In today's digital age, organizations increasingly rely on vital infrastructure like data centres and server rooms, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing accelerating demand. Packed with dense, high-powered electronics and processors, such facilities require a level of climate control that is fast exceeding what traditional cooling technology can offer. New solutions are required, especially as Canada looks to bolster sovereignty, safety and security through advancing digital infrastructure and computing capabilities, says Alex Buczek, director, New Business Development, with HF Sinclair’s Lubricants & Specialties business.
As computing infrastructure operators look to balance increased cooling needs with energy consumption and safety concerns, “liquid cooling is the answer, and that’s where INNOVATE immersion cooling fluids come into play. We want to match technology demand and supply for advanced AI and computing services,” he explains. “INNOVATE is a Canadian-made immersion cooling fluid founded on technology that has safely and reliably supported the power and distribution transformer systems segment of the economy, including power utilities and provincial utilities across Canada for many years.”
Innovations in Immersion Cooling
At HF Sinclair’s Research and Design Centre in Mississauga, Ont., R&D teams have worked to expand the scope of this capability, including into the computing infrastructure domain, says Mr. Buczek. “We tapped into our knowledge and experience of this base technology and got involved in the Open Compute Project [OCP] with the goal of leveraging our immersion fluid formulation capabilities to meet the demands of AI and high-performance computing.”
The result, INNOVATE, “is a fluid technology specifically focused on serving the thermal and electrically insulating demands of advanced computing components,” he says. It has significant advantages over both the traditional air cooling and direct-to-chip liquid cooling methods used today.
Advantages Over Traditional Cooling
While direct-to-chip cooling removes heat directly at the source through cold plates mounted at high-density processors, immersion cooling safely cools all the computing components on a server at the same time. The approach is similar to air cooling – but without some of the drawbacks associated with the traditional technology, such as noise levels that can be in excess of 90 decibels and high energy demand. Beyond reducing risks of thermal expansion and stress on hardware, the efficiency of immersion cooling also enables the design of heat capture and redistribution systems to safely reuse the heat generated from advanced computing, for example, for heating systems.
“At the infrastructure-technology level, the challenge is to continually integrate and test hardware to ensure we optimize servers, circulation systems and heat-exchange systems for immersion cooling,” says Mr. Buczek. “We’re working with technology partners who specialize in immersion-ready or immersion-born server technology to navigate the shift from air to immersion fluid cooling.”
Building Partnerships
The team is also “building relationships with different technology companies that might be serving different market segments,” he says. Here, an advantage comes from the fact that enclosed, secure immersion cooling is now capable of meeting the demands of challenging production and manufacturing environments, where traditional IT cooling could not be applied. This creates the ability to localize advanced computing directly at the facility, providing enhanced security and eliminating latency and off-site requirements.
“As we work to advance the capabilities of immersion cooling, we’re excited to partner with major organizations, both in government and enterprise, that can benefit from this high-performance technology,” he says, adding that government support serves to strengthen this ecosystem by encouraging partnerships between academia, industry and technology firms.
Canada’s Competitive Future
Canada’s competitiveness depends on the country’s ability to innovate “at pace or faster than the global scope of technology development,” Mr. Buczek emphasizes. “Innovation in the AI and high-performance computing technology space is especially critical for the ability to competently develop, operate and advance a safe, secure and sovereign infrastructure for Canadians.” Canadian-made technology like INNOVATE can help accelerate positive change, especially at a time when many organizations plan their future of AI and high-performance computing, he notes. “We see a future where Canadian organizations can deploy the most powerful computing systems available, and we are committed to being a technology partner who makes this possible.”
