Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining firm Riot Blockchain (RIOT) is piloting new liquid cooling expertise for mining {hardware} in Texas to check options for efficient mining in tough temperature environments.
Riot is launching an 8-megawatt immersion expertise testing initiative to “assess the potential for greater productiveness and decrease value mining alternatives in Texas,” per a press launch. Testing is scheduled to start out in Q1 2021.
If profitable, CEO Jeff McGonegal instructed CoinDesk the corporate envisions “deploying immersion at a bigger scale over time, significantly in hotter climates the place cooling is a chief concern.”
In excessive warmth and humidity environments, cooling mining machines with liquid immersion as an alternative of air cooling provide vital benefits for miners with razor-thin revenue margins.
Not solely does liquid cooling provide vital noise discount in contrast with fan cooling. Immersion cooling may improve usable hashrate per machine by as much as 50% in some instances, extend the lifespan of some machines and permit miners to put in extra machines per sq. foot than if the identical facility used fan cooling. However upkeep might be tough.
The mining trade remains to be standardized round air-cooled designs, which implies air-cooled amenities are nonetheless the primary selection for miners,” mentioned Ethan Vera, co-founder of Seattle-based mining firm Luxor Expertise, in a direct message with CoinDesk. “However in areas of excessive temperature and low humidity, miners use evaporative cooling as a cheap technique to mitigate the warmth.”
In sizzling, humid areas like Texas, Vera mentioned, liquid immersion is “the cooling technique of selection because it eliminates warmth, mud and humidity points.”
In planning this pilot challenge, the Fort Rock, Colo.-based mining agency is “trying to observe enhancements working in tough mining temperature environments, mixed with the extra efficiency that may be achieved because of this,” McGonegal instructed CoinDesk.
Taking part in Riot’s pilot program are two bitcoin mining {hardware} and power software program corporations, Enigma and Lancium, which might be offering the expertise Riot plans to check.
In 2020, Riot shares have outperformed bitcoin 12 months up to now in 2020, gaining 660% since January and buying and selling close to $9.37 ultimately examine. Over the identical interval, bitcoin gained 170%. The mining agency is now price over $666 million.
