Daikin Applied Introduces 60 MW AI Factory Cooling Reference Architecture

“An AI factory is a system of systems,” said Karim Shalash, director of Data Center Solutions at Daikin Applied. “A cooling decision at the rack carries implications for water temperatures, flow requirements, plant operation and heat rejection. D60-W gives engineering teams a framework for working through those dependencies and developing a cooling architecture around the facility's operating requirements.”

Built for uptime at every layer
At the equipment level, Daikin Applied's RideThrough® and RapidRestore® chiller technologies address brief power disturbances and restart after shutdown. At the system level, redundancy across the cooling system – from the rack to the dry cooler – helps maintain uptime during equipment outages and planned maintenance. 

Limiting water and energy use year-round
D60-W switches between dry cooling, hybrid cooling and full mechanical cooling based on outdoor conditions. In dry cooling mode, the chiller compressors are off. In hybrid mode, waterside economizers precool the return water and the chillers handle the remaining load. Heat rejection relies on dry coolers instead of evaporative cooling towers, which eliminates cooling-tower make-up water and supports low water usage effectiveness (WUE). 

Getting from design to capacity faster
Within D60-W, Daikin Applied’s iDCM supervisory layer coordinates RCUs, CDUs, chillers and dry coolers as one plant. It manages load sharing, balances equipment operating hours and controls transitions between the three operating modes. Built-in redundancy and integration with site management systems provide greater control resilience and centralized visibility, while energy optimization and predictive maintenance capabilities support plant efficiency and equipment reliability.  

Because D60-W scales by deployable unit, project teams can add capacity as demand grows, backed by Daikin Applied commissioning, planned maintenance and 24/7 emergency response. The Daikin Applied CDU and data center dry cooler are currently under development, with availability targeted for the second half of 2027.