From AI cooling to energy savings: ITRI showcases latest innovations

2026-09-21

At the 2026 Taiwan Innotech Expo, two breakthrough technologies from the Industrial Technology Research Institute are taking center stage, targeting two of AI’s biggest challenges: cooling and energy consumption. One is a heat sink that can rapidly cool high-performance chips and recently won a Silver Award at the Edison Awards in the US. The other is a rare-earth-free EC fan motor that can cut power consumption by up to 40%, with potential applications in semiconductor fabs.

With new and exciting tech advancements popping up every day, ITRI showcased its latest innovations in AI at an exhibition that drew huge crowds eager to learn about the newest cutting-edge tech.

- ITRI’s breakthrough has doubled the power output from 800 watts, to 1,600 watts.

Among the most notable breakthroughs in green energy tech was a 3D Aluminum Microchannel Thermosyphon Heat Sink, which has broken through the limitations of regular 3D vapor chambers.

Chang Wen-hua
ITRI Green Energy and Environment Research Labs
We developed this cooling technology for Nvidia’s GPUs, ad high-performance computing chips. The heat sink is made entirely of aluminum. Costs are 40% lower than existing cooling systems.

This innovative solution can rapidly cool down high-performance computing chips. The invention won a Silver Award at this year’s Edison Awards in the US, and a company is set to be established in Q1 of 2027. Another highlight at the show was a High-Efficiency Rare-Earth-Free Electronic Commutated Fan Motor.

Wang Chien-chang
ITRI Green Energy and Environment Research Labs
The black part at the top is the rotor. Usually, the magnets are put inside there. At the bottom is an innovative driver without electrolytic capacitors or Hall-effect ICs.

It uses 40% less electricity than AC motors, and meets the IE5 energy efficiency standard. The fan motor could be installed at semiconductor plants.

Wang Chien-chang
ITRI Green Energy and Environment Research Labs
About 90% of the world’s high-performance rare earths are produced by just one country. They are a key material to make high-efficiency permanent-magnet motors. So that’s what we were trying to solve: how to achieve world-class energy efficiency without having to use rare earths.

This motor uses no rare earths at all, helping reduce supply-chain risks while positioning the technology to tap into the growing AI-driven energy-efficiency market.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#tech #innovation #ai #rareearth #itri

台灣AI創新技術 3D鋁製散熱器.零稀土EC風扇馬達亮相

2026-09-21

2026台灣創新技術博覽會上，工研院綠能所兩大技術成為現場焦點，共同瞄準AI資料中心的散熱與節能需求。其中3D"鋁製"微流道熱虹吸散熱器，可以替高效運算晶片快速降溫，今年更是拿下美國愛迪生獎銀牌；另一項「高效零稀土EC風扇馬達」，最高可以節電4成，可以跨足半導體廠。

創新科技日新月異，工研院把 AI成果搬到展覽現場，團隊大秀技術肌肉，不少人搶看新技術。

- 工研院突破傳統800瓦的功率，現在能夠做到1600瓦

工研院綠能科技研發成果表現優異，亮點之一，3D鋁製微流道熱虹吸散熱技術，突破傳統3D立體均熱板散熱限制。

[[工研院綠能所研發經理張文鏵博士]]
“目前我們是針對輝達的GPU，還有高性能的運算晶片，所開發出來的散熱技術，全鋁製造的散熱器，我們的成本相較於現有的散熱器，我們的價格可以低40%”

能替高效運算晶片快速降溫，今年還拿下美國愛迪生獎銀牌，明年第一季公司即將成立，還有另一個亮點，是這台高效零稀土EC風扇馬達。

[[工研院綠能所經理王建昌博士]]
“上面黑色的部分是屬於轉子的部分，那一般的磁鐵就放在轉子的框架裡面，那底下則是所謂的無電解電容，跟無霍爾IC的一個創新的驅動器”

相較於交流電馬達，能省下4成電力，馬達效能達到目前頂尖的IE5高效率等級，能導入半導體廠的通風設備。

[[工研院綠能所經理王建昌博士]]
“因為現在稀土，大概90%高性能的稀土，都集中在單一國家生產，那偏偏我們現在高效永磁馬達的一個關鍵材料就依賴稀土，所以我們要解的就是，怎麼樣不用稀土，可以讓馬達做到全世界頂級的一個能效”

這顆馬達完全不用用稀土，除了降低風險，也要在AI節能商機中搶攻市場。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00