researchers at the national institute of informatics in tokyo, japan is currently studying immersion cooling for electronics, a potential solution that has become increasingly popular in recent years as attitudes towards liquid cooling in general have shifted. in an article on all about circuits, robin mitchell explores the potential ramifications of that process.

immersion cooling has become a trend in electronics thermal management. (wikimedia commons)

mitchell notes that in today’s ever-increasing market for more data, more power, more speed, and smaller devices, there is a need to find new methods for heat dissipation on the component, system, and even the macro-level (data centers for example). this is no longer the time of the zx spectrum, he said, when just adding a piece of metal on the power regulator to cool it down.

with most cooling systems requiring external power, mitchell suggests using the environment in a much more useful manner. data centers are being moved to places such as iceland, norway, and wyoming in order to take advantage of cooler temperatures. he also pointed to an experiment done by microsoft to submerge a small data center in the ocean to keep it cool.

waterproofing, or at least making electronics water resistant, is a current trend in the market and mitchell thinks that this could represent an important technology not only to keep someone’s phone working if it falls in the pool but also to keep electronics safe during immersion cooling.

he wrote, “underwater computing, as strange as it may seem, could really be the answer to cooling issues and combatting environmental issues in the technological world. waterproofed computers could easily sit in large containers of water which could be kept cool by just adding fresh cool water from the mains. if this technology works, it could be a game changer for all tech companies and individuals alike.”

read the full article at http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/why-the-future-of-data-centers-could-be-in-the-oceans.