Data centres use a wide range of chemicals across their cooling, power generation, fire protection, and maintenance systems. Cooling systems are one of the largest users of chemicals, including water-treatment chemicals such as biocides, corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, and pH-control chemicals to prevent microbial growth, corrosion, and mineral deposits in cooling towers and chilled-water systems. Refrigeration and HVAC systems use refrigerants such as HFCs, HFOs, and other low-global-warming-potential refrigerants. Backup power systems rely on lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries, which involve materials and chemicals such as sulfuric acid, lithium compounds, electrolytes, and other battery-grade chemicals. Diesel generators also require diesel fuel, lubricants, coolants, and fuel-treatment chemicals. Fire-protection systems may use clean-agent gases such as FK-5-1-12 or inert gases, while certain auxiliary systems may involve fire-suppression chemicals. In addition, data-centre construction and maintenance require chemicals such as solvents, cleaning agents, adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, and specialty gases. Overall, the key chemical demand from data centres is likely to be concentrated around water treatment, refrigerants, batteries, power-generation consumables, fire suppression, and maintenance chemicals.
Chemical coolants are emerging as a critical component of the data-centre economy. As data centres become increasingly dense and power-intensive due to AI and high-performance computing, efficient heat management has become essential. Traditional air-cooling systems are increasingly being complemented or replaced by advanced liquid-cooling technologies, which use specialised coolants to transfer heat away from servers and other high-density computing equipment. This is creating a growing demand for high-performance cooling fluids, dielectric fluids, refrigerants, corrosion inhibitors, and other specialty chemicals. As AI-driven data-centre capacity expands, the demand for advanced cooling chemicals is likely to become an increasingly important part of the broader data-centre supply chain.
Savita Oil Technologies has specifically developed QuantiCool™, including propylene-glycol and ethylene-glycol formulations for Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) of data centres. Savita says its QuantiCool PG 25 is designed for high-density CPUs/GPUs and AI/HPC workloads. This is particularly interesting because Savita is not merely selling conventional industrial coolant—it is positioning a specialty formulation specifically for data-centre thermal management. Navin Fluorine International has entered into a strategic agreement with Chemours to manufacture Chemours’ Opteon™ two-phase immersion cooling fluid in India. The partnership is intended to establish manufacturing capacity beginning in 2026. This is a much more sophisticated chemistry than glycol coolant. In two-phase immersion cooling, the dielectric fluid actually boils when it contacts hot components and then condenses back into liquid. This is particularly relevant for very high-density AI computing. There is also an interesting domestic development involving BPCL and Refroid Technologies. Refroid states that it announced India’s first indigenous liquid coolant in collaboration with BPCL in 2025, alongside its development of indigenous coolant-distribution units. This could become important if India moves toward a more domestic data-centre cooling supply chain.
The broader liquid-cooling infrastructure market is also attracting Schneider Electric, Vertiv, STULZ and others; Schneider, for example, opened a liquid-cooling manufacturing facility in Bengaluru in 2026. But these companies primarily manufacture cooling systems/CDUs/heat-exchange equipment, rather than the underlying coolant chemistry.
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