The gigantic processing capacity of modern data centers results in the generation of heat, requiring increased energy use to help computers stay cool. The need for heat dissipation can account for more than 40% of a facility’s electricity usage; one data center can consume the same amount of electricity as 50,000 homes. Fortunately, a relatively simple, inexpensive and salty approach for maintaining cooling capacity has been developed by researchers in China.

The passive thermal management process is based on the use of water containing the salt lithium bromide. Moisture desorption from the hygroscopic salt solution through a protective membrane allows only water vapor to pass through during cycles of evaporation and reabsorption that keep temperatures low.Source: Device (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.device.2023.100121

A porous membrane is set in a structure that prevents any salty solution from contact with computer components. A heat sink directs accumulated heat away from sensitive electronics. This arrangement enables the computing equipment to quickly recover its cooling capacity by absorbing water vapor from the air during off hours.

Applying the process to a single computer, researchers from City University of Hong Kong and Huazhong University of Science and Technology documented an improvement of more than 32% in performance. The scalable strategy described in the journal Device is capable of offering a long-duration stable cooling capacity without solution leakage and corrosion and can cost-effectively suppress the temperature rise of an emulated heater compared with state-of-the-art passive cooling strategies.