What Is Free Cooling?_
Free cooling leverages ambient conditions—such as low outdoor air temperature, evaporative cooling, or groundwater—to absorb heat from the facility’s cooling loops. This approach can significantly lower energy consumption compared to compressor-based chillers. It is most effective in climates with cool or dry periods, and often requires economizer modes in the cooling infrastructure.
Technical Details
Free cooling typically involves air-side or water-side economizers that bring outside air or cool water into the heat rejection system when conditions permit. The transition between free cooling and mechanical cooling is controlled by setpoints based on outdoor dry-bulb or wet-bulb temperature, as specified by the OEM. In GPU clusters with high heat densities, free cooling may only be viable during certain seasons or at reduced load, and must be integrated with liquid cooling loops to avoid condensation. The facility’s cooling tower or dry cooler must be sized to handle the full heat load even when free cooling is unavailable.
How Leviathan Systems Works with Free Cooling
During Leviathan Systems deployments, we coordinate with facility teams to confirm that free cooling economizers are operational and properly sequenced before rack power-up. In warmer climates, we may advise on supplemental mechanical cooling to maintain GPU inlet temperatures within the OEM spec.
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