Layout thermal management innovation material ecology, Dow's sustainable technology platform helps improve AIoT efficiency

Release time：2024-04-22    Click：12

   In 2023, as the number of IoT connections in China exceeds the number of non IoT connections, the barriers to IoT device connectivity are greatly reduced, and intelligent IoT has become the main trend of development. In recent years, the huge data flow in the AIoT+5G era has put forward higher requirements for communication terminal chips, antennas and other components. While device power consumption has significantly increased, it has caused a sharp increase in heat generation in these parts. Thermal management materials are currently the most effective heat dissipation materials in fields such as 5G RF chips, millimeter wave antennas, wireless charging, wireless transmission, IGBT, printed circuit boards, AI, and the Internet of Things, and are irreplaceable.

5G and edge computing are developing together, and the general trend of jointly manufacturing AIoT intelligent applications has been formed. Gartner estimates that by 2025, the amount of data generated through edge computing will account for 75% of the entire enterprise's data volume, indicating a significant increase. In the future, with the continuous improvement of computing power and power density, cloud data centers will become the mainstream business scenario. The mainstream power density of a single 1T cabinet will increase from 6-8KW/cabinet to 12-15KW/cabinet. The increase in chip power requires increasingly high heat dissipation requirements, and the resulting high heat density and huge energy consumption issues pose higher challenges to the refrigeration technology of data centers.

How can equipment manufacturers adopt updated and more advanced material solutions and thermal management technologies to support new demands and respond to new challenges in the context of the accelerating global AIoT landing trend? At the upcoming Munich Shanghai Electronic Production Equipment Exhibition this week, Dow, a globally leading innovative materials science company, will bring rich new technologies, products, and solutions for thermal management to the local market, helping customers meet the dual needs of high computing power and high reliability, and helping core industries achieve carbon neutrality in the future.

Before the exhibition, Electronic Enthusiasts interviewed Chu Minsi, Global Strategic Marketing Director of Consumer Products Solutions at Dow Corporation, to discuss Dow Corporation's latest strategic layout, solution strategies for the AIoT market, as well as its support and planning for the Chinese market.

▲ Image: Chu Minsi, Global Strategic Marketing Director of Consumer Products Solutions at Dow Corporation

Addressing the energy consumption challenges of the new era, innovating thermal management technologies to promote the implementation and sustainable development of AIoT

"With the advent of the AIoT era, the computing demand brought about by AI is growing exponentially. In addition, the application of high-speed devices such as AR and VR, as well as high throughput devices, will inevitably lead to a sharp increase in power consumption and heat generation. Therefore, how to improve heat dissipation efficiency to ensure the comprehensive performance of the network and cloud ends has become one of the important topics driving industry development." Chu Minsi introduced, "Dow has decades of organic silicon material technology precipitation and accumulation, and has always been committed to empowering electronic innovation with material technology. Our powerful and widely used series of high-performance organic silicon materials and innovative technologies can not only bring end-to-end high-performance solutions to the 5G ecosystem." We provide underlying support for the green transformation of the entire value chain. With years of professional cultivation, we have a rich thermal management material system, with thermal conductivity covering 1.6 W/m · K-12.8 W/m · K, which can meet the different needs of various applications in consumer electronics, communication, new energy, and other fields. In addition, Dow is also conducting innovative research and development to meet the new demands of the AIoT era. Our latest product on display, the Tao Xi TM ICL-1000 Immersion Cooling Liquid, is a breakthrough organic silicon cooling product that can be used for large-scale cloud computing and enterprise level data centers. It is also a set of solutions that emphasizes' low-carbon '

Tao Xi TM ICL-1000 immersion coolant is an immersion coolant designed for mainstream single-phase immersion liquid cooling systems, which can effectively improve the sustainability of cloud computing infrastructure. It has three major technological advantages: high thermal conductivity, high specific heat, low specific gravity, and relatively low viscosity. Therefore, this product can solve high-power density heat dissipation and thermal management problems; In addition, it can save pump power and reduce PUE (electrical energy utilization efficiency).

▲ Figure: Single phase immersion liquid cooling

As a solution that emphasizes "low-carbon", the energy efficiency of the Tao Xi TM ICL-1000 immersion coolant is significantly better than that of traditional air cooling systems, helping to improve the comprehensive computing power of servers and reduce the footprint and energy consumption of data center infrastructure. This technology has ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) and zero ozone depletion potential (ODP), which can reduce its impact on the environment.

Compared with traditional cooling methods, this immersion cooling technology has extremely low water consumption; Compared with air-cooled systems, the heat absorption efficiency of this technology is significantly improved, which can significantly reduce the cooling energy consumption of servers and even help to significantly reduce the total energy consumption of data centers. In addition, the coolant can be easily recycled, further improving sustainability.

Dow can provide suitable immersion coolants and polymers with good compatibility for servers to meet the different needs of data centers. Single phase immersion liquid cooling is more suitable for cloud computing and data centers, especially with the application of single-phase immersion liquid cooling in IDC. The total cost of ownership (TCO) of liquid cooling computing power centers, including product procurement, later use, and maintenance costs, will be gradually optimized.

As Dow's breakthrough silicone coolant, the Dow TM ICL-1000 immersion coolant not only won the 2022 "R&D 100" award, but was also nominated for the Reuters "2022 Global Business Responsibility Award" and Anxunsi "2022 ICIS Innovation Award"

Immersion cooling technology, as a new type of refrigeration solution, has attracted industry attention due to its efficient and green characteristics as well as excellent cooling performance. Chu Minsi added, "But the use of liquid cooling technology in data centers has been around for the past two years, so there is still a very broad application space for this technology.".

An end-to-end thermal management integration solution that brings product synergy to custom

From thermal conductive gel, thermal conductive silicone grease to immersion cooling, Dow has always maintained a keen insight and in-depth research on market development and changes, responded quickly to the latest market demands and challenges, and constantly innovated technology and improved the thermal management product portfolio. "What we provide to our customers is not just a single material product, but an end-to-end integrated solution centered around the entire 5G ecosystem." Chu Minsi said, "Just last year, we launched a solution platform for the entire 5G value chain (5G. dow. com/cn). This includes organic silicon thermal conductive material solutions for dozens of application points in cloud computing and data centers, communication infrastructure, and terminal electronic products. In addition, our patented immersive cooling technology and the immersive cooling platform created for this purpose can bring customers a synergistic effect of 1+1>2 in a combination of punches, supporting them to optimize and iterate products more efficiently, and helping them quickly." Development.

In addition to the Tao Xi TM ICL-1000 immersion coolant, the products showcased by Dow at this exhibition also include the Tao Xi TM TC-5550 thermal conductive silicone grease, which won the 2023 BIG Innovation Award. This product is specifically designed for high-performance processors using bare chip architecture, with a high thermal conductivity of 5.0W/m · K and excellent rheological properties. The solvent-free formula used also makes it more sustainable; As an innovative thermal interface material for smart phones and consumer electronic processors, Taoxi TM TC-3035 S thermal conductive gel was shortlisted for the 2023 Edison Invention Award for its outstanding performance of 4.0W/m · K high thermal conductivity and low-temperature curing.

In this exhibition, we believe that you can also see a theme - sustainable development. As a company with more than 120 years of history, Dow has always been a "long-term advocate" of sustainable development. We constantly strive to achieve more sustainable product technology solutions in product performance and application effectiveness. On the other hand, driven by China's "dual carbon" goals, various industries have also placed greater emphasis on "sustainability", and have put forward more "green" demands for high-performance materials that are crucial in various infrastructure, which coincides with Dow's development direction. Whether it's solutions for data centers, consumer electronics, 5G communication, or renewable energy, whether it's immersion cooling technology or industrial silicone materials, we can provide strong support for customers' green transformation Chu Minsi continued.

Continue to increase investment and improve local supply capacity and reliability

To meet the increasing market demand and help global customers achieve sustainable innovation, Dow has been continuously increasing its investment in both global and local markets, committed to creating excellent customer experiences.

"China is one of our crucial markets, and we have always been committed to supporting the rapid growth of local customers and the demand for new technologies with excellent technology and products, comprehensive services and support, and strong and reliable production capacity supply. In recent years, Dow Corporation has continued to invest and expand in the two major organic silicon production bases in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu and Songjiang, Shanghai, to further enhance the production capacity of high-performance organic silicon products, to create a stronger and more reliable local supply chain system, and to support the rapid development of the domestic market. This once again reflects Dow Corporation's long-term planning and commitment to the Chinese market." Chu Minsi added, "We are committed to working together with customers and partners on the global value chain, with Dow Corporation in..." Leading capabilities in materials science empower electronic innovation