As AI adoption accelerates and heat generation in data centers rises sharply, the industry is increasingly turning its attention from air cooling, which uses air to dissipate heat, to liquid cooling, which uses liquid to cool servers. Direct liquid cooling targets heat-generating components such as CPUs and GPUs, while immersion cooling submerges entire servers in fluid. Compared with air cooling, liquid cooling can reduce cooling energy consumption by up to 80%. In response to this shift, Kixx offers liquid cooling solutions comprising Kixx DLC Fluid PG25 and the Kixx Immersion Fluid S lineup to meet the needs of different data center environments.

Across this two-part Liquid Cooling Solutions series, we explore why data centers are turning to liquid cooling and how Kixx is responding to this shift.

 

Part 1 – Why Data Centers Are Looking to Liquid Cooling in the AI Era

Part 2 – Kixx’s Vision for the Future of Data Center Cooling in the AI Era

Key Takeaways

• Fluid choice is a key factor in the performance of liquid cooling.
• Kixx solutions provide the core attributes required for liquid cooling: heat transfer, electrical properties, material compatibility, and long-term stability.
• Kixx’s lineup — which includes Kixx DLC Fluid PG25 and Kixx Immersion Fluid S 30, S E, and S 5 — is designed to meet the needs of different data center environments.

 

In the previous installment, the Kixx Newsroom looked at why cooling has emerged as a critical challenge for data centers, how the industry is shifting from air cooling to liquid cooling, and the operational benefits liquid cooling offers in terms of energy efficiency, cost, and sustainability.

Part two of this series examines how Kixx is responding to this shift, the criteria it uses when designing liquid cooling fluids, and the respective characteristics of Kixx DLC Fluid PG25 and the Kixx Immersion Fluid S lineup.

As liquid cooling becomes more widely adopted, the industry’s focus is shifting beyond the cooling method itself to the performance of the cooling fluids that actually transfer heat. This is because even with the same cooling method, cooling efficiency and system stability can vary depending on the fluid used.

 

Kixx’s Expertise in Fluid Design

When designing liquid cooling fluids for data centers, Kixx has focused on key performance factors including heat-transfer performance, electrical properties, material compatibility, and long-term stability. These are important criteria that affect not only cooling performance, but also system reliability, service life, and operating efficiency.

 

Heat-transfer performance determines how quickly and effectively heat can be absorbed from a heat source and transferred elsewhere, making it one of the most fundamental factors directly affecting cooling performance.

Electrical properties are also important. Immersion cooling fluids in particular must be non-conductive because electronic equipment such as servers is submerged directly in the fluid, and electrical conductivity could result in short circuits.

Material compatibility is another key requirement. Because the fluid remains in contact with server components over extended periods, stable operation requires the fluid not to corrode or damage the various metals, plastics, and other materials used in the system.

Long-term stability is equally important since cooling fluids remain inside systems for extended periods, so they need to maintain their physical properties and performance over time.

Based on these key performance factors, Kixx offers solutions for two different approaches to data center cooling: direct liquid cooling and immersion cooling.

 

Kixx DLC Fluid PG25

Kixx DLC Fluid PG25 was developed for direct liquid cooling.

Direct liquid cooling works by attaching cold plates to the surfaces of CPUs, GPUs, and other components where heat is concentrated, then circulating fluid through those plates to absorb the heat. After absorbing heat and becoming warmer, the fluid leaves the system and releases that heat before returning to the cold plate once it has cooled.

 

Kixx DLC Fluid PG25 was developed using propylene glycol, which is also widely used as an ingredient in cosmetics, to minimize its impact on people and the environment. It has also been designed with the stable operation of data center cooling systems in mind.

One of the key characteristics of Kixx DLC Fluid PG25 is its high heat-transfer efficiency. Because the cold plate is in direct contact with the heat source, the fluid can rapidly absorb and transfer heat. It also offers excellent long-term stability, maintaining its physical properties and performance with minimal change even when circulated through a system over an extended period. The fluid also provides corrosion protection. It uses Organic Acid Technology (OAT) additives with excellent corrosion-inhibiting properties to help prevent corrosion of metal components.

Together, these characteristics allow Kixx DLC Fluid PG25 to transfer heat reliably while helping inhibit corrosion and protect the system.

 

Kixx Immersion Fluid S Lineup

In immersion cooling, equipment such as servers is completely submerged in a tank filled with non-conductive fluid. As the system operates, the fluid absorbs heat generated by the equipment and carries it away. The warmed fluid releases that heat as it moves to the coolant distribution unit (CDU). Once cooled, the fluid returns to the tank and the process repeats.

Because electrical conductivity in the fluid could cause short circuits inside a server, immersion cooling fluids must be non-conductive. Kixx immersion cooling fluids can reduce reliance on fans, helping lower both power consumption and noise. Their heat transfer properties also help improve cooling efficiency, while the use of NSF-certified biodegradable base materials helps minimize their impact on people and the environment.

Kixx Immersion Fluid S 5 is a versatile, general-purpose product offering a well-balanced combination of energy efficiency, service life, and material compatibility, making it suitable for a broad range of applications. It uses materials recommended by the Open Compute Project (OCP) as well as NSF-certified biodegradable materials to reduce its impact on people and the natural environment.

The lineup also includes Kixx Immersion Fluid S 30, which enhances safety in high-temperature environments with a flash point of 250°C or higher, and Kixx Immersion Fluid S E, a high-flash-point product that similarly offers a flash point of 250°C or higher while also providing energy efficiency and biodegradability.

 

A New Direction for Data Center Cooling

As demand for AI infrastructure grows, cooling requirements are expected to become even greater. As the performance of semiconductor chips designed specifically for AI computing, such as GPUs, increases, so does the amount of heat they generate. As a result, direct liquid cooling is drawing increasing attention as a cooling option in the design of new data centers.

As interest in liquid cooling grows, fluid quality and the ability to maintain performance over long periods are also expected to play increasingly important roles in ensuring system reliability and reducing operating costs.

 

Through its liquid cooling fluids, Kixx is helping data centers manage heat more reliably, use energy more efficiently, and operate more sustainably.

Going forward, Kixx plans to continue keeping pace with the evolving data center cooling landscape by providing liquid cooling fluid solutions designed to meet the needs of a wide range of data center environments.

More detailed information on how direct liquid cooling and immersion cooling work, as well as the characteristics of Kixx liquid cooling fluids, is available in the Liquid Cooling Solutions video on the official Kixx YouTube channel.