Analysis of Cooling Technologies in the Data Center Sector on the Basis of Patent Applications

Benjamin Ott (), Paula M. Wenzel and Peter Radgen
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Benjamin Ott: Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use, University of Stuttgart, Heßbrühlstrasse 49a, 70565 Stuttgart, Germany
Paula M. Wenzel: Faculty 4-Energy, Process- and Bio-Engineering, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Peter Radgen: Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use, University of Stuttgart, Heßbrühlstrasse 49a, 70565 Stuttgart, Germany

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-35

Abstract: The cooling of server components has been developed over the past few years in order to meet increasing cooling requirements. The growth in performance and power density increases the cooling demand. To gain a better understanding of the evolution and possible future technology developments in the field of data center cooling, a patent analysis method was used with a focus on the server and computer room levels. After the patent extraction from the European patent database for the period 2000–2023, the search results were classified and analyzed. Most of the patents deal with air or liquid cooling. Since 2015, a technological shift from air to liquid cooling can be identified on the level of patent activities. In conclusion, from the patent analysis, it can be derived that liquid cooling will continue to gain in importance in the future and could also be combined with other approaches in the form of hybrid cooling. However, air cooling may still be relevant, even if the main cooling load is handled by liquid-based approaches. At the same time, the optimization potential for air cooling seems to have been largely exploited in comparison to liquid cooling, as can be seen from the falling number of the patent applications.

Keywords: patent analysis; server hardware; air cooling; liquid cooling; immersion cooling; heat removal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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