Singapore has introduced a national standard designed to help data centres adopt liquid cooling in the tropics, as rising computing demands make it harder to rely on conventional air-based systems alone.
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it → introduce → systems
The Singapore government describes it as the world's first standard specifically aimed at helping data centres adopt liquid cooling technologies in tropical climates.
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centres → describe → climates
The standard addresses system design, commissioning, operation, risk management and integration with existing air-cooled facilities, while also including guidance on energy and water efficiency.
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standard → address → efficiency
This pioneering standard demonstrates how forward-thinking regulatory frameworks can proactively address climate-driven infrastructure challenges, offering valuable guidance as rising global temperatures increasingly complicate traditional data center cooling.
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temperatures → demonstrate → cooling
Singapore spends most of the year outside the climate window for direct air cooling
The challenge becomes clearer when Singapore's climate is compared with the conditions needed for direct air-side economisation, commonly called air-free cooling.
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climate → spend → economisation
, researchers led by Christina Karamperidou of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa analysed hourly climate data and data centre locations across major markets.
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researchers → lead → markets
They defined air-free-cooling-limiting conditions as inlet temperatures above 27°C occurring alongside either a dew point above 15°C or relative humidity above 70%.
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They → define → %
Singapore had the highest exposure among the major markets studied, with such conditions occurring during more than 85% of the year over the study's historical period.
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conditions → have → period
The Pearl River Delta, encompassing Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, exceeded the thresholds for more than 40% of the year.
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Delta → encompass → year
The researchers stress that these figures represent climate conditions that constrain direct air cooling, rather than proving that compressor-free cooling is impossible at every site or under every system configuration.
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cooling → stress → configuration
AI is making the heat problem harder
At the same time, the computing workloads being placed inside data centres are becoming substantially more heat-intensive.
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workloads → make → centres
Singapore's SS 726 factsheet says most data centres in the country currently use air cooling, but AI applications increasingly rely on accelerators such as graphics processing units that consume more power and generate more heat than conventional servers.
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that → say → servers
An industry estimate cited by the Singapore government puts the power consumption of an AI server rack at up to 50 times that of a conventional rack used for general-purpose computing.
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estimate → cite → computing
Liquid cooling brings coolant much closer to the heat-generating hardware, allowing heat to be transferred more efficiently than with air alone.
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heat → bring → air
Singapore says deploying liquid cooling can reduce data centre energy consumption by more than 30% compared with conventional air cooling, although the actual savings depend on system design and operating conditions.
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savings → say → design
Tropical humidity creates problems beyond simply removing heat
Moving from air to liquid cooling, however, introduces another set of engineering challenges in a tropical environment.
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Moving → create → environment
Singapore's factsheet identifies equipment corrosion, microbial growth and biofilm formation in cooling fluid as risks associated with the country's high temperature and humidity.
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factsheet → identify → temperature
Liquid systems also depend on pumps, piping and heat exchangers, while leaks can cause substantial damage when coolant reaches sensitive IT equipment.
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coolant → depend → equipment
Integrating liquid cooling into an existing air-cooled data centre can be complex and expensive because the cooling infrastructure becomes more tightly connected to the server racks.
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infrastructure → integrate → racks
SS 726 therefore incorporates guidance on coolant distribution units, piping materials, fluid quality, floor loading, monitoring and risk management, alongside practices adapted from the Open Compute Project and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
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SS → incorporate → Engineers
The standard covers the technology from installation to daily operation
SS 726 is intended to provide guidance across the full lifecycle of a liquid-cooled data centre, beginning with design and pre-deployment and continuing through commissioning and day-to-day operation.
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726 → cover → day
Its recommendations cover cooling-loop and equipment design, piping-material selection, fluid-quality requirements, monitoring and management, as well as ways to integrate liquid cooling with existing air-conditioning infrastructure.
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recommendations → cover → infrastructure
The standard also incorporates input from Singapore's national water agency, PUB, on measuring and calculating water utilisation efficiency in liquid-cooled facilities.
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standard → incorporate → facilities
Industry participants including AirTrunk, Meta, the Open Compute Project Foundation and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres contributed to the working group, with ST Telemedia saying it plans to use the standard to guide future liquid-cooling deployments across its portfolio.
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it → include → portfolio
Climate change could make the cooling window even narrower
The need for such guidance could extend beyond Singapore as temperatures and humidity rise elsewhere.
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temperatures → make → Singapore
The Scientific Reports study analysed conditions from 1980 to 2024 and projected changes through 2050.
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study → analyse → 2050
It found that Singapore, already exposed to air-free-cooling-limiting conditions for more than 85% of the year, is projected to exceed the study's temperature and humidity thresholds year-round under its future modelling.
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Singapore → find → modelling
Markets that currently experience less exposure, including Dublin, Chicago and Northern Virginia, were also projected to see substantial increases in threshold-exceedance hours.
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that → experience → hours
The researchers emphasise that their analysis does not prescribe a particular cooling technology or data-centre location.
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analysis → emphasise → technology
Instead, it shows how a warming and increasingly humid climate could reduce the amount of time that direct air-side economisation can operate within recommended environmental conditions, increasing the importance of alternative and hybrid cooling approaches.
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economisation → show → approaches
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