Orbis Electric has announced its new Cooling Engine, a thermal infrastructure platform engineered to address the high power demands of next-generation high-density artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and high-performance computing (HPC) environments. The company claims the Cooling Engine can deliver up to twice the cooling capacity of legacy coolant distribution units (CDUs) while reducing operating costs by up to 40 percent and halving the physical footprint compared to conventional CDUs.
The Cooling Engine uses axial-flux motor-pumps that operate bidirectionally, reclaiming energy traditionally lost in data center cooling processes. Powered by Orbis Electric’s rare-earth-free HaloDrive system, the platform is reported to achieve 80 to 90 percent wire-to-fluid efficiency and supports rack densities over 200 kW. The company notes that the system unifies propulsion-grade motor technology with 800 V-class power distribution in a modular configuration, delivering up to $3 million in annual value for a 20 megawatt data hall through higher rack density, reduced power consumption, and lowered operating and maintenance costs.
According to Orbis Electric, the Cooling Engine integrates motor, pump, and heat-to-power recovery in a single system. The company states this can reduce cooling energy use by up to 50 percent and return 5 to 8 percent of that load as usable power, potentially adding hundreds of megawatts of effective capacity at scale. The design features a fluid-agnostic, N+1 redundant row-end module that handles pumping, cooling, and flow orchestration with one motor and a shared direct current (DC) power domain. It is also compliant with direct-to-chip cooling and Open Compute Project (OCP) CDU guidelines.
For data center operators, the Cooling Engine aims to cut chiller energy use by up to 80 percent, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 40 percent versus traditional liquid cooling, and decrease water consumption by 75 to 80 percent per 20 megawatt facility. Orbis Electric highlights the use of ferrite-based materials, which avoids rare-earth element sourcing risks.
Marcus Hays, founder and CEO of Orbis Electric, stated, “Most data center cooling systems waste energy the way old cars used to waste every bit of braking power,” adding, “The Cooling Engine extracts that energy, reuses it and even stores it – turning cooling from a cost center into a power source that captures recurring revenue.” Chance Claxton, co-founder and COO, said, “The Cooling Engine is more than a cooling product – it’s a thermal backbone for the AI economy. By ensuring every watt of chip power is translated to usable compute, we’re turning what has historically been a sunk cost into a new source of recoverable energy – giving data centers a way to scale faster and run greener.”
Orbis Electric reports it is open to pilot opportunities with AI infrastructure operators, data center stakeholders, and industry partners interested in scaling electrification efficiencies.
Source: Orbis Electric
