Castrol: A Masterclass in Data Centre Cooling Solutions

As data centre operators race to meet the growing computational demands of AI, they also face significant environmental challenges. How do they cool powerful hardware efficiently? Castrol may have found the answer.

Perhaps not traditionally known for its involvement in the data centre industry, the lubricant company is now leveraging its 125+ years of fluid expertise in the automotive sector to develop cooling solutions for the data centre industry.

“We see an enormous opportunity in improving the thermal management of data centres,” says Chris Lockett, Vice President for Electrification and Castrol Products Innovation. “When we look at the way data centres are cooled today with air cooling, a significant amount of power is being utilised to keep the servers cool – up to 40% of the data centre's power.”

Immersion cooling involves submerging server components directly in dielectric fluids that conduct heat, but not electricity. For the data centre industry, moving away from traditional air cooling towards immersion cooling solutions represents a paradigm shift.

According to Stephen Zhao, Thermal Management Director for EMEA at Castrol, this cooling method dramatically decreases energy consumption. “You cut down on everything. The only thing you really operate is just the pumps on the tanks, and those pumps are not very strong.”

“Data centres themselves consume a lot of power. And from the traditional format of using air cooling to get the most efficient cooling method, you also need to consume a lot of water.”

To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.