LG Electronics, GS Engineering & Construction, US firm GRC to jointly develop immersion cooling technology for AI data centers

LG Electronics has teamed up with GS Engineering & Construction and US immersion cooling specialist GRC to advance and standardize immersion cooling technology for AI data centers.

LG Electronics announced Wednesday that it signed an MOU with GS Engineering & Construction and GRC on Tuesday at GS Engineering & Construction's headquarters in Cheongji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, to cooperate on the development of immersion cooling and integrated cooling solution technology for data centers.

The signing ceremony was attended by LG Electronics Vice President Oh Se-gi, who heads the company's ES Research Institute, GS Engineering & Construction Vice President Cho Sung-han, who leads its Future Technology Institute, and GRC Korea Country Manager Choi Dong-hoon.

Immersion cooling works by submerging GPUs, CPUs and other components in a non-conductive dielectric fluid to dissipate heat. It is considered one of the next-generation cooling technologies for AI data centers, alongside conventional air cooling and liquid cooling.

Deploying immersion cooling in an actual data center requires consideration of far more than just the cooling equipment itself — building structure, piping, power infrastructure and maintenance space must all be factored in. Through this partnership, the three companies will develop an integrated solution and carry out standardization work to enable the construction of data centers equipped with immersion cooling technology.

LG Electronics will contribute its air cooling, liquid cooling and immersion cooling technology and operational data from its AI data center projects. The company plans to verify the performance and reliability of immersion cooling technology, further strengthen its cooling solution portfolio and expand related business opportunities.

GS Engineering & Construction will develop a standard architectural design for AI data centers and operate a proof-of-concept testbed to validate the placement of immersion cooling equipment, structural load considerations, and piping and power connections.

GRC will supply immersion tanks and control technology, and will work to improve system performance based on data gathered from equipment installation, operation and maintenance.

"We will continue to research and develop high-performance, high-efficiency cooling solutions to secure an early lead in the rapidly growing AI data center cooling solution market," LG Electronics Vice President Oh Se-gi said.