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

Evolution of liquid cooling technology

The liquid-to-liquid architecture, shown in Figure 4, uses direct-to-chip cold plates to absorb heat at the source and coolant distribution units (CDUs) to circulate fluid and transfer heat from one liquid to another and from the white space to the outdoors, where it's released.

Liquid-to-liquid cooling architecture Figure 4 Liquid-to-liquid cooling architecture

The CDU is the most important component in the liquid-to-liquid architecture, keeping fluid flowing so heat is absorbed effectively, and components stay within their intended temperature range. The heat exchanger inside the CDU is equally vital, isolating the low-impurity, high-specific-heat liquid that absorbs heat from the cold plates from the facility water used in the outdoor cooling systems.