--- title: Minimize Data Center Fire Risk With SLIC | Engineered Fluids description: Liquid Immersion cooling can save 50-60% of a data center's electricity costs, as well as extend the life of computer assets. Contact Engineered Fluids today! image: https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hubfs/file.webp --- [Skip to content](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/immersion-cooling-lowers-data-center-fire-risks#main-content) [![www.engineeredfluids.com](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EF%20Logo-long-Web.png?width=380&height=52&name=EF%20Logo-long-Web.png)](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/) Open main navigation Close main navigation Mar 26, 2018 9:24:21 AM # Immersion cooling lowers data center fire risks [Dr. David Sundin](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/author/dr-david-sundin) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/immersion-cooling-lowers-data-center-fire-risks) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/immersion-cooling-lowers-data-center-fire-risks) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/immersion-cooling-lowers-data-center-fire-risks) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/immersion-cooling-lowers-data-center-fire-risks) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/immersion-cooling-lowers-data-center-fire-risks)   ![file](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hs-fs/hubfs/file.webp?width=300&height=166&name=file.webp)     The flammability potential of electrical motors and fans used in Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) units is well known – the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) identifies fans and motors in CRAC units as a known and significant fire risk in their analysis of “Computer Room and Other Electronic Equipment Areas” (1). The two main failure modes are thought to be electrical short circuit and bearing damage caused from vibration and insufficient lubrication, leading to overheating and fire. In addition to supplying a significant amount of plastic fuel load to burn, fans and fan motors also collect a considerable amount of flammable dust. This dust is electrically conductive, so its buildup can short-circuit the windings of the motor. A greater problem, however, is the potential for short circuit inside the motor, supplying the crucial ignition source required for the combustion process to complete. The NFPA report shows that 16% of data center fires can be traced to air-handling electric motors and fans.   Now contrast this with the safety of liquid immersion cooling. There are no fans, and no fan motors to fail. The dielectric coolant circulates quietly, propelled by a single fluid pump. The failure rate of industrial motors coupled with centrifugal pumps is miniscule. There’s no vibration, no dust, and motor bearings are bathed in lubricant, extending their life. Engineered dielectric coolants, such as ElectroCool Fluids, have dielectric strength that’s thousands of times higher than air, so even if there’s a short circuit in the coolant, there’s no spark or ignition.   At Engineered Fluids, we are working with data center operators and server manufacturers to lower the costs of operating data centers, including equipment failure costs. Immersion cooling can save 50-60% of a data center’s electricity costs, as well as extend the life of computer assets. It’s a win-win for everyone. Unless you sell fire extinguishers.     Citations: 1. [https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics/Appliances-and-equipment/oscomputerareas.ashx](http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9789811006234-c2.pdf) 2. [www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda\_downloaddocument/9789811006234-c2.pdf](http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/9789811006234-c2.pdf) 3. S. Karmakar et al., Induction Motor Fault Diagnosis, Power Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0624-1\_2 [Health and Safety](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/health-and-safety), [Dielectric Fluids](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/dielectric-fluids), [Server/GPU Cooling](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/server-gpu-cooling) ## Related posts [![](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hs-fs/hubfs/a27d24_7273f25c8b3f451ba81d310f0db05459_mv2_d_2100_1200_s_2-1.webp?height=200&name=a27d24_7273f25c8b3f451ba81d310f0db05459_mv2_d_2100_1200_s_2-1.webp)](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/single-phase-liquid-immersion-cooling-explained) [Battery Cooling](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/battery-cooling), [Electric Vehicles](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/electric-vehicles), [Dielectric Fluids](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/dielectric-fluids), [Server/GPU Cooling](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/server-gpu-cooling) ## [Single-Phase liquid Immersion Cooling Explained](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/single-phase-liquid-immersion-cooling-explained) [Dr. David Sundin](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/author/dr-david-sundin) Apr 18, 2018 10:49:32 AM Single Phase Liquid Immersion Cooling is today’s hottest technology for thermal management in a... [Read more](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/single-phase-liquid-immersion-cooling-explained) [![](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/a27d24_be8c52dd24dc4ceb98baa5ae0f7dbf3e_mv2_d_3264_2448_s_4_2.webp?height=200&name=a27d24_be8c52dd24dc4ceb98baa5ae0f7dbf3e_mv2_d_3264_2448_s_4_2.webp)](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/fire-safety-concerns) [Health and Safety](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/health-and-safety) ## [Fire Safety Concerns](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/fire-safety-concerns) [Dr. David Sundin](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/author/dr-david-sundin) Nov 19, 2018 11:27:03 AM Recently, I spoke to an owner of a data center who had been told that they should use a dielectric... [Read more](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/fire-safety-concerns) [![](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AI_Image-3.png?height=200&name=AI_Image-3.png)](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/open-compute-2018-liquid-immersion-cooling) [Health and Safety](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/health-and-safety), [Solution Partners](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/solution-partners), [Dielectric Fluids](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/dielectric-fluids), [Server/GPU Cooling](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/tag/server-gpu-cooling) ## [Open Compute 2018 - Liquid Immersion Cooling](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/open-compute-2018-liquid-immersion-cooling) [Dr. David Sundin](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/author/dr-david-sundin) Jun 1, 2019 2:30:00 PM I had the chance to present on Wednesday April 21, 2018 at the Open Compute Project - US Summit... [Read more](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/open-compute-2018-liquid-immersion-cooling) [![www.engineeredfluids.com](https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EF%20Logo-long-Web.png?width=380&height=52&name=EF%20Logo-long-Web.png "www.engineeredfluids.com")](https://engineeredfluids.com/) 2233 3rd Avenue South Saint Petersburg, Florida 33712 USA --- Copyright © 2026, Engineered Fluids [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/the_SLIC_Expert) [facebook-f icon](https://www.facebook.com/EngineeredFluids/) [linkedin-in icon](https://www.linkedin.com/company/engineeredfluids/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.youtube.com/@The_SLIC_Expert) [instagram icon](https://www.instagram.com/the_slic_expert/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.tiktok.com/@engineeredfluids) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dr. David Sundin", "url" : "https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/author/dr-david-sundin" }, "dateModified" : "2022-11-17T19:27:25.019Z", "datePublished" : "2018-03-26T14:24:21.000Z", "headline" : "Minimize Data Center Fire Risk With SLIC | Engineered Fluids", "image" : [ "https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hubfs/file.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/immersion-cooling-lowers-data-center-fire-risks", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.engineeredfluids.com/hubfs/EF%20Logo-long-Web.png" }, "name" : "Engineered Fluids" } } ```