Summary

The company Exora is developing adsorption cooling machines with metal-organic frameworks (MOF) to efficiently utilize the waste heat from data centers starting at 35 degrees Celsius. The system requires only about 10 percent of the electrical power of conventional refrigeration machines for the same cooling capacity by additionally inputting heat energy. Currently, a 3-kW prototype is running; a 100-kW production unit is planned by 2028, and the megawatt range by 2030. The technology is based on findings from the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which was awarded for the development of metal-organic frameworks.

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Topics

  • Adsorption technology
  • Data center efficiency
  • Waste heat utilization
  • Metal-organic frameworks (MOF)
  • Data center cooling

Clarus Lead

Energy efficiency in data centers is a central problem of AI infrastructure. Previous sorption materials required over 60 degrees Celsius – incompatible with modern water cooling systems that operate only at 30–45 degrees Celsius. The breakthrough with MOF materials (just awarded the 2025 Chemistry Nobel Prize) lowers this threshold to 35 degrees, enabling secondary use of industrial waste heat in district heating networks and 90-percent electricity savings in cooling. For operators, this represents a transformation scenario for operating costs and CO₂ balance.

Detailed Summary

Adsorption refrigeration machines are a technology over 100 years old that converts heat into cold without a compressor. They operate silently and were historically used in mini-bars and motorhome refrigerators, where gas flames served as an energy source. The principle fundamentally allows the use of waste heat to generate cold, but has failed at a critical hurdle: conventional sorption materials such as zeolites or silica gel required temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius.

In data centers with CMOS logic chips, this is structurally impossible. Water cooling there only operates with return temperatures between 30 and a maximum of 45 degrees Celsius. This has previously blocked the utilization of data center waste heat in district heating networks or secondary cooling circuits.

Exora addresses this gap through metal-organic frameworks (MOF), crystalline structures with large cavities in which metal ions are bonded by long organic molecules. The chemical composition can be tailored to suit the specific application. Exora CEO Alexis Van Wesemael presented the prototype status at the OCP Global Summit: 3 kW today, 100 kW by 2028, megawatt target by 2030. The key result: for the same cooling capacity, the system requires only 10 percent of the power consumption of conventional refrigeration machines because it additionally utilizes the waste heat energy itself.

MOF materials were the subject of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi for their fundamental research. Several other manufacturers are already working on adsorption coolers, but still use older sorption materials. Exora's approach with MOF at low temperatures (from 35°C) is thus a technological leap.

Key Findings

  • Exora is developing MOF-based adsorption cooling machines that efficiently utilize data center waste heat from 35 degrees Celsius
  • Power efficiency gain: Only 10 percent of the power consumption of conventional refrigeration machines for identical cooling capacity
  • Scaling roadmap: 3 kW (prototype) → 100 kW (2028) → megawatt range (2030)
  • Technology builds on 2025 Nobel Prize (Chemistry) for metal-organic frameworks
  • Enables genuine waste heat utilization in data centers for district heating networks for the first time

Critical Questions

  1. Energy Balance Validation (Evidence): How was the "90-percent saving" measured? Are these laboratory data or actual operating conditions?

  2. Prototype Scalability (Feasibility): What technical hurdles exist between 3 kW and 100 kW? Are material or production bottlenecks known?

  3. MOF Degradation (Risks): How long do MOF materials remain functional? Do they require maintenance or replacement?

  4. Economic Viability (Causality): Is the 90-percent electricity savings sufficient to justify the investment costs of the new systems compared to established coolers?

  5. Competition (Conflicts of Interest): Why do other manufacturers still choose zeolites instead of MOF? Are there patent protections or cost differences?

  6. Integration into Existing Infrastructure (Feasibility): Do data centers require additional upgrades to maintain 35-degree return temperatures stably?

  7. Environmental Profile of MOF Production (Side Effects): How energy-intensive is the synthesis of MOF materials itself?

Source Directory

Primary Source: Data Centers Cooling with Their Own Heat: Adsorption Cooling with New Materials – heise.de, 2026

Verification status: ✓ 22.07.2026

This text was created with the support of an AI model. Editorial responsibility: clarus.news | Fact-check: 22.07.2026