17/06/2025 by Joel Thompson
Traditional oil and gas major Shell has revealed its new DLC Fluid S3, a propylene glycol-based coolant fluid for equipment in modern data centres.
The onset of artificial intelligence (AI) and other forms of high-performance computing have led to thermal demands that push the limits of air cooling. What is more, to maintain a suitable ambient temperature, air cooling often requires further energy to be consumed for air conditioning.
The new direct liquid cooling (DLC) solution complements Shell’s full-immersion cooling solutions, where whole elements are immersed in a non-conductive coolant fluid. DLC instead targets the main causes of generation, such as the central processing units (CPUs) and gas production units (GPUs) powering the AI revolution. Despite the name, the Shell coolant does not come into direct contact with the chip, but rather flows through an attached heat exchanger. This helps maintain compliance with the chip manufacturer’s warranty. The new coolant also meets all the PG25 specifications of the Open Compute Project (OCP).
Shell Lubricants’ vice president for global key accounts and new business development, Aysun Akik, said:
“Our growing range of advanced liquid cooling solutions is designed to meet the diverse needs of modern data centres both today, and tomorrow – and are backed by the strength of Shell’s global footprint, supply chain and five technology development hubs around the globe.”
Despite only cooling the main sources of heat generation, Shell claims distinct advantages over air cooling. It says its new fluid can improve the effectiveness of power usage by 27% thanks to less need for air conditioning.
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