At the 17th IRT Industrial Forum, the prestigious TARAS Award was once again presented, recognizing the most successful innovative collaboration between industry and the research and development sector. The award was granted to Danfoss Trata and the Laboratory for Fluid Power Technology at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, for an outstanding achievement and a remarkably rapid transition from concept to market success.

The partners set out to address the cooling and energy challenge facing the data centers of the future. According to available data, data centers worldwide consumed approximately 450 TWh of electricity in 2025, and this figure is expected to nearly double by 2030, reaching an astonishing 980 TWh. This growth brings significant challenges related to efficient heat removal.

To meet these challenges, Danfoss Trata developed CoolTrain, a solution that ensures a constant flow of cooling fluid, hydraulic balancing of the system, and pressure-independent flow control, while also enabling maintenance-free integration. A critical requirement for the reliable operation of the system is an exceptionally high level of cooling medium (glycol) purity.

Since the technical requirements and cleanliness control standards could not be achieved using equipment currently available on the market, the company partnered with the team from the Laboratory for Fluid Power Technology at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The faculty first conducted a comprehensive review of existing industrial cleaning systems and then collaborated with Danfoss Trata to develop an entirely new and innovative cleaning device. The university team delivered the project on a turnkey basis—from initial development and design to final validation and manufacturing.