Demand for immersed coolant rises, local companies may accelerate growth

Immersion coolant is the heat transfer medium in immersion liquid cooling technology. Its core cooling element is to immerse the complete server or its components in a charged state in the coolant. The heat generated is directly transferred to the immersion coolant and relies on The circulation of liquid conducts heat. Therefore, the immersion coolant used as a heat exchange medium must be a dielectric liquid with strong thermal conductivity but non-conductivity (or low enough conductivity). It is usually insoluble (or poorly soluble) in water and other ionic media, and can maximize the Ensure that its insulation is not easily destroyed. With the rapid development of new technologies such as 5G and edge computing, the power density of single cabinets of data center servers continues to increase. Traditional “air cooling” faces heat dissipation bottlenecks. “Liquid cooling”, which uses liquid instead of air for heat exchange, is accelerating to become the mainstream cooling in the industry. technology.

Thanks to the development of software and hardware technologies, modern digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, edge computing, cloud computing/storage, and 5G communications have widely penetrated into various fields of economy and society. The digital economy is playing an increasingly important role in the development of the modern economy. The massive data generated will put higher demands on data analysis, processing and storage, and the number of various data centers and supercomputing centers will gradually increase. In the context of the dual-carbon strategy promoted by major countries in the world, China, as a populous and economically powerful country, consumes large amounts of energy and has an urgent task of controlling carbon emissions. In particular, the rapidly growing energy consumption of data centers and supercomputing centers has prompted the country and Alibaba, Tencent and other related companies are actively seeking solutions to reduce data center energy consumption. As an efficient, low-carbon, and environmentally friendly method of cooling computers and servers, immersion cooling has attracted widespread attention from the industry. Domestic companies such as Sugon and other domestic companies have launched relevant solutions, and large enterprises and government departments such as Alibaba have promoted immersion cooling. The construction of data centers has promoted the growth of demand for immersed coolant. According to the released “2023-2027 Immersed Coolant Industry In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report“, in 2022, China’s demand for immersed coolant is RMB 230 million.

Imported brands and local brands coexist in China’s immersed coolant industry. Competition in the industry is not fierce. Competition entities can be divided into two camps: the first camp is international brands represented by 3M Company and Solvay Company. Their technical level Among the top companies in the world, they have rich product models and good product stability and reliability. Among them, Solvay has withdrawn from server cooling and its business focuses on the field of semiconductor cooling; the second camp is Zhejiang Noah Fluorine Chemical Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Juhua Co., Ltd., Sanming Haisifu Chemical Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Huikaidingrui New Materials Co., Ltd. and other domestic enterprises are growing rapidly and their technical levels are constantly improving.

Leading foreign coolant manufacturers such as Chemours, Solvay, and 3M have focused their market development on the field of semiconductor equipment with higher added value. There is insufficient motivation to develop and sell immersion coolant for the data center market, and Europe and the United States have higher Environmental protection standards and the European energy crisis have further weakened the production capabilities of leading foreign manufacturers. More importantly, the product prices of leading foreign manufacturers such as Chemours, Solvay, and 3M are relatively high, prompting downstream data center customers to seek alternatives. Analysts believe that China, as a major country in the fluorine chemical industry, has R&D and expertise in the field of immersed coolants, with fluorinated liquids as the mainstream products. Production advantages help reduce production costs. Driven by domestic and foreign factors, China’s local immersed coolant companies will not only be able to quickly promote domestic substitution, but will also attract more overseas users with higher product cost performance and occupy more of the global immersed coolant market share.