Asperitas selected by Shell to deliver energy efficient immersion cooling solution for their High Performance Computing cluster in Amsterdam datacentre

Immersion cooling specialist Asperitas, in close collaboration with trusted Shell partners, like datacentre service provider T-Systems, is set to facilitate an energy efficient, scalable and future ready High Performance Computing cluster in their Amsterdam datacentre. The natural convection driven Immersed Computing® solution easily integrates into datacentre facilities and requires minimal overheads while also complementing infrastructure monitoring platforms, allowing for real-time management by the service providers supporting Shell.‍

Asperitas will be providing an infrastructure upgrade for Shell’s HPC cluster in Amsterdam. The cluster will be delivered by Penguin Computing and their OEM partners to offer a fully integrated and optimized solution suitable for enterprise level HPC. The deployment of the AIC24 solution will meet the demands of Shell’s HPC team for efficient high-density and performance computing on both a system and server level within a sustainable datacentre environment. The system will facilitate both CPU and GPU driven applications and offers the flexibility to easily scale with future demands and next hardware generations.

Peter Uelen, Asperitas CCO said: “Given Shell is a strategic partner of Asperitas and we have developed the Immersion Cooling Fluid product together, winning this deal and working alongside trusted partners like T-Systems, Intel and Penguin Computing to support the infrastructure upgrade, exemplifies and accelerates the partnership. It is our collective mission to enable sustainable and high performance datacentres anywhere and we are excited the team will be using a cluster facilitated with our Immersed Computing® solutions.”

Speaking on the collaboration with Asperitas, William Wu, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at Penguin Computing, remarked: “Penguin Computing has been working alongside Asperitas to incorporate an optimized immersion cooling capability into our HPC Solutions. Both parties learned a lot from each other during this process and we are looking forward to being part of this new chapter for Shell HPC.“

David Baldwin, HPC Program Manager, Shell commented: “Shell's High Performance Computing team worked very closely with the Asperitas technical team to provide the best solution for our new cluster in Amsterdam. This cluster is a critical part of our R&D capacity to help us discover new energy resources, develop new products and drive our digital transition.”The Shell Immersion Cooling Fluid product, specifically developed for Immersed Computing®, is a synthetic, single-phase immersion cooling fluid made from gas using Shell’s gas-to-liquids technology. It is optimised for Asperitas’ natural-convection-driven immersion cooling solutions but can also be used in pumped circulation systems of other providers. The liquid is designed to reduce energy costs and emissions through its high cooling efficiency, excellent flow behaviour as well as its thermodynamic properties. The immersion cooling fluid was introduced to the datacentre market at the Global Open Compute Project Summit earlier this year.

Sundeep Kamath, Global Marketing Manager for Process Oils at Shell added: “Data is the new oil and is being generated at an exponentially increasing pace. Today, datacentres account for about 1% of global energy use and this is only going to increase. This award-winning solution can cut the energy footprint of datacentres by half, while also increasing compute performance and lowering costs; it’s a win-win on all fronts. We are convinced of the great benefits of this innovative technology and hope more of our partners and customers benefit by adopting this solution for their compute needs and their own decarbonization journeys.”

Asperitas is known for collaboration with partners to develop integrated solutions and concepts that have been optimised for immersion cooling, utilising its full potential regarding efficiency, sustainability and performance. These collaborations include system integrators, datacentre operators and original equipment manufacturers.“

T-Systems has been the service provider for Shell since 2008, including datacentre services. Our datacentre team is looking forward to supporting Shell HPC on their journey with Asperitas and is excited to see the technology going into production.” said Wenche Dikstaal, Service Delivery Manager for Datacenters at T-Systems. “Liquid and immersion cooling is gaining traction in the enterprise space and T-Systems is proud to be involved in something that could be considered a lighthouse project in this space.”

Tonya Cosby, Global Enterprise Account Manager – Energy, Intel added: “Intel is collaborating with Asperitas to deliver a sustainable solution that will help Shell work towards net zero goals. We are evolving our corporate responsibility strategy to increase the scale of our work with strategic partners to harness the power of technology to solve global challenges, as it is our shared responsibility to collectivity measure our carbon footprint.  Combining Intel technologies with the Asperitas’ solution alongside Shell’s immersion cooling fluid will not only benefit Shell, but it can benefit datacentres globally.”

Tonya continued: “We believe that when hardware, software and good ideas come together, technology has the power to have an authentic, human impact and enable meaningful connections. We remain committed to Shell by developing and investing in innovative technology to power the next chapter of the global energy industry.”

The installation is scheduled for January 2021, with Asperitas working alongside Penguin Computing, Gigabyte and Intel to provide the integrated high performance compute solutions.

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Notes for editors
For more information, please contact

‍Emilia Coverdale, Marketing and Communications Manager, +31611465021, emilia.coverdale@asperitas.com

‍About the technology

‍Datacentres can become more energy efficient using Asperitas’ cooling technology, while at the same time reducing the space needed for the same IT capacity by directly cooling the hardware with an optimised liquid developed by Shell. The completely closed solution can be directly applied to existing datacentres. Asperitas’ solution is the only pumpless immersion cooled system, based on the natural convection concept, resulting in plug and play enterprise ready solutions.The technology also makes it possible for energy-intensive (future) hardware of chip manufacturers to continue to function at the highest possible utilisation rate. The latter makes the technology interesting for users of high-performance computing systems. A unique aspect of Asperitas’ solution is its ability to offer hot water-cooling, which makes it possible to cool datacentres, even in warm areas. The solution converts all electricity used for the hardware into a usable energy form: warm water of at least 55 degrees Celsius. This would allow datacentres to transform into suppliers of residual heat on a large scale, catering to the needs of many European regions where many datacentres are housed.

‍About Asperitas

‍Asperitas is a Dutch clean and high-tech scale-up, that has developed and marketed Immersed Computing®, a technology based on immersion liquid cooling to enable datacentres to function in a sustainable manner, even for the most demanding users and environments. In 2018, Asperitas won the international New Energy Challenge competition organised by Shell, Rockstart and YES!Delft. In May 2020, the World Economic Forum published a paper on Transformational Energy Innovations of the last 10 years, selecting Asperitas technology as the only datacentre energy efficiency solution in their ground breaking paper.

‍About Shell

‍Shell is a global energy company with 83,000 employees in more than 70 countries. Shell’s purpose is to power progress together by providing more and cleaner energy solutions.Shell Immersion Cooling Fluid S5 X is a synthetic, single-phase fluid, developed specially for immersion cooled data servers. The fluid is made from gas using Shell’s gas-to-liquids technology and can be used in natural convection as well as pump/forced circulation systems. Shell Immersion Cooling Fluid is designed to reduce energy usage through its high cooling efficiency, excellent flow behaviour and thermodynamic properties, improve product safety through its high compatibility with computer components and be safe and easy to handle while being more cost effective than alternatives such as fluorocarbons and intensely engineered fluids. The fluid has been co-developed with leading immersion cooling specialist Asperitas.

‍About T-Systems

‍With locations in over 20 countries, 37,900 employees, and an external turnover of 6.8 billion euros (2019), T-Systems is one of the most accomplished world-leading cross-manufacturer digital service providers. Headquarters based in Europe, T-Systems is the recommended partner for all digitalization needs.

‍About Intel

‍Over the coming decades, the world will continue to move towards a transformed energy industry that is closer to carbon neutrality and driven by data.  Intel is committed to provide solutions and technologies that will enable this transition; our brand message and visual identity are changing.  This means being a responsible technology company that operates with care for the people and the environment. Thriving through the energy transformation means working with customers, partners and society.  We will apply our deep experience as a leader in global manufacturing and leverage our unique position within the technology ecosystem to embark on a number of collaborative initiatives to help our customers achieve their own sustainability goals and accelerate progress in key areas across the entire technology industry. Given the complexity and scope of challenges that the world faces, Intel is committed to building upon what we have already accomplished and continuing to raise the bar for ourselves and our partners.

‍About Penguin Computing

‍Penguin Computing specializes in innovative Linux infrastructure, including Open Compute Project (OCP) and EIA-based high-performance computing (HPC) on-premise and in the cloud, AI, software-defined storage (SDS), and networking technologies, coupled with professional and managed services including sys-admin-as-a-service, storage-as-a-service, and hosting, as well as highly rated customer support.