Comprehensive Analysis of Cooling Fluid Selection Technology for Liquid Cooling Systems

Water-based Solutions: Cost-effective ($2 - 5/kg) with high specific heat capacity (4.2 J/g℃), suitable for conventional heat dissipation.

Mineral Oils: High flash point (220℃) and good material compatibility (silicone rubber swelling rate < 3%).

Fluorinated Liquids: Insulation strength up to 500kV/mm, meeting the needs of high-voltage devices (such as ultra-high voltage transformers).

Liquid Metals: Thermal conductivity is 13 times that of water. Huawei Mate 60 Pro uses gallium-indium alloy for chip-level heat dissipation.

Water-based solutions are conductive (conductivity > 10μS/cm requires pure water preparation).

Fluorinated liquids are expensive ($80 - 150/kg), limiting large-scale applications.

Liquid metals have high pump power consumption (300% higher than traditional cooling fluids) and leakage risks.

Technical Requirements: Single cabinet power density reaches 60kW. It is necessary to solve chip-level, cabinet-level, and computer room-level heat dissipation simultaneously. The operating environment humidity fluctuates within ±15%.

Selection Scheme:

Chip Cooling Layer: 3M Novec 7310 (dielectric strength 170kV/mm).

Cold Plate Circulating Medium: Modified ethylene glycol solution (ethylene glycol 50% + deionized water 50% + MMH corrosion inhibitor).

Computer Room-level Heat Dissipation: Fluorinated liquid and air mixed cooling system (energy efficiency ratio increased by 40%).

Implementation Effect: PUE value decreased from 1.5 to 1.1. Unit computing energy consumption decreased by 62%. Annual electricity bill savings exceeded $7 million.

Working Conditions: The battery temperature rise rate during fast charging reaches 8℃/min. The working temperature needs to be strictly controlled between 15 - 35℃. It is necessary to be compatible with the hybrid scheme of air cooling and liquid cooling.

Innovative Scheme:

Main Circulating Medium: Borax pentahydrate - ethylene glycol mixed solution (freezing point - 45℃).

Emergency Cooling Layer: Nanofluid (volume fraction of Al₂O₃ particles 45%).

Phase Change Material Layer: Paraffin/graphene composite phase change unit (latent heat value ≥ 180J/g).

Performance Improvement: Charging efficiency increased by 25%. The battery pack temperature difference was compressed from ±5℃ to ±1.5℃. The cycle life was extended to more than 2000 times.

BASF launched the world's first pH self-regulating cooling fluid (pH range automatically maintained at 8.5 - 9.5).

Huawei FusionCoolant achieved a server cluster PUE ≤ 1.05.

Fuji Photo Film developed an aviation-grade cooling fluid with a temperature resistance of 400℃ (patent number JP2023156784).

Quantum Cooling Fluids: Utilize quantum tunneling effect to improve thermal conductivity (theoretical value can reach 200W/mK).

Self-healing Gels: Strain-responsive materials inspired by mimosa (80% performance recovered within 30 seconds after damage).

Magnetic Fluid Cooling: Nanometer Fe₃O₄ particle suspension (flow rate control accuracy ±0.5L/min controlled by magnetic field).

Digital Twin System: Build a cooling fluid performance prediction model using ANSYS Fluent + Python (error < 3%).

Intelligent Sensors: The miniature impedance sensor developed by MIT (size 50μm×200μm) can monitor the degree of degradation in real time.

Carbon Capture Cooling Fluids: BASF developed a CO₂ capture working medium (0.3g of CO₂ can be stored per liter).

Biodegradable Route: DSM developed bio-based cooling fluids (100% derived from plant glycerin).

NASA is testing a liquid nitrogen cooling system (extreme temperature range - 196℃ - 300℃).

MIT is developing a liquid metal - nanofluid hybrid system (thermal conductivity up to 120W/mK).

Basic Layer: Temperature range, electrical insulation requirements, material compatibility.

Economic Layer: Total cost of ownership (including maintenance, waste liquid treatment).

Strategic Layer: Technological foresight, supply chain security, ESG indicators.

Edge Computing Nodes: Mineral oil-based cooling fluid + phase change material (cost-sensitive type).

AI Training Clusters: Fluorinated liquid + micro-channel cold plate (high-power density scenario).

Energy Storage Power Stations: Borax pentahydrate solution + graphene enhanced (wide temperature range requirement).