HD Hyundai Oilbank is teaming up with Seoul National University (SNU) to tackle the heat and noise problems plaguing modern computer labs. The lubricant manufacturer announced on Wednesday that it will partner with the university and Databean, a system operator, to install a liquid immersion cooling system for SNU’s artificial intelligence data centers.
The three parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to launch this AI infrastructure validation project. The initiative aims to solve significant operational issues currently affecting the server room at SNU’s AI research lab. Right now, the lab struggles with excessive noise from cooling fans and intense heat from high-performance equipment. The current air-cooling setup cannot keep up with the demands of modern AI workloads.
Under the new agreement, the team plans to begin applying and testing the immersion cooling system in early 2026. The roles are clearly divided to ensure the project’s success. HD Hyundai Oilbank will supply the specialized immersion cooling fluid and provide ongoing technical support and maintenance. SNU will contribute the physical data center space and the high-powered GPU servers needed to test the fluid’s performance. Databean will install its proprietary “SmartBox” cooling system and analyze the operational data.
Immersion cooling is a heat management solution where engineers submerge servers or energy storage systems directly into a non-conductive liquid. This method reduces power consumption much more effectively than blowing air over hot components. As AI services advance and require massive computing power, traditional air-cooling systems are reaching their physical limits. Consequently, major tech companies worldwide are looking to liquid solutions.
This project marks a significant milestone, as HD Hyundai Oilbank will be the first entity in Korea to verify the stability of this technology within an active AI research environment. The industry is currently working to prove that these fluids and servers remain compatible under actual use conditions.
An official from HD Hyundai Oilbank explained that this project will prove that immersion cooling works for smaller infrastructure, such as labs or smart factories. The company plans to use these results to expand into the large-scale data center market. This move follows their launch of the X Teer E-Cooling Fluid brand last year, which they already supply to Naver Cloud.
