Castrol publishes a study on the Dipping Point industry

A recent survey conducted by Castrol reveals that industry experts believe existing data centre cooling systems will struggle to manage the rising demand for computing power. As AI and big data continue to drive increased workloads, many industry leaders stress the need for rapid adoption of immersion cooling technology within the next three years to maintain performance and competitiveness.

Traditional Cooling Systems Under Pressure

According to The Dipping Point, a survey of 600 data centre professionals across seven regions—including the US, China, Germany, the Nordics, the UK, Canada, and Ireland—data centres may soon face significant challenges due to increasing compute demands from AI, big data, and edge computing.

Nearly 74% of business leaders surveyed believe that conventional air-cooling systems will be unable to keep up with the surge in data traffic. The same percentage agrees that immersion cooling is now essential for meeting the growing power needs of modern data centres. With compute demand only expected to rise, organisations that fail to adopt new cooling solutions risk potential system failures in the future.

Urgency to Embrace Immersion Cooling

A large majority (76%) of respondents stated that the industry must implement immersion cooling within the next three years to sustain performance improvements. Unlike traditional air-cooling methods that rely on fans, immersion cooling involves submerging servers and computing components in a special non-conductive liquid, allowing for more efficient heat absorption and dissipation.

Current Infrastructure Nearing Its Limit

“As the demand for data processing surges, how we cool servers will become increasingly critical,” explains Peter Huang, Global Vice President – Data Centre, Thermal Management at Castrol. “The industry widely agrees that air-cooling infrastructure is approaching its limit. More data processing generates more heat, and excessive or prolonged overheating can lead to hardware failure, downtime, and data loss, disrupting essential services.”

Peter Huang also notes the unprecedented rate of advancement in chip density. Previously, a CPU generation lasted around three to five years, but today, two generations emerge annually to meet the needs of power-intensive applications. With rack densities increasing beyond 50 KW—and future demands approaching 1,000 KW—air cooling alone will be insufficient, making advanced cooling technologies imperative.

Early Adopters Will Gain a Competitive Edge

Survey results suggest that immersion cooling is set to become the dominant data centre cooling technology by 2027. Companies failing to prepare for this transition risk falling behind competitors already investing in immersion cooling infrastructure. Key findings from the survey include:

• 74% of data centre leaders believe immersion cooling is the only viable solution for meeting modern compute power demands, with 90% planning to adopt this method by 2030.

• 76% agree that immersion cooling will significantly reduce energy and water consumption in data centres.

• 77% believe immersion cooling can support current network demands, enabling efficient large-scale data processing, storage, and distribution.

Peter Huang concludes: “Delaying the adoption of immersion cooling is no longer an option. With AI-driven workloads pushing infrastructure to its limits, enhancing efficiency and resilience is a necessity. The future of our digital world depends on the steps we take today to ensure data centres are prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.”

The detailed article published by www.castrol.com can be accessed from https://www.castrol.com/en/global/corporate/about-castrol/newsroom/castrol-releases-dipping-point-industry-research-report.html