Apheros metal foam could reduce data center cooling costs by 10-20%
Woman-led Swiss startup Apheros has raised £1.85 million ($2.42 million) for its metal cooling solution to address one of the data center industry’s most pressing challenges: rapidly rising energy consumption.
These funds will be used to accelerate the development and commercialization of solutions aimed at dramatically increasing the efficiency of data center operations.
The company’s manufacturing process is based on a proprietary powder method and creates a metal foam cooling solution with completely open porosity. This significantly improves the cooling properties of the material while ensuring consistent quality and avoiding the inconsistencies and structural weaknesses of traditional casting processes.
The process also allows foam to be customized for different metals such as copper, nickel, iron and stainless steel, depending on the specific requirements of different cooling systems.
Applications of Apheros metal cooling solution
While Apheros’ metal foam technology could find applications in multiple industries, the company is currently focused on liquid cooling solutions in data centers, which involves encasing chips in metal foam, increasing the surface area of the chip and allowing heat to be dissipated faster and more efficiently.
“There is an urgent need for more efficient cooling solutions. The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is leading to an exponential growth in data center energy consumption and inefficient cooling is the main culprit. Our unique metal foams have excellent heat exchange and fluid transport properties, especially for liquid and two-phase cooling,” said Gaëlle Andreatta, co-founder and CTO of Apheros.
Apheros claims its metal foam technology can increase heat exchange efficiency by up to 90% and potentially significantly reduce energy requirements for cooling. This could lead to a 10-20% reduction in overall data center energy consumption, making it a critical innovation for a sector struggling with rising operational costs and environmental concerns.
The technology is designed as a drop-in replacement for existing heat sinks and heat exchangers, allowing data centers to integrate it into their existing systems with relative ease. The low weight and conformability of the foams, with densities ranging from 0.9 to 2.2 g/cm³, make them even more attractive, especially for cooling systems where minimal weight is a priority.
AI and HPC put a strain on data centers’ power consumption
There is a growing need for more efficient cooling technology in the data center. AI and high-performance computing (HPC) are placing ever higher demands on data center performance, and energy consumption is increasing at an unsustainable pace.
Julia Carpenter, co-founder and CEO of Apheros, explained the impact that a new, effective and cost-effective cooling solution could have on the entire industry. Carpenter said Apheros’ technology has the “potential to set new industry standards and significantly reduce the environmental impact of cooling solutions worldwide.”
“This round of funding will enable us to advance our mission to help our customers achieve better thermal performance, increase energy efficiency and contribute to a greener future. We will immediately expand production, increase research and development efforts and bring cutting-edge solutions to a broader market,” said Carpenter.
In April, the International Energy Agency (IEA) found in a report that data center energy consumption could double by 2026 due to the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrencies.
