LG Electronics and SK Enmove to Jointly Develop Key Materials for AI Data Center Thermal Management
TECHWORLD ·
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LG Electronics and SK Enmove signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the SK Seorin Building in Jongno District, Seoul.
The agreement aims to jointly develop new refrigerants, refrigeration oils, and immersion cooling technologies for home appliances, commercial, and industrial use.
The two companies will expand their cooperation to next-generation thermal management solutions for high-heat environments such as AI data centers and to respond to global environmental regulations.
LG Electronics and SK Enmove have begun cooperation targeting the high-efficiency thermal management market across a range of industries, including AI data centers. The move comes as the importance of high-efficiency thermal management technology has been growing across industries such as AI data centers, and as key material technologies such as refrigerants and refrigeration oils are becoming increasingly important in determining the performance and efficiency of cooling systems.
LG Electronics announced on the 21st that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SK Enmove at the SK Seorin Building in Jongno District, Seoul. The signing ceremony was attended by key executives from both companies, including LG Electronics ES Business Division head and President Jae-seong Lee and SK Enmove President Won-gi Kim.
The purpose of the MOU is to jointly conduct advanced development of new refrigerants, refrigeration oils, and immersion cooling technologies for home appliances, commercial, and industrial use. The two companies will also pursue joint development of next-generation refrigerants, refrigeration oils, and immersion cooling technologies.
The two companies plan to combine their capabilities in air conditioning systems and key material technologies. Through this, they aim to respond to global environmental regulations.
They also aim to secure competitiveness in next-generation thermal management solutions for high-heat environments such as AI data centers. The cooperation is seen as a move to address growing demand for high-efficiency thermal management in industrial environments by jointly developing air conditioning systems and material technologies.
The two companies plan to push ahead with cooperation and establish a joint R&D framework for next-generation thermal management technologies by combining their technological capabilities. This cooperation is being pursued with the goal of responding to tightening global environmental regulations.
The first task under this cooperation is the joint development of next-generation refrigerants. This is intended to respond to tighter refrigerant GWP regulations centered on Europe and North America, and aims to secure refrigerant technologies that can simultaneously deliver environmental friendliness, safety, and cooling performance.
The two companies plan to jointly develop refrigerants that comply with international environmental regulations and refrigerant standards. The target conditions for the refrigerants under development are a GWP of less than 150 and PFAS Free (not containing perfluorinated compounds), and they will also verify the performance of the refrigerants they develop.
There will also be a division of roles. Based on its experience in refrigerant development and evaluation, SK Enmove will develop new refrigerant candidates, while LG Electronics will use its experience in operating global air conditioning products and systems to review their applicability to actual products and systems.
The two companies will also conduct joint research on refrigeration oils in parallel with refrigerant development. Refrigerants play the role of transferring heat within a system, while refrigeration oils reduce friction and damage in major components such as compressors in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Refrigeration oil is a key material that supports stable operation.
The two companies plan to optimize refrigeration oils suited to the characteristics of the newly developed refrigerants. They also plan to secure materials compatible with refrigerants and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Through this, they will pursue improvements in product performance and efficiency as well as stronger cost competitiveness.
The two companies will expand the scope of cooperation into immersion cooling. Immersion cooling is a method of directly immersing heat-generating equipment such as servers in a nonconductive immersion cooling fluid to remove heat. This method is characterized by its ability to efficiently manage heat from high-heat electronic devices. Immersion cooling is drawing attention as a next-generation cooling technology that can improve the power and cooling efficiency of AI data centers.
LG Electronics and SK Enmove have continued cooperating on immersion cooling technology for AI data centers since last year. LG Electronics, SK Enmove, and GRC (Green Revolution Cooling) signed an MOU to expand their immersion cooling solution business for AI data centers. The three companies will jointly review technology verification (PoC) and commercialization potential.
With this agreement as a catalyst, the two companies will expand their existing immersion cooling cooperation centered on AI data centers and pursue diversification of application areas for immersion cooling. Accordingly, they plan to review the applicability of immersion cooling not only to data centers but also to high-heat power and electronic devices such as ESS (energy storage systems) and electric vehicle components.
As highly dense and high-heat environments in AI data centers expand, cooling technology is emerging as a key factor that determines data center operating efficiency. In line with this, the two companies plan to broaden their cooperation from the material stage, including refrigerants and refrigeration oils, to thermal management technologies overall, including immersion cooling.
Kim Won-gi, president of SK Enmove, said thermal management technology is a key factor that determines energy efficiency and product performance. He added that the company will accelerate the development of next-generation refrigerants, refrigeration oils, and immersion cooling technologies in cooperation with LG Electronics, and will work to expand commercialization opportunities across a range of industries.
Jae-seong Lee, head of LG Electronics' ES Business Division and president, said the importance of high-efficiency thermal management technology is rapidly growing across multiple industries, including AI data centers, and added that based on this, the company will work to strengthen the competitiveness of next-generation thermal management solutions by combining LG Electronics' air conditioning and cooling technologies with SK Enmove's refrigerant and refrigeration oil capabilities, while continuously discovering new business opportunities in global markets.
Source: TECHWORLD · Park Gyu-chan
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407326
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Source: TECHWORLD
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