Investigation of Single-Phase Immersion Cooling for Modern Data Centers

Abstract

Compact servers with a high energy density are the result of the telecommunications industry's rapid advancement. Innovative cooling solutions are required due to the expanding scale of data centers and related cooling needs. Servers in the data center might be cooled via immersion cooling by immersing them in a thermally conductive die electric fluid. In this study, three distinct dielectric liquids were used with variable circulation rates to examine the effectiveness of single-phase immersion cooling with varying heat inputs of 300, 400 and 500 Watts. Deionized water, white mineral oil and propylene glycol were the three dielectric fluids being considered, at circulating rates of 1, 2 and 3 litres per minute. Among the three fluids tested, deionized water consistently outperformed the others by maintaining the lowest outlet temperature across various heat inputs and flow rates. The average heat transfer coefficient for deionized water was calculated as the highest, with a value of 349.29 W/m²·K. Propylene glycol had an intermediate heat transfer coefficient, which was 194.69 W/m²·K, and mineral oil exhibited the lowest heat transfer coefficient at 74.44 W/m²·K.