DOWNTOWN — RESEARCHERS AT NYU TANDON School of Engineering proposed using zeolites to potentially reduce combined electricity consumption across proliferating AI data centers and nearby industrial facilities by more than 75%, and by as much as 86% at the data center alone, according to NYU Tandon.
The paper, posted to ChemRxiv (not yet peer reviewed), models a system in which low-grade industrial waste heat below 392 degrees Fahrenheit — from refineries, chemical plants, or paper mills — dries zeolite mineral beds, which are then transported to data centers where the reverse reaction absorbs server heat and cools servers through evaporation.
Electricity doesn’t cool; evaporation does. Currently, most data centers are cooled by electricity-hungry compression chillers that use electricity to force evaporation. Zeolite’s molecular affinity for water vapor means it can use evaporative cooling without a compression chiller, replacing the compressor’s continuous electricity demand with industrial waste heat that would otherwise be discarded.
Zeolites are porous minerals that absorb and release water vapor as temperatures change, making them effective passive “thermal batteries.”
Around 80% of U.S. industrial facilities sit within approximately 43 miles of an existing data center, with a median distance of around 35 miles. Researchers estimate net electricity savings of up to 44.6%, even after accounting for electric truck transport.
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