The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Intel Taiwan have inaugurated the ITRI-Intel Joint Lab for HPC Cooling Certification. Specifically, this facility aims to develop and validate industrial immersion cooling solutions for high-performance computing (HPC). Mainly, it targets liquid cooling technology.  Accordingly, the lab offers comprehensive verification services, including materials property testing, compatibility assessments with server components, and service life cycle evaluations. Intel Taiwan and ITRI signed a letter of intent for this purpose.

Dr. Shih-Chieh Chang, General Director of Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories at ITRI, emphasized the critical need for enhancing data center efficiency while reducing energy consumption. “According to the International Energy Agency, the energy consumption of data centers around the world ranged from 0.9% to 1.3% of total electricity consumption in 2022, with carbon emissions accounting for 0.3%. The global proliferation of data centers, driven by the surging demand for data volume and transmission speed, underscores the urgency of our mission,” he stated.

Tzong-Ming Lee, Vice Present President and General Director of Material and Chemical Research Laboratories of ITRI, states that compared to conventional data center devices, immersion cooling technology can dissipate the heat from components to liquid coolant with no other active cooling devices. This could reduce 45% of carbon emissions and become one of the best heat dissipation options. ITRI is developing the single-phase immersion coolant technology with the features of extremely low energy consumption and fluoride-free, aligning with the requirements of EU legislation.

Grace Wang, Intel Vice President in the Sales, Marketing and Communications Group and General Manager of Intel Taiwan, affirmed Intel’s commitment to sustainable solutions for enterprises. “Our recently launched Open IP Immersion Cooling Solutions were designed to enhance operational efficiency. As a leader in data center innovation, Intel is collaborating with ITRI to explore further advanced immersion cooling technology. ITRI’s active support in providing real-world machine verification and testing platforms will facilitate the industrial adoption of the technology. Through this collaboration, we aspire to promote advanced cooling solutions within Taiwan’s supply chain, contributing to the realization of sustainable data centers.”