Immersion cooling or how not to waste money

DIY immersion cooling

What miners are looking for on the Internet: do-it-yourself immersion cooling, do-it-yourself immersion bath, do-it-yourself immersion liquid. The motive for these searches is, of course, mainly an attempt to save money on the purchase of a cooling system, sometimes simply out of curiosity and love for science.

Here we will try to help and answer a number of questions about homemade immersion cooling systems.

Of course, I have little idea how to make immersion liquid with my own hands without expensive equipment, but I can try to help with the rest.

1. DIY immersion bath. In general, the question is not complicated on the one hand, take any container or make it yourself from any material. The main thing is that the material is durable and holds the mass of liquid inside and the temperature. And the second rule is the correct organization of fluid flows. Otherwise, all you have to do is study the issues of hydrodynamics. buy a ready-made bathtub buy a ready-made system

2. DIY immersion cooling. The issue can also be easily resolved by many. To properly assemble the system you need to either go through experimentation. Or, first of all, study questions on hydrodynamics and thermal engineering. Any system can be calculated. Trying to do this at random or using videos from the Internet will be a difficult task that can lead to disappointment. buy heat exchangers

3. DIY immersion liquid. This is of course a difficult question, most immersion liquids are oils or fluoroketones. You can read more about them here: about immersion liquids about HVI liquid about PJSC PAOM 2 liquid about mineral oils about transformer oils about Bloomid and PMS (polymethylsicoxane)

In many questions regarding system assembly, we are ready to help our clients, both in the selection of liquids and in the selection of baths and heat exchangers. In general, we are always ready to provide consulting support on system assembly for our clients, or provide various ready-made solutions for your rigs, servers, AIs, and mining farms.

If you need help in selecting equipment and components, call, as well as advice on building systems, call +79148982262

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Environmental friendliness and safety for operating personnel

The organization of data centers with immersion cooling should not come at the expense of a safe working environment for service personnel. All 3M technical fluids:

• exceed all safety requirements
• have low toxicity
• do not ignite.

Reducing energy consumption is not only good in itself, it helps improve our environment. Reducing energy consumption means reducing electricity generation, using less petroleum products and reducing air emissions. Smaller data center areas save construction materials and maintenance resources. A “green” data center with 3M fluids is:

• favorable environmental profile
• low global warming potential
• zero potential for destruction of the earth's ozone layer.

What is immersion cooling

Mining farms need effective temperature reduction. Otherwise, even the most powerful equipment will not only be ineffective, but also short-lived. Previously, air heat removal and cold air supply systems were mainly used for these purposes, but recently immersion cooling technology has been gaining popularity.

Immersion cooling is a technology for removing heat from equipment, which works by immersing it in a dielectric heat-removing liquid.

Immersion (from Latin immersio) - immersion. This means that the entire farm, all its circuit boards and microchips are immersed in liquid. Naturally, the liquid used for these purposes is a dielectric, that is, it does not conduct current. Otherwise, the equipment would simply fail.

What is immersion liquid (“dry water”) and where is it used?

In this article we will examine the topic of single-phase immersion cooling of mining farms. This is sometimes called water cooling for mining rigs, or it can also be called immersion liquid cooling using a substance called “dry water”.

As you know, the problem of cooling mining farms is one of the most pressing in our difficult business, since overheating leads to a number of problems such as decreased performance, instability, high wear and simply a banal shutdown due to overheating.

If we are talking about powers of 5, 10 or 15 kW, you can still survive this and cope with heat emissions on your own. Open windows, install household air conditioners, move equipment onto balconies, etc.

But what to do when it comes to industrial farms and, accordingly, capacities such as 50, 100, 500 kW or even several MW?

Our organization has developed an immersion cooling system for mining farms, you can familiarize yourself with it on the page “Installation of immersion cooling for mining farms.”

In this context, immersion cooling is the process of removing heat from operating equipment by immersing it in a container with immersion liquid

Immersion liquid is a technical liquid that has a specific formula (many manufacturers have them patented) and has such unique properties as: Non-flammability, low toxicity, inertness, and the highest dielectric properties.

Thus, this liquid does not react chemically with almost anything and is an absolute dielectric, which allows it to be used in contact with any electronic equipment without any consequences for it.

IMPORTANT! The use of this liquid is absolutely safe for any equipment, as well as for people working with it.

The use of these liquids on an industrial scale began many years ago and to this day has a very wide range. For example, for cooling equipment racks in data centers (data centers), in fire extinguishing systems for dangerous and valuable objects (archives, data centers, etc.), where the consequences of fires often cause much more harm than the fire itself.

Traditionally, when building a new data center, about 35% of capital costs are spent on cooling equipment, and subsequently it accounts for another 50% of operating costs. The amount of data that needs to be stored is growing exponentially, driving demand for larger and larger data centers (DPCs), along with significant investments, it is clear that increasingly cost-effective and efficient cooling technologies must be sought.

Heating the house with a mining farm with full compensation of electricity costs

In the article, a mining farm in Norilsk earns 15 million rubles/day from bitcoins.
Why was the equipment placed there? examples of huge mining farms in Russia were shown to obtain the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Their main problem is heat removal. If there are no problems with this in winter, then in summer overheating causes the equipment to shut down. What if you use the heat generated from a small mining farm to heat your home? Moreover, preferably through water heating. It turns out that such systems have existed for a long time. It's called: immersion cooling of equipment.

In most cases, this is a plastic bath made for a certain number of ASIC computing devices. It’s no secret that Bitcoin has long been impossible to mine with video cards. A special oily liquid (which does not conduct electricity) is poured into the bath for cooling. The coolers were removed from the ASICs and “decoys” were installed in the form of special microcircuits. The heat from their operation is transferred to the liquid and then transferred to the water through the heat exchanger into the heating system.

We shift the costs of electricity for operating the equipment to the costs of heating the house. And ASICs make a net profit by mining Bitcoin, if their capacity is capable of doing this.

When studying examples, I came across reviews from the owners of such mining farms. An example of their economy. Someone purchased ASIC Bitmain Antminer L3 (outdated equipment) in the summer of 2022, which as of October 2022 was producing Bitcoin in the amount of electricity costs. Such used equipment then cost 6,000 rubles per piece. But then the Bitcoin rate was 10 thousand $/bitcoin. Thus, until November 2022. the cost of heating the house was zero (no profit). But today the Bitcoin exchange rate is almost 60 thousand $/bitcoin. Thus, today the profitability of the mining farm is 500%.

Yes, the immersion cooling system has a decent cost. In 2022 they cost up to 200 thousand rubles. for 12 ASICs. You can watch about one of the immersion cooling systems (or home heating system) in this video:

There are many such examples on YouTube. The advantage of this ASIC cooling system is its noiselessness. You can safely install it in your home. There is no circulation of dust in the room volume.

It has quite high performance (up to 14 TH/s). And power: 1400 W. And in liquid it can be accelerated even higher, up to 2 kW. For a house up to 150 m2 you will need approximately 10 kW of thermal power, i.e. five ASICs. This is 25 thousand rubles. Let's round up to 30 thousand rubles.

The bathtub can be ordered according to drawings from manufacturers of polypropylene swimming pools. They solder quickly, there is little work in winter. I think 20 thousand rubles. you can fit in. Heat exchanger: let it be 30 thousand rubles. Oil in the system: 200 rub./l. Need up to 50 l. Harness and automation – another 20 thousand rubles. Rough total: 110 thousand rubles.

We calculate the cost per month for electricity, it turns out: 2 kW * 5 units * 24 hours * 30 days * 5 rubles / kWh = 36,000 rubles. (tariff in the Moscow region). In our region, electricity is 2.75 rubles/kWh. Those. costs: 19,800 rub. It’s clear that we don’t need all the heat 24 hours a day. And some of it will have to be taken outside.

At the Bitcoin exchange rate, a mining farm, taking into account these costs, will also earn 100-180 thousand rubles per month. It will pay for itself in a month. But I repeat – this is at the current exchange rate of 60 thousand $/bitcoin. But I could be wrong and the computing power of the Bitmain Antminer S 9i is no longer enough for profitable mining. This needs to be found out. But then you will simply heat the house for free. Although, on aliexpress even Antminer L3 costs from 30 thousand rubles. This means that the equipment is applicable for mining.

A separate issue is setting up equipment and withdrawing funds. This information is beyond the scope of this article.

If the rate continues and mining can continue, then it makes sense to do this in the summer. To do this, you can cool the bathtub through a fan heater like this installed outside:

How is immersion used in mining?

Many people are skeptical about this kind of technology. We all have a stereotype that liquid damages electronics. Equipment must be isolated from any moisture, let alone immersion in liquid.

This statement is true, but does not apply to immersion. In this case, non-conductive liquids are used that are not capable of damaging the equipment:

• deionized water;
• mineral oil;
• fluorocarbon based fluids.

This type of cooling for mining farms is gaining more and more popularity. The technology has proven itself both for home farms and as a cooling system in large data centers.

How it works:

1. A cooling bath (immersion unit) is installed.
2. A special immersion liquid is poured into the tank.
3. The extraction equipment is lowered into the filled bath.
4. Liquid absorbs heat.
5. Having reached a certain temperature, the liquid boils and begins to evaporate.
6. Due to the presence of a condenser system, the resulting steam is released back into the tank in the form of a cold liquid.

Thanks to this closed cycle of circulation of the immersion liquid, this heat removal technology shows good profitability.

Fluorinert fluids

Fluorinert 3M fluids belong to a class of fully fluorinated fluids known as perfluorocarbons (PFCs). Transparent, colorless, odorless, and non-flammable, the liquids have a number of features that make them attractive for immersion cooling of printed circuit boards, including excellent dielectric properties, a wide range of boiling points and good compatibility with a variety of materials. These fluids have been used to solve highly complex and critical heat removal problems for more than 50 years, for example, in Japan's express trains and in the Kibo (Hope) experimental space module on the ISS. They are also widely used as a practical material for direct cooling of power converters and in test laboratories. Although Fluorinert fluids do not deplete the ozone layer, they have a long atmospheric lifetime and have a high global warming potential. For this reason, like all perfluorocarbons, they should only be used in applications that require their unique properties, with particular attention to emission control and minimization. Fluorinert fluids should only be used in closed containers and systems and special precautions are required to prevent contact with eyes and skin. Despite the fact that the liquid is inert, the practice of its use in Cray-2 supercomputers has shown that over a long period of operation it breaks down and releases highly toxic perfluoroisobutane. To remove it, it is necessary to use catalyst cleaners. The practice of using perfluorocarbon fluids was featured in the science fiction film The Abyss (1989), where oxygenated Fluorinert fluid was used by divers to dive to great depths. An experiment was conducted with rats breathing in a jar of such liquid, but the scene was cut from the film due to animal cruelty.

ASIC cooling

Today, the most used mining equipment is ASIC miners. For them, there are many ready-made solutions on the market from different manufacturers. Such installations can have different volumes and are designed for different numbers of ASIC devices.

Immersion installations for ASICs come in two types:

1. Single-phase. During the process of thermoregulation, a substance never changes its physical state, that is, it always remains a liquid substance and does not turn into steam when it boils. In this case, the dielectric liquid is pumped into a heat exchanger with cold water, where it lowers its temperature. In single-phase immersion installations, open baths are used, since the risk of liquid boiling tends to zero.
2. Two-phase. In this case, closed reservoirs are used, and liquid cooling is achieved through a condenser system and the transition from liquid to vapor state and vice versa.

An 80 liter immersion installation can accommodate up to 4 Asic Antminer S9. The total weight of this design, not taking into account the liquid, is about 30 kg.

Liquid cooling of the video card

Many people confuse immersion cooling with liquid cooling. In fact, these are completely different concepts. While liquid cooling systems for video cards on PCs have been developed for a long time, there is no such solution for mining farms yet.

Craftsmen have actually found a way out of the situation and are making installations with their own hands. For this purpose, as a rule, aquariums are used, and you can buy immersion liquid at any refrigerant store. Due to its high popularity, it has also become a frequent guest on store shelves selling electronics and PC components.

Liquid and air cooling: comparison of techniques

To better understand immersion liquid cooling technology, it is compared with similar air cooling. Those positive properties that were mentioned earlier are the advantages that distinguish liquid cooling.

It can be noted that air cooling also has its own characteristics, which in no way detract from its advantages. Air can also provide effective cooling, which will allow the system to operate smoothly. Although in the summer months this cooling option is more difficult to perform than a similar liquid one.

Advantages and disadvantages

In practice, the use of immersion installations provides noticeable advantages:

• Reduced energy costs. Allied Control, a company operating in the field of cryptocurrency mining, conducted a study on the profitability of using immersion for thermal regulation in mining, as a result of which it was revealed that ASIC energy consumption is reduced by 90%.
• No noise. It is the coolers that create the most noise during cryptocurrency mining. Immersion installations operate silently and absorb sound from the operation of ASICs.
• Space saving. When using the air method to combat heating, miners should be placed at a certain distance from each other, ensuring good air circulation. Thus, even a small farm required a whole room. In the case of an immersion bath, the equipment can be placed end to end. As a result, 10 times more devices can be placed in the same area.
• Increased equipment performance. Due to the fact that mining devices lower their temperature more efficiently, it becomes possible to significantly increase their hashrate through overclocking. Depending on the model of equipment, the power increase varies in the range from 10% to 15%.
• Reduced equipment costs. Due to the fact that there is now no need to equip computer equipment with its own coolers for air cooling, it has become possible to order only the printed circuit boards themselves from manufacturers. Equipment without fans costs 5-10% less.

The disadvantages of immersion systems include the fact that ready-made installations and the liquid itself are quite expensive. In addition, such a system requires quite complex maintenance. The liquid must be regularly added and filtered. This is fraught with stains, dirt and may require the help of professionals, and due to the novelty, finding a good specialist in this field is not so easy.

Advantages

At the same time, manufacturers of cooling equipment advertise their own products and at the same time promise that there will be a reduction in energy costs.

According to Allied Control, savings can be up to 90%.

This cooling design for 8 ASICs will help accelerate the device to its maximum power.

When is it appropriate to use water cooling?

If you do not provide your farm with a productive cooling system, then instead of potential passive income, you can go into the red. The fact is that thanks to the demand for blockchain technology and the dynamism of the cryptocurrency market, more and more people are interested in mining. This in turn leads to an ever-increasing complexity of the network, resulting in the need to assemble ever larger farms.

Air cooling of large farms requires significant energy costs. For example: heat removal from 10 Asic Antminer S9 requires about 4,000 cubic meters of air per hour. This requires at least the cost of installing an additional ventilation system and powerful professional air conditioners, which, in addition to being expensive, also consume a lot of electricity.

On average, large data centers spend about 50% of their budget on maintaining the thermal control system. The use of an immersion cooling system can significantly reduce costs. In other words, it is advisable to install technological baths wherever the installation of an additional heating control system is required.

Immersion cooling has become a worthy alternative to air cooling and currently has no equal competitors. This method demonstrates both space and efficiency, and most importantly, it eliminates all the disadvantages of cryptocurrency mining, such as noise, high energy costs and the risk of short circuits. Effective use of this technology not only helps to save money, but also extends the operational life of the equipment.

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Flaws

Like any technical design, immersion cooling has a set of disadvantages, in particular:

• High price.
  The thing is that maintenance of such a structure can cost at least 25% of the cost of maintaining the farm as a whole.

  That is, if an installed farm consumes energy worth 10,000 rubles.

  Then the cooling costs will be 2,500 rubles.

  Coolant is not cheap.

• The container for immersion liquid opens only from the top and therefore it is unlikely to be possible to assemble the farm on racks.
• When carrying out preventive maintenance, liquid may get on the floor, and it is difficult to wipe it off.
• It is necessary to ensure filtering of the working fluid.
  This will avoid the formation of sediment and contamination.