--- description: Following a tour of the facillities, Valvoline's VP of R&D, sat down with Brian to go deep on immersion-cooling. Brian and the StorageReview team traveled... title: "Podcast#139: Immersion-Cooling, The Valvoline Way" image: https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Untitled-1.jpg --- [![Storage Review]()](https://storagereview.com/) --- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [![StorageReview.com]()](https://www.storagereview.com) ≡ Menu - [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) - [Storage Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/review) - [Consumer Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/consumer) - [Enterprise Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise) - [Ubiquiti Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/best/ubiquiti-reviews) - [SR Merch](https://store.storagereview.com) - [Leaderboards](https://www.storagereview.com/best) - [Best Storage Arrays](https://www.storagereview.com/best/storage-arrays) - [Best Enterprise SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/enterprise-ssds) - [Best Servers](https://www.storagereview.com/best/servers) - [Best Desktops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktops-local-ai) - [Best Laptops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptops-local-ai) - [Best Local LLM Tools](https://www.storagereview.com/best/local-llm-tools) - [Agentic AI Hardware](https://www.storagereview.com/best/agentic-ai-hardware) - [Best SSDs & Hard Drives](https://www.storagereview.com/best_drives) - [Best Portable SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/portable-ssds) - [Best Business Laptops](https://www.storagereview.com/best/business-laptops) - [Best Mobile Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/mobile-workstations) - [Best Desktop Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktop-workstations) - [Best Laptop Battery Life](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptop-battery-life) - [Storage Reference Guide](https://www.storagereview.com/storage-reference-guide) - [About SR](https://www.storagereview.com/about-storagereview) - [StorageReview.com Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations](https://www.storagereview.com/storagereview-com-sweepstakes-rules-and-regulations) Search [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) » [Podcast](https://www.storagereview.com/podcast) » Podcast#139: Immersion-Cooling, The Valvoline Way # Podcast#139: Immersion-Cooling, The Valvoline Way by Harold Fritts on July 24, 2025 [AI](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise/ai)  ◇  [Enterprise](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise) Brian and the StorageReview team traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, to meet with Valvoline’s immersion-cooling pit crew to examine the practical, technical, and environmental aspects of immersion and direct-to-chip cooling. They highlighted the significance of material compatibility, the development of industry standards, and Valvoline’s ongoing R&D efforts to create fluids that are more sustainable and effective for the data center industry. ![]() The hosts graciously gave a tour of the Valvoline HQ, which included some unique historical insights, followed by a look at race cars on display. Brian, a true motor racing fanatic, was in heaven. Brian was pulled from the race cars and sat down for a conversation with Dr. Z. George Zhang, Vice President of R&D at Valvoline Global, about current and future trends in immersion cooling. Dr. Zhang has been with Valvoline for over 26 years and is highly respected within the liquid-cooling community. He recently joined the Advisory Board for the North America Lubricant Expo & the Bearing Show. He is a certified lubrication specialist (CLS) and oil monitoring analyst (OMA I). Dr. Zhang is an inventor or co-inventor on 8 U.S. patents and has authored 49 peer-reviewed publications. With all the buzz around liquid cooling, this podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in immersion cooling technology. If you’re strapped for time, we’ve broken it down into five-minute segments to help you navigate this important topic. **0:00 – 5:00** - **Introductions & Backgrounds:** Brian introduces Dr. George Zhang from Valvoline, highlighting Valvoline’s long history in automotive lubricants and innovation (like high-mileage oils and MaxLife). - **Motor Oil as Engineering:** Discussing how people often overlook the complexity of motor oil. It’s not only about lubrication but also cleaning, sealing, and heat transfer. - **Heat Transfer Parallels:** Dr. Zhang explains how expertise in automotive heat management translates to data center cooling, especially as data centers face massive heat loads from high-power GPUs. - **Data Center Energy Use:** Fun fact: ChatGPT’s 2024 energy use is comparable to the entire country of Ireland, highlighting the scale of heat management required. **5:00 – 10:00** - **Mission-Critical Differences:** Data centers operate 24/7, unlike cars, so uptime and stability are crucial; however, the environment is less chemically harsh than that of automotive engines. - **Material Compatibility:** Data center hardware utilizes various metals, plastics, and labels, differing from those used in cars, making fluid compatibility a key concern. Labels and plastics can break down in immersion cooling environments. - **Cleanliness & Purity:** In direct-to-chip cooling, fluid purity is critical because tiny channels in cold plates can clog easily, impacting cooling performance. - **Cooling Segments:** Air cooling is still dominant, but liquid cooling (direct-to-chip and immersion) is growing. Valvoline is active in both, with a focus on their PG 25 fluid for direct-to-chip. **10:00 – 15:00** - **Technical Differentiation:** Not all PG 25 fluids are the same. Valvoline’s patented formula utilizes low-solids and liquid-based additives to prevent deposits and salt bridges. - **Condition Monitoring:** Valvoline leverages its automotive expertise to help customers monitor the health of their fluids and system conditions, supporting global supply chains. - **Ecosystem Complexity:** Liquid cooling involves numerous partners, including server vendors, hose and cold plate manufacturers, quick-connect suppliers, and more. Collaboration and communication are key to avoiding finger-pointing when issues arise. - **Water Quality & Sensors:** Data centers often lack expertise inwater quality, so Valvoline is collaborating with sensor manufacturers to enable real-time monitoring of fluid properties, such as turbidity and conductivity. **15:00 – 20:00** - **Sensor Integration:** The future willinclude more sensors in cooling loops for early detection of issues, potentially even at the connector or cold plate level. - **Market Adoption:** Most US data centers are adopting cold plate/direct-to-chip cooling because it can be retrofitted, while immersion cooling requires new infrastructure. - **Immersion Cooling Advantages:** Immersion can cool 100% of components and is vastly more efficient at heat transfer than air, but requires careful fluid movement to avoid hot spots. - **Thermal Conductivity:** Immersion fluids (hydrocarbons) are chosen for theirlow electrical conductivity (dielectric properties), allowing for the safe submersion of electronics. **20:00–25:00** - **Immersion Cooling in Practice:** Discussing different immersion cooling setups, such as tank immersion (servers dunked vertically) and their impact on power efficiency (PUE as low as 1.03–1.04, significantly better than air cooling). - **Component Reliability:** Immersion cooling can significantly reduce failure rates for components such as RAM, storage, CPUs, and GPUs. However, it introduces new operational challenges**,** such as handling servers with cranes and dealing with oil drips. - **Fluid Chemistry:** Valvoline uses pure hydrocarbon fluids for immersion—no fluorine or chlorine, just carbon and hydrogen. This ensures chemical inertness, similar to air, and avoids reactivity with server components. - **Material Compatibility:** Early lessons included issues with cables, labels, and plastics not designed for use withoil, such as color leaching, labels falling off, and plastics becoming brittle. Compatibility testing is now a significant focus. **25:00–30:00** - **Industry Standards & Collaboration:** Valvoline collaborates with OCP (Open Compute Project) and ASHRAE to develop and adhere to material compatibility lists for both immersion and direct-to-chip fluids. These lists help customers choose the right materials for liquid cooling. - **Networking & Signal Integrity: C**oncerns exist about high-speed networking and light transmission through oil; however, most hardware manufacturers now relocate switches out of the fluid. Valvoline hasn’t seen major signal issues but can adjust fluid dielectric properties if needed. - **Industry Perception:** Valvoline is often considered “the car guys” at IT events, but they emphasize their expertise in heat transfer and chemistry, which is directly relevant to data center cooling. - **OCP Working Groups:** OCP has separate groups for immersion and direct-to-chip cooling, showing the industry’s growing seriousness about liquid cooling. **30:00–35:00** - **Alternative Immersion Designs:** Discussion of “precision immersion,” like Isotope’s approach, where fluid is sprayed directly onto hot components in a rack, using less fluid and allowing for easier retrofits. These designs can be more energy-efficient and fit standard racks. - **Component Coverage:** Precision immersion ensures thatall components, **i**ncluding those that do not generate significant heat, such as capacitors and transistors, are effectively cooled, potentially improving overall reliability. - **Multiphase Cooling:** Multiphase (two-phase) cooling utilizes the heat of vaporization for enhanced efficiency; however, the fluids used are often PFAS (“forever chemicals”), which are environmentally problematic. Valvoline avoids these for sustainability reasons. - **System Complexity:** Multiphase systems require sealed environments to prevent gas escape, adding complexity and risk. **35:00–37:00 (End)** - **Fluid R&D and Future Directions:** For immersion fluids, Valvoline is researching ways to reduce **its** carbon footprint, including bio-derived hydrocarbons, although these present challenges due to the presence of double bonds and higher costs. - **PG 25 (Direct-to-Chip) Sustainability:** PG 25 is currently derived frompetroleum, but plant-based options are available, although they are pricier. Valvoline is exploring ways to make these more cost-effective and sustainable. - **Chemistry Matters:** Chemistry knowledge is increasingly essential for IT professionals working with advanced coolingsystems,compatibility, fluid properties, and environmental impact, all of which hinge on a solid understanding of chemistry. - **Lab Testing:** Valvoline does extensive in-house testing for compatibility, performance, and system efficiency, both for immersion and closed-loop cooling systems. **Engage with StorageReview** [Newsletter](https://www.storagereview.com/storage_newsletter) |  [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/StorageReview "Opens in a new window") | Podcast  [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/storagereview-com-storage-reviews/id1060681115 "Opens in a new window")/ [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0 "Opens in a new window") |  [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/ "Opens in a new window") |  [Twitter](https://twitter.com/storagereview "Opens in a new window") |  [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview? "Opens in a new window") |  [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) ♫ [Valvoline-Pod.mp3](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Valvoline-Pod.mp3 "Opens in a new window") ![]() ### Harold Fritts I have been in the tech industry since IBM created Selectric. My background, though, is writing. So I decided to get out of the pre-sales biz and return to my roots, doing a bit of writing but still being involved in technology. 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