Honeywell Aerospace (NASDAQ: HONA) said that Equinix, a global digital infrastructure company, has tested and installed its Thermal Response Module (TRM) at the Equinix Co-Innovation Facility in Ashburn, Virginia, the company said in Phoenix, Arizona, on 2 November 2026. Honeywell Aerospace is applying thermal management technology developed for aerospace and defence platforms to data centre markets, saying heat loads in the two sectors closely mirror one another.

As AI data centres move to higher-density infrastructure, even a brief interruption or fluctuation in cooling can affect graphics processing unit (GPU) performance and put high-value hardware at risk. The TRM acts as a thermal buffer, helping maintain stable coolant temperatures during power disturbances, rapid changes in compute demand, or fluctuations elsewhere in the cooling system. According to the research company Omdia, some form of liquid cooling is currently deployed in fewer than half of data centres, with the market expected to sustain annual growth of 20 per cent over the next five years.

HOW THE MODULE WORKS

The TRM is a turnkey, drop-in solution that integrates directly into existing cooling loops between the coolant distribution unit and servers without requiring redesign, and is agnostic to the coolant distribution unit’s vendor or architecture. It uses proprietary phase-change materials to store and release thermal energy when needed, delivering what Honeywell says is 7.6 times more cooling power than chilled water. The module stabilises the cooling loop within seconds and can be built out to support several minutes of thermal buffering, which Honeywell says helps operators avoid temperature excursions, reduce service level agreement risk, and expand thermal safety margins.

“We are pleased to have collaborated with Honeywell Aerospace on the development and testing of the Thermal Response Module,” said Pawel Wlodarczak, design innovation director, Global Design, Equinix. “Testing at our Ashburn Co-Innovation Facility demonstrated the technology’s capability to manage rapid GPU cooling load fluctuations while requiring a smaller footprint in comparison to buffer tanks. As AI deployments continue to scale, innovations such as this will help address critical cooling and infrastructure challenges.”

“AI workloads are pushing data center thermal systems harder than they were designed to run,” said Rich DeGraff, president and CEO of Control Systems for Honeywell Aerospace. “We have taken phase-change material technology developed to protect mission-critical aerospace and defense systems and applied it to a similar challenge in AI infrastructure. Our work with Equinix shows how proven aerospace technology can help data center operators protect critical hardware, sustain performance and reduce the risk of disruption.”