Advantages and Disadvantages of Liquid Immersion Cooling

Advantages and Disadvantages of Liquid Immersion Cooling

Advantages:

High heat dissipation efficiency:

High thermal conductivity: the thermal conductivity of liquids is much higher than that of air, for example, the thermal conductivity of common coolants such as fluorinated liquids is several times or more than that of air. This enables the liquid to absorb heat more quickly and carry away the heat generated by the electronic equipment quickly. When dealing with high heat-generating equipment, liquid immersion cooling can keep the equipment running at a lower temperature, effectively preventing problems such as performance degradation, crash and even hardware damage caused by overheating.

Large specific heat capacity: Liquid has a large specific heat capacity and can absorb a large amount of heat with a relatively small rise in its own temperature. This means that under the same heat input, the temperature change of the liquid is much smaller than that of the air, which can provide more stable heat dissipation effect, even if the equipment is running under high load for a long time, it can also maintain good heat dissipation status.

Low noise: air cooling relies on a fan to drive air flow for heat dissipation, and the fan will produce a large noise during operation, especially at high speeds. While the liquid immersion cooling system, usually only a few components such as circulation pumps will produce a slight sound, and these sounds relative to the fan noise is very small, can create a quiet working environment.

High equipment stability:

Good temperature uniformity: the liquid can fully contact all parts of the electronic equipment, making the heat distribution more uniform, avoiding damage to the equipment due to localised overheating. In contrast, air-cooled cooling may have uneven heat dissipation, for example, there may be large differences in temperature between different locations of the cooling fins, and between different components within the device.

Reduces dust accumulation: Air-cooled cooling requires airflow to dissipate heat, which inevitably brings airborne dust into the device. Long-term accumulation of dust will affect the thermal performance of the equipment, and may even lead to short-circuit and other failures. While the liquid immersion cooling is carried out in a sealed environment, the liquid can play a role in isolating dust, reducing the impact of dust on the device, thus improving the stability and reliability of the device.

Can achieve high-density integration: liquid immersion cooling can be better adapted to the trend of electronic equipment to high-density, miniaturisation. Due to its efficient heat dissipation capability, it can provide sufficient heat dissipation for high heat-generating devices in a smaller space, allowing the devices to be arranged more closely together and improving space utilisation, thus enabling high-density integration in data centres and other scenarios.

Good energy efficiency: Although equipment such as circulating pumps are required in liquid immersion cooling systems, overall their energy consumption is still lower than air-cooled heat dissipation systems. Air-cooled cooling system in order to achieve a better cooling effect, often need to use multiple fans, and fans need to continue to run at high speed, consuming more power. Liquid immersion cooling systems, on the other hand, can achieve good heat dissipation at lower flow rates and can effectively reduce energy consumption.

Disadvantages:

High initial investment cost:

Equipment costs: liquid immersion cooling system requires the use of special coolant, sealed containers, circulating pumps, heat exchangers and other equipment, the manufacturing process of these equipment is complex, high cost. In contrast, the structure of air-cooled cooling system is relatively simple, mainly composed of cooling fins, fans and other components, the cost is lower.

Installation cost: Installation of liquid immersion cooling system requires special modification and installation of the equipment, such as the need to ensure that the sealing performance is good, the coolant circulation pipeline is connected correctly, etc., which increases the difficulty and cost of installation. The installation of air-cooled cooling system is relatively simple, only need to install the radiator on the equipment and connect the power supply of the fan.

Maintenance is difficult:

Coolant management: liquid immersion cooling systems require regular coolant replacement to ensure the performance and purity of the coolant. The coolant may be contaminated and deteriorate during long-term use, affecting the cooling effect. In addition, different coolants have different chemical properties and compatibility. Strict testing and matching is required when selecting and replacing the coolant, otherwise it may cause damage to the equipment.

Equipment maintenance: If the liquid immersion cooling system leaks and other faults, it is relatively troublesome to repair. Need to disassemble the equipment, cleaning, re-sealing and other operations, which not only requires professional technicians, but also take a long time and energy. The maintenance of air-cooled cooling system is relatively simple, usually only need to clean up the dust on the cooling fins, check the operation of the fan and so on.

High safety requirements:

Risk of leakage: Although the coolant used in liquid immersion cooling systems is usually insulated and non-flammable, if there is a leakage in the system, the coolant may come into contact with the circuitry part of the electronic equipment, leading to short circuits and other safety issues. Therefore, liquid immersion cooling systems need to have good sealing performance and leak detection mechanisms to ensure the safety of the system.

Chemical stability: the coolant may react chemically with the materials of the equipment during long-term use, leading to corrosion, aging and other problems. This requires good chemical stability of the coolant, and the need to select and test the material of the equipment to ensure its compatibility with the coolant.