these end-to-end cooling challenges, Castrol has appointed Liquitherm Group's DC Cooling Solutions as an ambassador for the thermal management sector. This collaboration merges deep facility water system history with advanced technical loop expertise.

"What’s really exciting is being able to leverage our mutual expertise," Stephen says. He emphasises the value of delivering a comprehensive chiller-to-chip solution that provides data centres with complete liquid cooling support and chilled water loop management.

For Liquitherm Group, the collaboration offers a robust platform to scale their specialised services globally. 

"The Castrol brand speaks for itself," Steve adds. "The scope of the opportunity within the data centre sector in the UK, but also further afield, gives us a chance to become a very well-known entity from here to Shanghai to Dallas."