Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs)
What is a CDU? The Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) is the "brain and heart" of liquid cooling. It houses the pumps, filters, sensors, and heat exchangers that circulate ultra-pure fluid through the server racks while transferring the heat safely out to the building's main chilled-water pipes. The Big Takeaway: CDUs act as a commercial firewall: everything on the computer side of the CDU requires strict NVIDIA/server certification, while everything on the building side of the CDU is bought by regular construction contractors. Demand is rapidly shifting from small in-rack CDUs (150–200 kW) to massive multi-megawatt units (600 kW to 2.6 MW+) that cool entire rows of AI supercomputers at once.
1. Core Engineering Specifications
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In-Rack / Distributed CDU Capacity: 150 kW to 200 kW (required to safely cool a single 120-132 kW NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 rack).
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Centralized / In-Row CDU Capacity: 600 kW, 1 MW, 1.8 MW, and 2.5-2.6 MW (with 4 MW models on the roadmap).
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Temperature Control Precision: Within +/- 0.25 degC.
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Elevated Inlet Water Temp: Up to 45 degC (reduces chiller reliance and lowers PUE in tropical climates).
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Form Factor Compatibility: 19-inch EIA and 21-inch OCP ORV3 racks.
2. Key Buyers & Gatekeepers
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Technical Gatekeeper: Tier 1 - Silicon OEMs (NVIDIA AI Factory >100 evaluation criteria & DSX Ready certification)
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In-Rack Buyers: Tier 2 - Server ODMs
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Centralized MW-Class Buyers: Tier 3 - Hyperscalers and Colos (Colocation Data centres)
3. Relevant Case Studies
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LG Electronics (Qualified 600 kW, 1 MW, and 2.6 MW DSX Ready CDUs)
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Vertiv and Wiwynn in Johor (Manufacturing and witness-testing CoolChip CDUs in Johor)
4. Future FYP Expansion
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Add schematic of brazed plate heat exchanger (BPHE) sizing inside a 600 kW CDU.
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Compare liquid-to-liquid vs. liquid-to-air CDU footprints.
