Precision Micro wins seven-figure order for chemically etched flow plates for advanced thermal management.
Data centres are ever more in the news at the moment. Growing demand for AI and high-performance computing is driving the need for ever more compute power – but that generates ever more heat. That’s where a company based in Erdington, near Birmingham, can help.
Photo courtesy of Precision Micro
Founded in 1962, Precision Micro is a leading specialist in chemical etching, manufacturing millions of precision-etched components for high-tech including automation, aerospace, medicine and energy.
Now it has secured a major, seven-figure order to manufacture chemically etched flow plates used to transfer heat within a compact structure. They are increasingly used in applications where conventional heat exchanger technologies can be too large, heavy or inefficient – and are proving to be essential for data centre cooling.
The order follows several years of the company investing in large sheet capacity, expanding etching infrastructure and supporting the chemical management needed to process high volumes of material.
As a result, the company can now chemically etch large-format plates up to 1.5 metres long and 610 mm wide, with material thicknesses up to 2.5 mm. This means it can support manufacturers working with larger and thicker plates, while maintaining the accuracy, repeatability and burr-free finish associated with chemical etching.
The company can also support customers from prototype through to volume production, manufacturing chemically etched components for high-tech applications.
Ben Kitson, Head of Business Development at Precision Micro, says: ‘This contract is the result of a strategy we put in place several years ago. We identified growing demand for compact, high-efficiency cooling across several emerging energy applications and invested in the unique capacity and infrastructure needed to support it.
‘As power densities increase, the technologies behind cooling systems must become more efficient, more compact and more reliable. Chemically etched flow plates are a strong fit for that challenge due to its ability to achieve high feature density and plate complexity.’
Lee Weston, Marketing Manager at Precision Micro, adds: ‘Compact heat exchangers are not a new market for Precision Micro, but the scale of demand is changing. That growth has only been possible because of long-term investment in our etching facility, from purpose-built chemical infrastructure and latent process capacity, to high-volume production capability that was designed into the plant at its conception. Customers need suppliers with proven capability and the infrastructure to manufacture these parts at scale.’
In related news:
Businesses warned not to pay ransomware demands as attacks rise
Leave a Reply