Castrol and Submer form partnership to popularise use of immersion cooling in datacentres

BP-owned lubricant brand Castrol is partnering with immersion cooling system manufacturer Submer to help accelerate the adoption of this form of cooling in datacentre environments.

The two companies have signed an agreement that will see them work together to develop new immersion cooling fluids, which are thermally conductive, and dielectric liquids in which IT equipment is submerged to lower its temperature.

“By combining Castrol’s thermal management expertise with Submer’s expertise in immersion cooling systems, the two organisations aim to achieve a multitude of benefits, particularly in allowing datacentres to be managed in a more sustainable manner,” the companies said in a joint statement.

“With immersion cooling, water usage and the power consumption needed to operate and cool server equipment can be significantly reduced.”

The two companies have also suggested that, in time, their collaboration could be expanded to incorporate elements of the related work that Castrol’s parent company, BP, is doing to help companies in multiple industries curb their carbon emissions through the roll-out of integrated energy offerings.  

“This potentially opens additional opportunities for Castrol and Submer to explore integrated coolant and energy offers, tailored to support datacentre customers to help them meet their sustainability goals,” the statement added.

Rebecca Yates, BP’s vice-president of advanced mobility and industrial products, said the two firms’ partnership aligns with Castrol’s commitment to help its customers reduce the amount of energy and water their operations use and cut the amount of waste they produce.

“Teaming up with Submer is a great example of how cooperation can help deliver more efficient operations and can bring about many opportunities for us to continue to deliver products that help save energy while delivering high performance with increased efficiency,” said Yates.

Daniel Pope, co-founder and CEO of Submer, said the company was on a mission to make the building out of sustainable digital infrastructures possible, and immersion cooling was the best way to do that.

“There are two key drivers for needing a different medium other than air [to cool datacentres],” he said. “There is a technical need driven by the supporting future generations of high-density chips that can no longer be cooled by traditional means, and a sustainability driver, driven by the need to deliver more sustainable datacentres with improved environmental performance.

“Thanks to immersion cooling, we can run these digital infrastructures with considerably reduced energy and space than is typically required. Also, by utilising heat recovery and reuse technology, we turn them into highly efficient thermal power sources that can deliver hot water to neighbouring businesses. All this happens thanks to a liquid medium that both Castrol and Submer are experts in.”