As artificial intelligence (AI) adoption rises and data centers continue popping up to meet demand, the environmental impacts of these technological advances continue to warrant concern. The manner in which data centers filled with high-performance computing hardware are cooled is one of the major environmental challenges facing the industry.

In particular, generative AI (genAI) and the data center chips that support large language models are significantly driving up rack density and the demand for liquid cooling.

“We are seeing densities now in the 40 kW range, which is very difficult for air to cool alone,” LiquidStack Global Strategy Director Angela Taylor told SDxCentral. “We’re also receiving indications that densities will be rising substantially as new AI chip generations are released this year and next,” she said.

To address the need for more efficient data center thermal management, LiquidStack is opening a new multi-million-dollar manufacturing facility in Carrollton, Texas, that will help the company scale its production of liquid-cooling technology, including direct-to-chip coolant distribution units (CDUs), single-phase and two-phase immersion cooling solutions, and LiquidStack’s prefabricated data centers.

The Texas facility is already producing LiquidStack immersion cooling products, with CDU manufacturing set to begin soon. The project is funded in part by LiquidStack’s Series B funding from March 2023, led by Trane Technologies.

Liquid cooling education, staffing The 20,000 square foot facility will also host service training and a demonstration center for customers, partners and service engineers. The center will be a “space where customers can learn about the company’s training on installation and maintenance, and view … the technology in action,” Taylor said. “The main objective is to equip customers with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively select, use and maintain the company’s liquid solution.”

LiquidStack says it is aggressively hiring production staff and plans to triple the size of its manufacturing team by the end of the year.

“Our investment in this new facility allows us to serve the rapidly growing market while creating new, high-skilled jobs right here in Carrollton,” LiquidStack CEO Joe Capes said.