The future development trend of liquid cooled data center

The future development trend of liquid cooled data center will revolve around three main lines: "high-density computing power driven, green and low-carbon policy driven, and technological integration innovation". It is expected that by 2029, the size of China's liquid cooled market will reach 130 billion yuan, becoming the core infrastructure supporting the AI and intelligent computing era.
With the power consumption of AI large model chips exceeding 4000W and the power density of single cabinet soaring to the hundred kilowatts level, traditional air cooling is approaching its heat dissipation limit. Liquid cooling, with its ultra-high thermal conductivity (3000 times that of air), ultra-low PUE (which can be as low as 1.03~1.08), and high space utilization, is transforming from an "optional" to a "mandatory" option. Here are the five major development trends for the future:
1、 The hybrid architecture of "air-cooled+liquid cooled" will become the mainstream deployment mode
For low-power density (<10kW/cabinet) equipment, air cooling is still used to control costs;
For high-power GPU/ASIC clusters, cold plates or submerged liquid cooling are used for precise cooling;
The hybrid solution balances economy and performance and has been implemented in large intelligent computing centers such as Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud.
2、 Cold plate dominates the current trend, and immersion will accelerate infiltration in high-density scenarios
Cold Plate: Due to minimal modifications to the existing architecture and easy deployment, it currently holds over 70% of the market share and is compatible with mainstream AI servers such as Nvidia GB300 and Huawei Ascend;
Immersion type: It has significant advantages in ultra-high density scenarios such as supercomputing and edge AI (>30kW/cabinet), with high waste heat recovery efficiency, and the growth rate will exceed 50% in the next five years;
The industry is promoting standardization of single-phase and phase change immersion technology to reduce operational complexity.
3、 Domestication substitution accelerates, core components are independently controllable
NVIDIA GB300 opens up its supply chain, breaking the monopoly of foreign investment and providing entry opportunities for domestic liquid cooling manufacturers such as Envision, Shuguang Shuchuang, and Juhua Co., Ltd;
The performance of domestically produced fluorinated liquids has reached international standards, with prices only 1/4 of imported products, driving the overall cost of the system to decrease by more than 30%;
Quick connector CDU、 The localization rate of high-value components such as manifolds is rapidly increasing, and a complete industrial chain ecosystem is being built.
4、 Deep integration of intelligent operation and AI energy efficiency optimization
Real time adjustment of flow rate, temperature, and pump speed through AI algorithms to achieve dynamic optimization of PUE below 1.08;
The fault prediction system can identify the risk of cold plate blockage and fluid leakage 72 hours in advance, improving system reliability;
Tencent, Baidu, and other companies have piloted the "Liquid Cooling as a Service" (LaaS) model, which charges based on computing power usage to lower the initial investment threshold for customers.
5、 The value of waste heat recovery and sustainable development is highlighted
The liquid cooling system uses liquid as a carrier to export heat, with a stable temperature of 40-60 ℃. It can be directly used for building heating, domestic hot water, or agricultural greenhouses, achieving energy cascade utilization;
Microsoft research shows that liquid cooling reduces carbon emissions by 15% and saves 30% to 50% of water throughout the entire lifecycle compared to air cooling, helping data centers achieve their "dual carbon" goals;
In the future, more data centers will be linked with urban heating networks, transforming "energy consumers" into "energy nodes".