数据中心互联技术专题五：液冷—智算中心散热核心技术

Core Insights - The report emphasizes the critical role of liquid cooling technology in data centers, particularly in AI-driven environments, as power density of computing chips continues to rise, surpassing the limits of traditional air cooling methods [1][6][8] - Liquid cooling is becoming mainstream due to its advantages such as rapid temperature transfer, high heat dissipation capacity, low noise, energy efficiency, and space-saving features [1][6][10] - The global market for liquid cooling is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2026, driven by increasing demand from AI chip manufacturers and data center operators [1][6][7] Group 1: Liquid Cooling Technology - Liquid cooling systems are categorized into two main sides: the room side (including primary and secondary components) and the ICT equipment side (such as cold plates and immersion systems) [1][12] - The current dominant technology is cold plate cooling, with Nvidia's GB200 series utilizing a fully liquid-cooled architecture [1][10] - Immersion cooling is seen as a long-term direction, offering lower PUE (<1.05) but at a higher cost compared to cold plate systems [1][6][10] Group 2: Market Size and Growth - The North American market for cold plate liquid cooling is valued at approximately $1,040 per kW, with expectations to reach $10 billion by 2026, driven by CSP cloud manufacturers and Nvidia's GPU demand [1][7] - In China, the unit value for cold plate liquid cooling is around 5,000 RMB per kW, with market sizes projected to be 11.3 billion RMB in 2026 and 23.8 billion RMB in 2027 [1][7] - The liquid cooling market is expected to accelerate due to stricter PUE regulations globally, with China mandating new large data centers to maintain a PUE ≤ 1.25 [1][25] Group 3: Industry Chain Analysis - The upstream of the liquid cooling industry consists of components like cooling towers and cold plates, while the midstream includes system integrators such as Vertiv and Envicool, and the downstream comprises AIDC service providers and operators [1][6][7] - Overseas and Taiwanese companies have a first-mover advantage in component manufacturing, but domestic manufacturers are gradually gaining ground due to cost-effectiveness and responsiveness [1][6][7] - The report highlights that established temperature control manufacturers are likely to benefit from the industry's growth, with a recommendation to focus on companies like Envicool [1][6][7] Group 4: Technological Developments - The evolution of cold plate technology is moving towards two-phase systems, which can enhance cooling capacity by over 150%, and micro-channel technology, which offers lower thermal resistance [1][6][40] - Companies like Microsoft are exploring microfluidic cooling technologies that significantly improve cooling efficiency compared to existing solutions [1][40] - Future trends indicate a shift towards high integration, low power consumption, and standardization in liquid cooling technologies [1][6][40]