It will focus on developing and testing heat removal technologies for data centres that are driven by AI and graphic processing units
THE Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and data centre thermal management company KoolLogix on Tuesday (Dec 3) launched a joint lab to develop cooling solutions for data centres.
The Toa Payoh lab, which cost an S$8 million outlay, will focus on developing and testing heat removal technologies for data centres that are driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and graphic processing units. These amplify data centres’ energy demands and increase their heat and carbon production.
A*Star deputy chief executive for innovation and enterprise Yeo Yee Chia said: “The rapid and widespread deployment of AI requires innovations to improve the power usage efficiency in data centres. One key challenge is efficient heat removal.”
Cooling systems account for up to 40 per cent of the total energy consumption of data centres, which consume vast amounts of energy.
As at 2020, data centres accounted for around 7 per cent of Singapore’s total electricity consumption. The country’s tropical climate only exacerbates this problem.
The collaboration thus aims to deliver smart cooling systems that meet the city-state’s growing demand for AI-driven data centres, and lower their energy consumption, operational costs and environmental impact.
These systems will use remote monitoring and fault prediction for KoolLogix’s heat removal solutions.
The partnership will also tap both the company’s data centre cooling expertise and A*Star’s advanced research capabilities in predictive maintenance, intelligent control systems, AI, Internet of Things technologies and digital twin solutions.
In doing so, it will enhance KoolLogix’s cooling capacity and heat removal efficiency.
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