Submerging computer chips in oil could make them more energy efficient, according to a UK company that hopes to start selling such systems within a year.
The microprocessors inside servers and desktop computers are normally cooled using fans that blow air across the components. But UK a company called Very-PC hopes to see a much more radical, oil-based alternative, take off instead.
鈥淚t is possible to cut power consumption in half,鈥� managing director Peter Hopton told 快猫短视频. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to drive inefficient fans, or the usual air conditioning.鈥�
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Hopton first got the idea after seeing computer enthusiasts discuss the idea online. Oil does not affect the function of electronic components and offers a potentially useful cooling solution since it transports heats more efficiently than air.
Prototypes developed by the company demonstrate that placing server electronics in oil can dramatically reduce their electricity usage, by removing the need for traditional cooling systems.
Deep-fat server
In tests, server racks were immersed in tanks of oil normally used to keep machinery cool. A refrigeration unit positioned below was used to create convection currents that draw heat away from the electronics, which is much more energy efficient than using fans. 鈥淯sing oil we could chill down to -20潞C, but between 0潞C and 10潞C looks to be best,鈥� says Hopton.
He suggests that the extra cost of using oil should be quickly paid back by the increased efficiency. Also, keeping components cooler should reduce the chances of failure, making the machines more reliable, Hopton says, and that more machines can be packed into the same amount of physical space.
Initial prototypes used motor oil until they realised this could corrode some of the components. The firm plans to have an oil-bath server prototype finished in the next few months, and plans to begin selling them early in 2008.
Why switch?
Suresh Garimella, an expert on electronics cooling at Purdue University in the US is not convinced. Although oil cooling is an established method for cooling electrical components, like transformers, he says a specialised dielectric cooling liquid, such as Fluorinert, has a tried鈥揳nd-tested record and would be the fluid of choice.
For example, during the 1980s, components inside Cray 2 supercomputers were submerged in Fluorinert, created by US company 3M, for cooling purposes.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why oil is being suggested for computer cooling instead of accepted dielectric fluids,鈥� says Garimella, who is not familiar with Very-PCs plans. 鈥淭he idea itself seems the same as using dielectric fluids and the latter are clean, non-toxic and ozone-friendly.鈥�
Tom Halfhill, an expert with electronics industry publication Microprocessor Report, says the solution is far from ideal. 鈥淭here are a number of exotic ways to cool electronics, all the way up to vats of liquid helium,鈥� he told 快猫短视频 鈥淗owever, a better solution is to avoid generating all that heat in the first place. Heat is wasted power. Heat is inefficiency. Reducing the power consumption of processors and other components is more desirable than exotic cooling.鈥�
