Digital Twin of Liquid Cooling for Data Centers: COLLINS Project Launches in September 2026

Swedish research institute RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) presented the COLLINS project on 24 October 2026. The project's goal is to create a digital twin of liquid cooling for data centers serving AI workloads. The model will allow engineers to verify cooling-system behaviour before a data centre is built or retrofitted.

What the model covers

COLLINS spans the entire liquid-cooling chain: from the plates in contact with the chips to heat rejection to the outside. Calibration will be performed against measurements on real equipment operating under loads representative of AI applications.

The developed digital twin is intended for:

• assessing system response to rapid load changes;
• comparing configurations and redundancy schemes;
• validating control systems;
• studying maintenance modes and thermal recovery.

Partners and roles

Modelon AB is the project coordinator, using the Modelon Impact simulation platform. The consortium includes:

• RISE and Korea Testing Laboratory — providing laboratories and experimental expertise;
• Luleå University of Technology — academic partner;
• Vertiv, SWEP, and LU-VE — contributing products and component knowledge.

Italy participates in the project through the company LU-VE.

Timeline and funding

The programme runs from September 2026 to August 2029. Funding is provided partly by the Swedish agency Vinnova and partly through partner contributions.

Source: ZeroSottoZero