GRC ICEtank Immersion Cooling

GRC ICEtank is single-phase immersion in a 20 or 40 ft ISO container, rated 200 and 400 kW at 50 kW per rack on the IT20/IT40 datasheet.

This model is part of SecondWatt’s liquid cooling research catalogue. Specifications and price observations are included where supported by sources. Equipment availability and commercial terms require confirmation.

Technical dossier for GRC ICEtank single-phase immersion cooling system.

Why it matters

Immersion changes the economics at the rack rather than at the chiller. The IT20/IT40 datasheet states a PUE of 1.03 to 1.09 with chillerfree warm-water operation at 95 deg F and a facility water draw of 1 to 2 gpm, the flow of a standard garden hose, with coolant pumps and the control system both 2N. Racks are 42U and IT gear sits directly in ElectroSafe dielectric fluid, so there are no server fans to power or to fail. The trade is that the fluid and the rack build are specified together and GRC distributes its technical specification sheets on request rather than publishing them.

Who buys it

Operators who have a pad and a utility feed but no building: edge and defence sites, mining and HPC tenants, universities adding supercomputer capacity, and enterprises in hot or water-scarce locations. The draw is a sealed ISO container that ships as one unit and rejects heat to a dry cooler, an evaporative tower or a hybrid cooler, so no chiller plant and no white space are required. GRC states deployments across more than 13 countries.

Role in the data center

Prefabricated, containerized immersion-cooled IT module rather than an electrical distribution asset. It sits downstream of the site service entrance/switchgear and UPS, containing its own integrated electrical distribution (panels, breakers, PDU) feeding immersion racks, and interfaces upstream to facility heat rejection (cooling tower, dry cooler or hybrid cooler). Typical applications are edge/remote compute, capacity expansion where whitespace is exhausted, HPC/AI and GPU-dense clusters, and military/harsh-environment deployments.

Key specifications

Technical summary

Single-phase liquid immersion using GRC ElectroSafe dielectric coolant. IT20: 20 ft ISO container (20 x 8 x 9 ft 6 in), 4 x 42U immersion racks, approx. 25,000 lb empty of IT. IT40: 40 ft ISO container (40 x 8 x 9 ft 6 in), 8 x 42U immersion racks, approx. 42,000 lb empty of IT. Published cooling capacity by datasheet revision: 100 kW (IT20) / 200 kW (IT40) at 25 kW per rack in the earlier revision, and 200 kW (IT20) / 400 kW (IT40) at 50 kW per rack in a later revision; GRC edge literature cites up to 480 kW in the 40 ft unit and up to 60 kW per rack in custom builds. Chiller-free warm-water operation rated at 95 F (35 C) supply. Stated PUE/mPUE range 1.03 to 1.09. Redundancy: 2N coolant pumps and 2N control system. Included subsystems: CDU(s), internal plumbing and controls, cable management, rack-mounted service rails, fire detection, technician comfort A/C, integrated power distribution, and cloud/local monitoring with DCIM hooks.

Major variations

Two published container variants: ICEtank IT20 (20 ft ISO container, 4 x 42U immersion racks, 1-2 coolant distribution units) and ICEtank IT40 (40 ft ISO container, 8 x 42U immersion racks, 2-4 CDUs). Datasheet revisions show differing capacity ratings per variant (25 kW/rack rev vs 50 kW/rack rev), and GRC edge literature cites a 40 ft configuration cooling up to 480 kW. Custom/engineered-to-order configurations (including UPS and generator modules, dry-cooler vs evaporative heat rejection, and defense/edge builds) are offered rather than fixed SKUs. Related but distinct GRC product families are ICEraQ (SX, Flex, Micro) rack-level systems and HashTank for blockchain workloads.

Configurations and options

Container length is the first ordered choice and it sets everything downstream. The IT20 is a 20 ft ISO container at 20 x 8 x 9 ft 6 in with four 42U racks, two coolant distribution units and 25,000 lbs of dry weight excluding IT gear; the IT40 is a 40 ft container with eight 42U racks, four CDUs and 42,000 lbs. Heat rejection is ordered separately, with evaporative cooling towers, dry coolers and hybrid coolers all offered and waterless dry cooler options called out on the current ICEtank page. Electrical input is three phase 380 to 480 VAC at 50 to 60 Hz. GRC lists integrated electrical infrastructure, fire detection, cable management, technician air conditioning, dumb or intelligent PDUs and UPS or genset modules as orderable content. Dielectric fluid is supplied under the ElectroSafe partner program rather than as a single GRC-manufactured product.

Compatibility and dependencies

An ICEtank does not connect to a chilled water plant. It rejects to an evaporative tower, a dry cooler or a hybrid cooler, and the IT20/IT40 datasheet states chillerfree operation at 95 deg F with a facility water draw of 1 to 2 gpm on a standard garden hose. Inside, the dependency is the fluid and the hardware sitting in it. Racks are 42U and IT gear is submerged in ElectroSafe single-phase dielectric fluid, which GRC describes as non-evaporative, chemically inert and electrically non-conductive at 1,200 times the heat capacity of air. The fluid is not a GRC product but a validated third-party one: the ElectroSafe partner list is petroleum and lubricant producers including Shell, SK Enmove, ENEOS, HF Sinclair, Castrol ON, PETRONAS, Lubrizol and Bharat Petroleum, so fluid supply is a procurement line separate from the container. Coolant pumps and the control system are each 2N.

Pricing and availability

Published price range: No list price published. GRC has publicly stated that its systems typically run approximately USD 1 to USD 3 per watt of capacity depending on configuration complexity; applied to published ICEtank capacities this implies an order-of-magnitude range of roughly USD 200,000 to USD 600,000 for a 200 kW-class unit and roughly USD 400,000 to USD 1,200,000 for a 400 kW-class unit. This is a derived estimate, not an OEM price list, and excludes freight, site works, heat rejection, coolant fill, and IT hardware.. No published price series exists for this product. Directionally, containerized immersion systems have faced upward cost pressure from 2020 to 2023 on steel/ISO container, pump, heat-exchanger and controls input costs and freight, partially offset from 2024 onward by rising volume, standardization of immersion components (pumps, quick disconnects, CDUs) and increased competition in the liquid-cooling segment; analysts note that as products standardize, procurement cycles shorten and total installed cost falls. Dielectric fluid pricing is a separate variable tied to base-oil and regulatory (PFAS-related) dynamics. Net effect on USD per kW of cooling capacity is broadly flat to declining, while absolute per-unit prices have risen as configured densities increase.

Lifecycle and maintenance

GRC states its single-phase immersion systems have only two moving-part categories (coolant pumps and water pumps) and that ElectroSafe coolant does not require replacement over the life of a typical data center; GRC also claims increased hardware MTBF versus air-cooled operation, but no numerical MTBF figure for the ICEtank system is published. Warranty is a one-year limited warranty including 24/7 on-call support, 24/7 remote monitoring, three-business-day onsite response with parts and labor in the US, parts by mail internationally, and regular maintenance as required; warranty is void if units are operated outside defined installation parameters. Extended support options are available. Expected service items include pump maintenance, coolant filtration/fluid analysis, leak detection checks, and heat-rejection loop water treatment. Quoted lead time in GRC literature is as short as 10 weeks.

Common failure points

• Heat rejection loop (dry cooler, evaporative tower or hybrid cooler) — Fluid temperature rises directly with coil fouling or fan loss, because chillerfree operation at 95 deg F leaves no chiller behind the container to absorb the fault
• Coolant pump set (2N mirrored) — One pump side out of service leaves the container running non-redundant with no spare path, across two CDUs on an IT20 or four on an IT40
• ElectroSafe dielectric fluid inventory — Fluid condition drifts without a published change interval, filtration rating or fill volume on GRC's open ICEtank pages
• Capacity documentation against the serial number — The IT20/IT40 datasheet rates 50 kW per rack while the current ICEtank page states up to 60 kW per rack, so IT gear can be specified against a rating the delivered unit does not carry
• Container envelope, seals and pad — Door seals and floor loading fail to match the site once fluid and IT equipment are added to 25,000 lbs (IT20) or 42,000 lbs (IT40) of dry weight
• Fire detection and alerting path — A sealed, normally unattended container runs without notification when configurable email and the PagerDuty integration were never set up

Inspection checklist

Establish the build vintage first. The IT20/IT40 datasheet rates 200 kW and 400 kW at 50 kW per rack while GRC's current ICEtank page states up to 60 kW per rack, so get the per-rack and per-container rating in writing against the serial number. Count the coolant distribution units: two in an IT20, four in an IT40. Confirm the pump set and control system are each 2N and run each side alone. Identify the ElectroSafe fluid in the tanks by producer and product name, and obtain the fill volume and the most recent analysis. Inspect the dry cooler or tower, since there is no chiller behind it. Verify the service matches three phase 380 to 480 VAC at 50 to 60 Hz. Check the container envelope, door seals and pad loading against 25,000 lbs for an IT20 or 42,000 lbs for an IT40 dry. Confirm fire detection and the alert path are configured.

Procurement channels

GRC sells direct and through regional integrators; PRASA Infocom in India is one such channel and hosts a mirror of the IT20/IT40 datasheet. GRC's own technical specification sheets for ICEtank, ICEraQ SX, ICEraQ FLEX, ICEraQ Micro and ICEraQ Nano are each distributed through a request form on grcooling.com rather than as open PDFs as of September 2026. GRC's ICEtank overview states that its systems run one to three dollars a watt depending on configuration complexity; Vertiv, CoolIT and ZutaCore publish no equivalent whole-system figure for their units as of September 2026.

Regional notes

Electrical input is three phase 380 to 480 VAC at 50 to 60 Hz on the IT20/IT40 datasheet, which spans a 400 V 50 Hz European service and a 480 V 60 Hz North American one without a build change. The unit is a 20 ft or 40 ft ISO shipping container at 8 ft wide and 9 ft 6 in high, so movement follows intermodal road and port rules rather than data center rigging, and dry weight excluding IT gear is 25,000 lbs for the IT20 and 42,000 lbs for the IT40. GRC states deployments in more than 13 countries. Dielectric fluid is supplied by regional producers under the ElectroSafe partner program, several of them national oil companies, so the qualified fluid available locally is site-specific.