Door Heat Exchanger Sub-Project Updates

Author: Jabari George, Consulting Mechanical Engineer, LGTS; Sub-Project Lead, Door Heat Exchanger Collection: 2026-OCP-EMEA-Summit-Cooling-Environments-And-Liquid-Cooling

Summary

Jabari George, sub-project lead for the OCP Door Heat Exchanger (DoE HX) sub-project, presents a comprehensive status update covering four active workstreams, community engagement history, and strategic direction for door heat exchangers as data center cooling technology evolves. The sub-project operates within OCP's Cooling Environments project, targeting documentation and products that lower barriers to liquid cooling adoption, with scope covering operating conditions, metrology, rack architecture compatibility (Open Rack and EIA-310/19-inch), and both facility water and air-cooled data center solutions. The sub-project has 4 active workstreams, 6+ community presentations delivered in approximately 2 years under George's leadership, and 12+ actively contributing organizations.

Three workstreams are substantive: TCS Flow Control (now in review phase, white paper complete), Mega AALC Sidecar (in progress and review phase simultaneously, targeting 1 MW single-phase cooling from sidecars replacing two Silver Rack VOG slots in ORV3 form factor), and Aluminum Heat Exchanger Integration (in progress, involving Valeo for corrosion mitigation and OVHCloud for infrastructure integration). A fourth workstream, Door HX Specification Rev. 1.0, was launched in January 2026 as the first formal Door HX specification effort, currently supported by Stulz and Vertiv.

The presentation includes a quantitative result from the Aluminum HX workstream: aluminum brazed heat exchangers achieve equivalent cooling capacity (5,650 W vs. 5,360 W copper, +5.4%) with dramatically better hydraulic performance (water-side ΔP: 0.12 bar vs. 0.36 bar, -67%) and significant weight reduction (8.0 kg vs. 16.8 kg, -52%). Corrosion testing is underway since February 2026 with 1-, 3-, and 6-month sample evaluation intervals. The Mega AALC sidecar shows -30% to -40% cooling power consumption reduction compared to traditional rack door heat exchangers (RDHx) at equivalent approach temperatures.