By Nathan Blom, Vice President of Liquid Cooling, Chemours
For generations, Delaware has been a place where scientific discovery and manufacturing excellence come together to solve real-world challenges. The First State has built a reputation for transforming research into technologies that have a global impact.
Today, the U.S. finds itself in a global race to lead in artificial intelligence (AI) and winning that race requires a rapid buildout of next-generation AI data centers. While discussions about data center growth often focus on securing more electricity generation and new water supplies, the more pressing challenge may be how efficiently those resources are used once they enter the facility.
The reality is that a significant share of a data center’s energy consumption is not used to perform computing tasks; rather, it is used to manage the enormous amounts of heat generated by increasingly powerful processors. More than 95% of data centers today rely on traditional air-cooling technologies, and more than 40% of total energy consumption can be dedicated to cooling IT equipment. Many facilities also require substantial water use to support cooling systems.
As demand for AI, cloud, and high-performance computing continues to soar, the industry’s challenge is no longer simply finding additional energy and water resources. It is maximizing the value of every watt of electricity and every gallon of water available.
That challenge is becoming more urgent as AI chips continue to grow more powerful. Each new generation delivers greater computing performance, but also generates more heat. Industry experts increasingly recognize that conventional air-cooling and even single-phase liquid-cooling systems are approaching their thermal limits, making it increasingly difficult to cool next-generation hardware efficiently.
This challenge has sparked a new wave of innovation happening right here in Delaware.
At the Chemours Discovery Hub (CDH) on the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus in Newark, more than 300 scientists, engineers, and researchers work to advance technologies that address emerging societal and industrial needs. Among the technologies being advanced at CDH are innovative liquid-cooling technologies that can dramatically improve how data centers manage energy and water.
Unlike traditional air cooling, which relies on large chillers and fans blowing cold air throughout the facility, liquid cooling removes heat directly from the source. Chemours’ Opteon™ two-phase direct-to-chip fluids, available today, deliver cooling directly to high-heat-generating chips inside servers, enabling significantly greater cooling efficiency.
Looking ahead, Chemours is also advancing Opteon™ two-phase immersion-cooling technologies designed to support the next generation of AI infrastructure. In these systems, servers are placed in sealed containers and immersed in Opteon™ two-phase immersion-cooling fluid. As heat is generated, the fluid boils and evaporates, carrying heat away from the equipment. The vapor then condenses and returns to liquid form, creating a highly efficient closed-loop cooling cycle.
The result is a fundamentally different approach to resource management. Compared to traditional air-cooling technologies, two-phase immersion cooling can help data centers reduce cooling energy use by up to 90%, while nearly eliminating water consumption. It can also help reduce noise pollution associated with fans and even reduce facility footprints. This is accomplished because the liquid captures 100% of the heat generated by the entire system, not just the hottest components, like central processing units (CPUs) or graphics processing units (GPUs).
This matters because the future of AI will not be determined solely by how much power generation capacity or water infrastructure can be built. It will also depend on how intelligently those resources are used. Every kilowatt-hour saved through more efficient cooling can be redirected toward computing capacity. Every gallon of water conserved can help reduce pressure on local resources.
As the demand for AI continues to accelerate, the most sustainable path forward is making better use of the water and energy resources that we already have. Through innovations, such as two-phase direct-to-chip and immersion cooling technologies, Delaware researchers and engineers are helping make that future possible — ensuring that the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s digital economy is not only more powerful, but also more efficient.
This article was originally published in Delaware Business Magazine.