EMCOOL to Present Research on Multi-Kilowatt Chip Cooling at SC26 in Chicago

We are pleased to announce that our paper, “Towards Direct-to-Chip Liquid-Cooled Megawatt Racks: Characterization of a Multi-Kilowatt Chip-Scale Cooler and the Implications on Facility Energy Use,” has been accepted for presentation at the 3rd International Workshop on Energy Efficiency with Sustainable Performance: Techniques, Tools, and Best Practices (EESP), held in conjunction with SC26: The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis, taking place in Chicago from November 15–20, 2026.

The work was conducted collaboratively by EMCOOL, the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), and Nortek Data Center Cooling, bringing together chip-level thermal management, data-center infrastructure, and facility-level expertise.

The research addresses a growing challenge for AI and high-performance computing systems: removing several kilowatts of heat from increasingly power-dense processors without creating excessive cooling-energy or hydraulic demands at the facility level. The study experimentally characterizes an EMCOOL chip-scale micro-cooler using a programmable thermal test vehicle with independently controlled heater zones and develops a thermal model connecting package-level resistance to coolant flow and allowable facility-water temperature.

The results highlight an important finding: thermal-interface engineering can influence not only chip temperature, but also the architecture and energy requirements of the cooling system around it. The analysis shows the potential for substantially lower coolant-flow requirements and significantly warmer inlet-water temperatures when interface resistance is reduced; both important considerations for lower pumping demand, warmer-water cooling, heat reuse, and higher sustainable rack densities.  

Looking ahead, the work establishes a foundation for further experimental validation at higher heat fluxes and for rack-level studies incorporating manifolds, pumps, heat exchangers, warm-water operation, and ultimately energy, water, and carbon impacts.

The EESP Workshop received 45 submissions this year and accepted only 10 papers, representing an acceptance rate of approximately 22%. We look forward to presenting this work in Chicago and engaging with the HPC and data-center community on the path toward practical, energy-efficient cooling for multi-kilowatt processors and megawatt-class racks.