Shell and Keppel to launch advanced immersion liquid cooling testbed for more sustainable data centres
Leveraging Shell’s proprietary immersion cooling fluid, the cooling solution is expected to improve data centre energy efficiency while reducing emissions and operating costs.
Shell Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Shell) and Keppel Ltd.’s Connectivity Division (Keppel) will be test bedding an advanced immersion cooling solution at one of Keppel’s operational data centre facilities to explore the feasibility of deploying such high efficiency systems in Keppel’s future data centres to support the growing demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing.
Immersion liquid cooling involves completely submerging servers in non-conductive liquids, allowing for more efficient absorption and removal of heat from servers and is more efficient than using air, which is the conventional method.
The testbed will take the form of a pilot project, which is expected to be operational by May 2026 and will be deployed for 12 months. It will use Shell’s proprietary Gas‑to‑Liquids (GTL)–based immersion cooling fluid, installed in an operational server tank. Based on Shell’s technology benchmarks, compared with air cooling, the GTL technology can improve energy efficiency by up to 48%, boost computing performance by up to 40% and reduce capital and operating expenditure by up to 40%.
Read the full press release on Keppel Group’s website.