SPRY356 October   2026 ADS7142 , DRV8426

 

  1.   1
  2.   en-us Overview
  3.   At a glance
  4.   Introduction
  5.   Comparing today's thermal management architectures
    1.     Air-to-air
    2.     Air-to-liquid
    3.     Liquid-to-air
  6.   Evolution of liquid cooling technology
  7.   The need for leak sensing
  8.   Immersion cooling
  9.   Future AI data center cooling trends
  10.   Conclusion
  11.   About the author
  12.   Additional resources
  13.   Trademarks

The need for leak sensing

Introducing liquid so close to electronic components makes leak sensing extremely important. Detecting leaks reliably, with few false triggers, is as important as detecting them at all, since server uptime depends on it. Today's rack installations use on-and-off valves that stop liquid from flowing when a sensor detects a leak, shutting down the entire rack until technicians can find and fix the source. Moisture-sensitive resistive ropes are the most common types of leak sensors, but they're notorious for accuracy problems, and installation requires care to avoid pinches and sharp bends. Engineers are researching alternatives, including humidity sensors that detect micro-leaks and capacitive leak sensors.

Other approaches address leaks at the CDU level. One method reconfigures the CDU to pull fluid through the system under negative pressure instead of pushing it. This has the effect of drawing in air, rather than forcing fluid to escape through a puncture or loose connection. Another approach uses non-conductive liquid so that a leak just creates a mess, rather than a conductive short on expensive equipment.