- Tiny bubbles could significantly reduce cooling demands in AI facilities
- Researchers have adapted nuclear reactor science to modern computing infrastructure
- Ferveret claims 15% efficiency gains over existing liquid cooling
Artificial intelligence is driving rapid expansion of IT infrastructure, raising new concerns about electricity consumption and long-term sustainability.
Industry estimates suggest that data centers could account for between 9 and 17 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption by the end of this decade.
About a third of that power is currently devoted to cooling processors that run AI tools and other demanding workloads.
Nuclear reactor principles find new role in data center cooling
Today, startup Ferveret believes that technology adapted from nuclear reactor research could significantly reduce the energy needed to cool modern computer systems.
Founded by former MIT postdoctoral researcher Reza Azizian and MIT professor Matteo Bucci, the company developed a cooling approach called Adaptive Phase Cooling, or APC.
Rather than relying on traditional fans, the system immerses servers in a specialized liquid that removes heat more efficiently than air.
The peculiarity lies in the formation of very small bubbles on the surface of the chips during operation.
According to the founders, these bubbles separate more frequently and quickly recondensate into the surrounding liquid, speeding up heat removal.
Ferveret adapted the concept from a nuclear engineering process known as subcooled boiling, which has been widely studied to improve the efficiency of heat transfer inside reactors.
Air cooling is associated with noise, bulk and inefficiency – three things Azizian decided he wanted no part of when he walked into his first data center in 2017.
“I thought, ‘Holy shit, that’s not how you cool facilities,'” he recalls, noting that air cooling alone can consume up to 40 percent of a data center’s total power supply.
“It wasn’t an efficient way of doing things, but because it didn’t hurt performance, no one cared that the cooling technology was 50 years old.”
The company says its fluid does not contain PFAS chemicals, which are often associated with some advanced cooling technologies.
Ferveret also offers its APC platform as compact modular units, with each case designed to accommodate a single server.
According to Azizian, “physics allows us to create factors that were not possible in the past. »
Efficiency gains could ease pressure on growing AI infrastructure
Ferveret recently collaborated with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles to evaluate the performance of its technology.
According to the company, the APC approach produced a 15% improvement in computational energy efficiency compared to leading liquid cooling alternatives.
Ferveret further claims that combining APC with its control software allows operators to generate 35% more tokens from AI workloads using the same power supply.
The company also provides racks, cooling distribution equipment, sensors and monitoring software that continually adjusts operating conditions.
Bucci explained that the software analyzes temperature and pressure measurements in real time to reduce unnecessary energy consumption.
“Liquid is a better heat transfer medium than air. That’s why when you put your hand in room temperature water, it stays cold,” says Bucci.
“When the liquid boils, it’s even better at dissipating heat because the phase change requires a lot of energy, which is the energy you take out of the chip…”
The founders argue that lower energy demand and zero water consumption could make new installations practical in regions where electricity and cooling resources remain limited.
This possibility could prove significant for parts of Africa, the Middle East and the United States, where solar energy is abundant but water availability remains limited.
Ferveret is currently testing its technology with organizations such as CleanSpark, FuriosaAI and Switch, while also participating in Nvidia’s Inception startup program.
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