Industry Cases

A large cloud computing data center in northern China faced a severe challenge: its traditional air-cooling system was nearing its limit. Server room temperatures frequently approached alert levels during summer, and the enormous energy consumption for heat dissipation kept operational costs high. Its PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) value consistently remained above 1.5, failing to meet the development requirements for green data centers. Instead of simply expanding its air conditioning capacity, the data center initiated a strategic partnership with Huawei Digital Power. Together, they deployed a new indirect evaporative cooling and liquid cooling integrated solution, where high-efficiency water coolers (chillers + liquid cooling plates) served as the core of the entire plan. The key to the collaboration was deep integration and joint optimization: 1. Co-design: The Huawei team deeply integrated its self-developed FusionCol indirect evaporative cooling system with the data center’s IT equipment layout and heat load profile, participating in the planning from the early building phase to maximize the use of natural cooling resources. 2. Scenario-based Application: For high-density AI computing server clusters, the partners jointly tested and deployed cold plate liquid cooling. Chilled liquid from the water coolers was directly circulated through sealed pipes to cold plates attached to the server chips, enabling efficient and precise heat dissipation.   Outcome: After project completion, the data center’s annual PUE dropped to below 1.25, with natural cooling providing free cooling for over 60% of the year. Compared to the traditional solution, total energy consumption was reduced by more than 30%, equivalent to saving tens of millions of kilowatt-hours annually. Furthermore, servers operated in a lower-temperature, more stable environment, enhancing both performance and reliability. This case demonstrates that modern collaboration involving water coolers has evolved from mere equipment supply to an energy-efficiency strategic partnership starting from top-level design. By deeply integrating technology with the operational scenario, it transforms cooling from a “cost center” into an “efficiency engine,” jointly defining the new standard for the next generation of green data centers.

In the factory of a large excavator manufacturer in Zhejiang, newly assembled equipment on the final production line awaited testing. However, a batch of specialized machines destined for tropical rainforest regions repeatedly showed potential failure symptoms—early wear of hydraulic pumps and spool sticking in their hydraulic systems under high temperature and humidity. The core issue pointed to the “first line of defense”: the suction filter. Standard filters couldn’t handle the slight oil emulsification and finer particle intrusion caused by the local damp environment. Instead of tackling the problem alone, the manufacturer immediately formed a joint project team with its long-term partner, the German filtration specialist MANN+HUMMEL. Engineers from both sides conducted an in-depth analysis of the faulty units and local operational data, defining the new requirements: the filter needed enhanced water separation capability and higher dirt holding capacity, while maintaining very low flow resistance to ensure proper pump suction. Based on this, MANN+HUMMER initiated a customized co-development project: 1. Material & Structural Innovation: A special glass fiber composite filter media was adopted, which significantly improved the coalescing separation of trace water from the oil while efficiently capturing particles. 2. Collaborative Performance Validation: The manufacturer provided access to its hydraulic test benches. Together, they conducted over 500 hours of enhanced endurance and pulse fatigue testing, simulating conditions harsher than real-world operations to verify reliability.   Outcome: This jointly developed dedicated suction filter reduced hydraulic system failure rates for those excavators in the rainforest region by over 70%. Equipment availability and customer satisfaction saw substantial improvement. This successful collaboration not only solved a specific problem but also led to a new high-performance product series, which became the standard configuration for the manufacturer’s equipment in global markets with special operating conditions. This case demonstrates that superior suction filter service results from deep integration, joint requirement definition, and collaborative development and validation between the supplier and the OEM. It transcends a simple buyer-seller relationship, evolving into a strategic partnership aimed at jointly enhancing the competitiveness of the end product, silently safeguarding the purity of the “blood” in every heavy equipment’s hydraulic system.

In the roaring world of industry, there exists a class of components seldom in the spotlight, yet serving as the “unsung heroes” of efficiency and safety—aluminum alloy air coolers. Leveraging their lightweight nature, high thermal conductivity, and excellent corrosion resistance, they undertake the critical task of ensuring key equipment can “think coolly” in harsh environments ranging from extreme cold to intense heat. Behind these successful applications often lies not solitary effort, but the crystallization of close collaboration across the industrial chain, jointly overcoming challenges. This article explores two typical partnership cases to reveal how this “win-win cooperation” model continuously drives aluminum alloy air cooler technology to break through limits and serve broader frontiers. Case Study One: Empowering Green Energy, Guarding the Heart of Offshore Wind Farms Collaborators: Guizhou Yonghong Heat Exchange & Cooling Technology Co., Ltd. and Global Wind Power Leaders (e.g., VESTAS, GE, Goldwind) The Challenge: Inside the nacelles of offshore wind turbines, core components like frequency converters and generators continuously produce significant heat. Simultaneously, the equipment must endure the highly corrosive marine environment characterized by high salt and humidity, posing extremely stringent demands on the cooler’s reliability, lightweight design, and corrosion-resistant lifespan. The Innovative & Collaborative Solution: Yonghong Heat Exchange, a leading domestic manufacturer of aluminum heat exchange components, leveraged its nearly five decades of technical expertise to engage in deep collaboration with leading wind turbine OEMs. Together, they focused on developing specialized aluminum alloy plate-fin coolers. The core innovation of this partnership lay in materials and processes: 1. Ultimate Corrosion Resistance: Through special material formulations and surface treatment processes, their products achieved a corrosion-resistant lifespan of 6,000 hours in accelerated acidic salt spray tests, far exceeding the common market standard of 1,400 hours, ensuring stable equipment operation offshore for 16-20 years. 2. Lightweight & Efficient Design: The inherent advantages of aluminum alloy reduced the top-of-tower load. Joint simulation and customized design addressing the unique spatial layout and heat dissipation needs of offshore wind ensured maximized cooling efficiency.   Outcomes & Value: Through in-depth collaboration, Yonghong’s products successfully addressed the critical cooling challenges of offshore wind. Their aluminum heat exchangers are now used in nearly 80% of global offshore wind power equipment. This partnership not only achieved import substitution for a key component but also established a high-end, Chinese-made cooling product as the “standard” in the world’s green energy industry, laying a solid foundation for the highly reliable, long-cycle operation of the wind power sector. Domestic major energy enterprises like Zhejiang Energy Group have also procured domestically produced aluminum alloy plate-fin coolers for their offshore wind projects, reflecting market recognition of this mature collaborative achievement.