HF Sinclair is expanding its position in the data center cooling market with a new fluid designed for direct-to-chip systems, extending an energy-industry push into the infrastructure behind artificial intelligence. Its Innovate liquid cooling business has launched Innovate DTC25, a propylene glycol-based heat transfer fluid aimed at direct-to-chip cooling environments. The move takes the company beyond the immersion cooling products it introduced in 2024 and into a segment gaining importance as higher-power processors increase thermal management requirements. For HF Sinclair, the expansion places fluid chemistry alongside system protection and operational reliability as it builds a broader proposition for data center operators.

HF Sinclair Targets Direct-to-Chip Cooling

Innovate developed DTC25 in alignment with the Open Compute Project’s Base Specification for PG25 heat transfer fluids, positioning the product around an established specification for propylene glycol-based cooling applications. The ready-to-use formulation combines high-quality propylene glycol with high-purity deionized water, removing the need for operators to perform fluid mixing at the installation site. That approach can give data center teams a more consistent fluid composition during commissioning while reducing another operational step across the cooling lifecycle. The formulation also reflects a broader shift in data center cooling, where fluid selection increasingly sits alongside rack design, heat rejection and system maintenance as an infrastructure decision.

HF Sinclair said DTC25 uses Organic Acid Technology inhibitors to provide long-term corrosion protection across copper, steel, brass, cast iron and aluminum components. The company also incorporated a biostatic formulation intended to preserve fluid integrity over an extended service life, while freeze protection supports operation in sub-zero conditions. A fluorescent blue dye provides a visual mechanism for identifying leaks, adding a practical monitoring feature to the formulation. The fluid contains no nitrite, amine, phosphate or silicate and is designed to meet OCP PG25 materials compatibility guidelines.

Cooling Fluid Moves Closer To The Chip

The technical specifications reflect the increasingly demanding conditions inside AI-oriented data centers, where direct-to-chip systems move heat away from processors through liquid circuits rather than relying solely on conventional air cooling. DTC25’s pre-mixed format could also simplify deployment for operators managing increasingly complex cooling infrastructure across multiple racks or facilities. Consistency matters because fluid chemistry can influence corrosion, material compatibility, maintenance requirements and the operating life of cooling loops. Meanwhile, the move gives HF Sinclair another route into a market where the value proposition increasingly extends beyond supplying a commodity fluid.

“Innovate DTC25 fluid draws on decades of experience formulating high-performance fluids for demanding OEM applications and applies that expertise to the next generation of data center cooling,” said Alex Buczek, director, new business development, HF Sinclair lubricants and specialties. “As liquid cooling architectures continue to evolve, customers need more than a fluid supplier. They need partners that understand fluid performance, system protection and the demands of critical infrastructure. Expanding into direct-to-chip cooling is a natural extension of the expertise and relationships we have built across the liquid cooling ecosystem.”

HF Sinclair Builds On Earlier Cooling Push

The DTC25 launch builds on HF Sinclair’s entry into data center cooling in 2024, when the company introduced an immersion cooling fluid. The company traces its corporate history to Sinclair Oil Corporation, founded in 1916, while General Appliance Corporation dates to 1947 and later became Holly Corporation. HollyFrontier emerged after the company acquired Frontier Oil in 2011, before HF Sinclair took its current name following the 2021 acquisition of Sinclair Oil. Based in Texas and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, HF Sinclair operates refineries across Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, Washington and Utah and produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, renewable diesel and other specialty products.

The expansion into direct-to-chip cooling shows how companies with deep experience in industrial fluids are repositioning that expertise around AI infrastructure. As processor power rises, cooling systems increasingly become a constraint that data center developers must solve alongside electricity, rack density and facility design. HF Sinclair is therefore competing not only for a share of the cooling-fluid market but also for a role in the operational layer supporting high-density compute. Its latest product marks another step in that broader industrial transition, where the chemistry developed for traditional energy and manufacturing applications is finding a new customer in the AI data center.