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First, a fridge without the fumes. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have built a new “ionocaloric” cycle that cools by moving ions through a material to shift its melting point, the same physics behind road salt melting ice. In lab tests, a sodium–iodine salt and ethylene carbonate delivered a 25 °C temperature swing using under one volt, a bigger lift than most solid-state “caloric” approaches and without hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants.
Because it toggles a solid–liquid phase change, the working fluid can be pumped, avoiding compressors and complex valves. The team’s models suggest efficiency on par with, or better than, today’s vapor-compression systems. Using ethylene carbonate, which can be synthesized from captured CO₂, the refrigerant footprint could be not just low but potentially carbon-negative. If prototypes scale, the same cycle could also supply efficient water and process heating, trimming emissions from buildings and industry that are notoriously hard to decarbonize.
Now, a data center that chills with the sea. Off Shanghai, Hailanyun’s first commercial underwater AI facility places sealed server pods beneath offshore wind turbines and circulates seawater across radiators to carry heat away. Internal assessments with a Chinese institute report at least 30% lower electricity use for cooling compared with land sites, and the company says the farm is powered 97% by the nearby wind array.
One operational pod holds 198 racks, enough for roughly 396–792 AI-ready servers, and the company claims capacity to train a GPT-3.5-class model in a day. Microsoft’s earlier Project Natick found submerged servers can fail less often, but scaling raises new risks, including thermal plumes, acoustic sabotage, corrosion, biofouling, and slow maintenance cycles. From ions to oceans, cooling is being rewired for an AI-hungry, climate-strained future.
#tech #ai #cooling #climate #datacenters #materials #energy #sustainability #berkeleylab
Source: 10.1126/science.ade1696
Because it toggles a solid–liquid phase change, the working fluid can be pumped, avoiding compressors and complex valves. The team’s models suggest efficiency on par with, or better than, today’s vapor-compression systems. Using ethylene carbonate, which can be synthesized from captured CO₂, the refrigerant footprint could be not just low but potentially carbon-negative. If prototypes scale, the same cycle could also supply efficient water and process heating, trimming emissions from buildings and industry that are notoriously hard to decarbonize.
Now, a data center that chills with the sea. Off Shanghai, Hailanyun’s first commercial underwater AI facility places sealed server pods beneath offshore wind turbines and circulates seawater across radiators to carry heat away. Internal assessments with a Chinese institute report at least 30% lower electricity use for cooling compared with land sites, and the company says the farm is powered 97% by the nearby wind array.
One operational pod holds 198 racks, enough for roughly 396–792 AI-ready servers, and the company claims capacity to train a GPT-3.5-class model in a day. Microsoft’s earlier Project Natick found submerged servers can fail less often, but scaling raises new risks, including thermal plumes, acoustic sabotage, corrosion, biofouling, and slow maintenance cycles. From ions to oceans, cooling is being rewired for an AI-hungry, climate-strained future.
#tech #ai #cooling #climate #datacenters #materials #energy #sustainability #berkeleylab
Source: 10.1126/science.ade1696
First, a fridge without the fumes. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have built a new “ionocaloric” cycle that cools by moving ions through a material to shift its melting point, the same physics behind road salt melting ice. In lab tests, a sodium–iodine salt and ethylene carbonate delivered a 25 °C temperature swing using under one volt, a bigger lift than most solid-state “caloric” approaches and without hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants.
Because it toggles a solid–liquid phase change, the working fluid can be pumped, avoiding compressors and complex valves. The team’s models suggest efficiency on par with, or better than, today’s vapor-compression systems. Using ethylene carbonate, which can be synthesized from captured CO₂, the refrigerant footprint could be not just low but potentially carbon-negative. If prototypes scale, the same cycle could also supply efficient water and process heating, trimming emissions from buildings and industry that are notoriously hard to decarbonize.
Now, a data center that chills with the sea. Off Shanghai, Hailanyun’s first commercial underwater AI facility places sealed server pods beneath offshore wind turbines and circulates seawater across radiators to carry heat away. Internal assessments with a Chinese institute report at least 30% lower electricity use for cooling compared with land sites, and the company says the farm is powered 97% by the nearby wind array.
One operational pod holds 198 racks, enough for roughly 396–792 AI-ready servers, and the company claims capacity to train a GPT-3.5-class model in a day. Microsoft’s earlier Project Natick found submerged servers can fail less often, but scaling raises new risks, including thermal plumes, acoustic sabotage, corrosion, biofouling, and slow maintenance cycles. From ions to oceans, cooling is being rewired for an AI-hungry, climate-strained future.
#tech #ai #cooling #climate #datacenters #materials #energy #sustainability #berkeleylab
Source: 10.1126/science.ade1696
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