Completed Clean Energy Materials & Manufacturing

Enhanced Liquid Immersion Power Systems

Funder UKRI
Recipient organisation Supply Design Limited
Funding £2.5M
Period Feb 2022 — Mar 2024

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Immersion cooling—submerging electronics in a non-conductive liquid—is being turned into a mass-manufacturable technology for power systems in electric vehicles, aircraft, and data centres. Today’s air-cooled power electronics waste significant energy as heat and limit how densely components can be packed. This project, called ELIPS, aims to replace those systems with liquid-immersed power modules built around gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, which switch faster and run cooler than traditional silicon. The partners are designing the entire supply chain—from bespoke immersion components to integrated sub-assemblies—so that UK manufacturers can produce these systems at scale. If successful, the technology could cut energy losses in data centre cooling, which currently consumes vast amounts of electricity, and improve the efficiency of electric vehicle drivetrains and renewable energy inverters. The project also targets industrial automation and smart-city infrastructure, where compact, reliable power systems are essential but rarely noticed by the public. By building a collaborative OEM and capturing the immersion-cooling power market, ELIPS aims to secure a long-term UK capability in a sector critical for net-zero emissions.

View original technical description
ELIPS (Enhanced Liquid Immersion Power Systems) is a design-for-manufacture project aiming to build a UK supply-chain to deliver immersion and GaN-based technology across PEMD sectors. Our aim is to create a collaborative value-chain capable of delivering power modules(components), bespoke immersion components & sub-assemblies (sub-components), services (scaled manufacturing and system integration) and IP, for years to come. The partners aim to deliver high-efficiency PEMD products and services across multiple sectors, including Automotive, Aerospace and Renewable Energy, outlined in the ISCF strategy for the 'Future of Mobility' and 'Clean Growth'. ELIPS will contribute to energy-saving systems for datacentre infrastructure that will support sustainable growth in IoT, SMART cities, data economies and industrial-automation (4.0). All of which are critical elements for the global Net-Zero challenge. ELIPS will create a collaborative OEM to develop capability and capture the immersion-cooling power market share. Each partner will develop knowledge, products and/or services to capitalise on these emerging markets. Immersion-cooling offers horizontal and vertical supply-chain and market growth potential. **The main outputs will be:** * A supply chain capability from design to delivery * Power modules for rack-based immersion and submersion technology * Integrated GaN power technology for systems integration.

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Original classification

Collaborative R&D

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.