JIANG Shaohui, ZHANG Bobo, XIONG Teng, SUN Le, DONG Kaijun, WANG Cuihua, SUN Qin, ZHANG Yanjun
With the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence, 5G communication, and cloud computing industries, the computational demands of data centers have been steadily escalating, thereby greatly amplifying cooling energy consumption. Nevertheless, traditional air cooling techniques have become inadequate to cope with the increasing heat dissipation needs of data centers. Consequently, liquid cooling techniques, offering superior cooling efficiency, have emerged as the preferred option for chip thermal management over the past decade. This review discusses the recent research progress of several mainstream liquid cooling techniques, including cold plate, immersion, spray, heat pipe, and jet impingement cooling, and comprehensively analyzes their respective pros and cons as well as energy-saving effects in practical applications. Current research indicates that while cold plate liquid cooling technique enjoys widespread application, it suffers from uneven flow distribution issues; immersion liquid cooling harbors significant energy-saving potential but necessitates addressing challenges related to sealing and reliability. Meanwhile, spray cooling and jet impingement liquid cooling technologies, owing to reliability concerns, witness limited application and require further optimization, particularly in enhancing heat pipe structures. Lastly, in conjunction with the prevailing research status, this review anticipates the potential for improvements in the cooling performance and reliability aspects of liquid cooling techniques.
