Ionic Wind Technologies, a company formed by a Swiss research group, is experimenting with ionized air cooling (sometimes called 'ionic wind'), a solid-state fanless active cooling technology. Ionic Wind's technology relies on the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) principle: it uses electric fields to ionize air molecules and then move them, creating a flow of air without traditional mechanical fans, reports Heise.de. Ionic Wind claims that its technology could reduce the costs of data center cooling by 60%. But there are a couple of catches.
The vast majority of today's data centers use traditional air coolers and air conditioners. Air coolers do the job, but they struggle with the latest high-performance AI GPUs, such as Nvidia's B200. Many of them are needed to generate high-pressure airflows, and sometimes, they fail. Air conditioners are powerful enough to cool down modern data centers, though they consume a lot of power. As processors get more complex and hotter, the usage costs will go up.
Enter ionized air cooling. Ionic wind cooling (also called electrohydrodynamic or EHD cooling) uses high voltage to create a strong electric field that ionizes air molecules. In practice, a thin wire or sharp needle is charged to thousands of volts, causing electrons to be stripped from — or added to — nearby air molecules in a process known as corona discharge. The resulting ions are then pulled through the electric field toward a collector electrode, and in moving, they collide with and push neutral air molecules. This continuous movement of charged and neutral particles creates a small airflow — ionic wind — without relying on mechanical fans. Because there are no moving parts, ionic wind cooling can, in theory, offer silent operation and a slimmer form factor.
Ionic Wind Technologies refined the ionic wind cooling method by replacing standard wire electrodes with custom-made tungsten needle tips embedded in the housing. These tungsten tips generate air currents moving at twice the speed of traditional electrodes while using less power and the compact size of these electrodes allows for a more streamlined design, making it easier to integrate into actual systems. The electrodes also feature small rounding at their tip to create some asymmetry of the electrostatic field to direct and amplify airflows.
"Our custom-made needle tips achieve up to twice the airflow speed compared to conventional electrodes—and with even less energy," Donato Rubinetti from Ionic Wind told Heise. "A tip is never infinitely sharp; it always has a slight rounding at the end. This plays an extremely important role in the performance of the needle electrodes."
The system also takes advantage of the Coandă effect, a phenomenon that causes moving air to adhere to surfaces. According to Ionic Wind Technologies, this principle—used in airplane wings and Dyson's bladeless fans—helps direct airflow in a controlled manner to enhance cooling performance while minimizing turbulence and energy loss. One common inefficiency in data centers is unwanted airflow leakage, where cooled air bypasses equipment. Ionic Wind says it can reduce this problem and reduce the airflow required, potentially cutting the energy bill for cooling.
While the technology looks interesting on paper, a number of practical challenges arise. First up, we are talking about relatively low airflow volumes compared to traditional fans. Secondly, there are particles in the air (dust, aerosols, etc.), and charged particles tend to attract each other with opposite charges or are attracted to surfaces that have an opposite (or grounded) charge. This greatly increases the risks of accelerated dust accumulation, and dust not only traps heat but can cause short circuits or corrosion of components. As high voltages are required to charge particles, they can create byproducts like ozone, and they can be harmful to electronic components, corroding metals, and degrading plastics or rubber over time.
As a result, while EHD cooling has been explored in niche applications and research prototypes, it is not widely adopted in mainstream computing due to these reliability and performance tradeoffs. Ionic Wind Technologies, of course, hopes that its custom-made tungsten needle tips will help its technology overcome the traditional problems of EHD. However, in addition to applying its ionic wind cooling to traditional servers, it also explores applications like air purification (a negative side effect for cooling is a positive effect for air purification) or drying for sensitive materials. It also explores airflow creation in extreme conditions where traditional fans can fail.
