Scaling liquid cooling for AI workloads

May 21, 2025 • 39 min read

In this episode of DCD's Keeping It Cool, Emma Brooks of DCD hosts Phil Lawson-Shanks, Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned Data Centres, and Ken Patchett, VP of Data Center at Lambda. Together, they unpack the rapid shift from air cooling to liquid and hybrid systems as AI workloads drive unprecedented power densities. The conversation explores how next-generation chips like NVIDIA’s Blackwell are reshaping cooling requirements, why adaptability and scalability are now critical in data center design, and how operators must rethink infrastructure to support the “intelligence age.” With insights from both the operator and hyperscaler perspectives, the discussion highlights not only the technical challenges but also the transformational opportunities liquid cooling brings to efficiency, sustainability, and the future of AI infrastructure.

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Keeping It Cool Liquid broadcast on the data center cooling channel here at DCD.

I'm Emma Brookes.
I am head of channels for DCD, and I'm delighted to introduce this episode on scaling liquid cooling for AI workloads, and thank you very much to Aligned Data Centres for partnering with us on this episode.

So, today I'm delighted to be joined by Phil Lawson Shanks, who is the Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned Data Centres, and Ken Patchett, who is the VP for Data Center Architecture at Lambda.

Phil Lawson-Shanks: I was doing some calculations the other day, and in 2 years, I will have been in this industry for 40 years, which is kind of terrifying. But it gives me a perspective of where we've come from, what's changed, and where we're going. At Aligned, we specialize in building scalable architectures.

Ken Patchett: I've been in this space for more than 30 years and I've worked for companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon in the data center hyperscale space.

Drivers Toward Liquid Cooling

Ken: Newer chips like the Nvidia Blackwell series are coming in at 700 to 1000 kilowatts per unit, making traditional air cooling ineffective. Airflow become unfeasible due to high chip density.

Phil: We designed for 50 kilowatts a rack. Traditionally we’ve moved air effectively, but now liquid is the most efficient way of moving heat.

Design Flexibility

Ken: We see a shift towards higher density workloads and the introduction of liquid cooling necessitates that flexibly designed data center spaces are adaptable.

Phil: Our design accommodates diverse client needs, allowing for different cooling technologies to be deployed as workloads change.

Future of Data Centers

Phil: Liquid cooling is essential as workloads increase and we are anticipating larger GPU clusters in a hybridized architecture.

Ken: We're seeing an increase in power density allowing us to deliver even more IT load within smaller spaces.

Efficiency Optimizations

Ken: Liquid cooling dramatically lowers PUE, optimizing resource usage. We aim for lower facility overhead and to improve carbon usage effectiveness.

Phil: We’re using closed loop systems for efficient heat transfer, which are essential as we scale.

Challenges to Liquid Cooling Scalability

Phil: We're training our technicians for liquid cooling maintenance. We need standardized procedures to manage liquid cooling systems effectively.

Ken: The mix of IT and facility personnel skills is necessary to effectively manage the new requirements of liquid cooling. We need to find a way to collaborate in our monitoring systems.

Conclusion

Ken: The industry is changing rapidly and we must adapt how we deploy intelligent infrastructure.

Phil: We are entering an exciting renaissance in technology and architecture that we have to navigate together.