Glass fiber membranes, typically used in water and air filters, could be the key to cooling off the data centers that run large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
AI and other high-intensity computing applications are energy-hungry. A 2024 Dept. of Energy report found that data center energy load had tripled over the previous decade and was expected to double or triple again by 2028. As of 2023, data centers accounted for 4.4% of the electricity consumed in the U.S., that report found, with an expected increase of up to 12% of U.S. electricity by 2028.
The graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) in data centers are currently cooled either by air-based cooling systems that run cool air between racks, or by single-phase liquid cooling. In single-phase liquid cooling, a coolant is circulated inside a cold plate that sits next to the electronic equipment. These methods can account for up to 45% of a data center’s electricity requirements. And they’re not enough, adds Renkun Chen, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Univ. of California, San Diego...
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