Waste Heat Recovery in Data Centers Using Sorption Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrienne B. Little ◽  
Srinivas Garimella
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Data Center ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
Data Centers ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Energy

Of the total electricity consumption by the United States in 2006, more than 1% was used on data centers alone; a value that continues to rise rapidly. Of the total amount of electricity a data center consumes, about 30% is used to cool server equipment. The present study conceptualizes and analyzes a novel paradigm consisting of integrated power, cooling, and waste heat recovery and upgrade systems that considerably lower the energy footprint of data centers. Thus, on-site power generation equipment is used to supply primary electricity needs of the data center. The microturbine-derived waste heat is recovered to run an absorption chiller that supplies the entire cooling load of the data center, essentially providing the requisite cooling without any additional expenditure of primary energy. Furthermore, the remaining waste heat rejected by the data center is boosted to a higher temperature with a heat transformer, with the upgraded thermal stream serving as an additional output of the data center with negligible additional electrical power input. Such upgraded heat can be used for district heating applications in neighboring residential or commercial buildings, or as process heat for commercial end uses such as laundries, hospitals, and restaurants, depending on the location of the data center. With such a system, the primary energy usage of the data center as a whole can be reduced by up to 23% while still addressing the high-flux cooling loads, in addition to providing a new income stream through the sales of upgraded thermal energy. Given the large and fast-escalating energy consumption patterns of data centers, this novel, integrated approach to electricity and cooling supply, and waste heat recovery and upgrade will substantially reduce primary energy consumption for this important end use worldwide.

A New Energy Frugal Paradigm for Data Centers

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrienne B. Little ◽  
Srinivas Garimella
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Data Center ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
Data Centers ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Energy

Of the total electricity consumption by the United States in 2006, more than 1% was used on data centers alone; a value that continues to rise rapidly. Of the total amount of electricity a data center consumes, at least 30% is used to cool server equipment. The present study conceptualizes and analyzes a novel paradigm consisting of integrated power, cooling, and waste heat recovery and upgrade systems that considerably lowers the energy footprint of data centers. Thus, on-site power generation equipment is used to supply primary electricity needs of the data center. The microturbine-derived waste heat is recovered to run an absorption chiller that supplies the entire cooling load of the data center, essentially providing the requisite cooling without any additional expenditure of primary energy. Furthermore, the waste heat rejected by the data center itself is boosted to a higher temperature with a heat transformer, with the upgraded thermal stream serving as an additional output of the data center with no additional electrical power input. Such upgraded heat can be used for district heating applications in neighboring residential buildings, or as process heat for commercial end uses such as laundries, hospitals and restaurants. With such a system, the primary energy usage of the data center as a whole can be reduced by about 23 percent while still addressing the high-flux cooling loads, in addition to providing a new income stream through the sales of upgraded thermal energy. Given the large and fast-escalating energy consumption patterns of data centers, this novel, integrated approach to electricity and cooling supply, and waste heat recovery and upgrade will substantially reduce primary energy consumption for this important end use worldwide.

Study of a Lab-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle for the Ultra-Low-Temperature Waste Heat Recovery Associated With Data Centers

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Araya ◽  
Aaron P. Wemhoff ◽  
Gerard F. Jones ◽  
Amy S. Fleischer
Keyword(s):  
Data Center ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
Data Centers ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Fluid Temperature

Abstract The ongoing growth in data center rack power density leads to an increased capability for waste heat recovery. Recent studies revealed the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) as a viable means for data center waste heat recovery since the ORC uses waste heat to generate on-site, low-cost electricity, which can produce economic benefits by reducing the overall data center power consumption. This paper describes the first experimental and theoretical study of a lab-scale ORC designed for ultralow grade (40–85 °C) waste heat conditions typical of a data center server rack, and it outlines the implementation of a similar ORC system for a data center. The experimental results show thermal efficiencies ranging from 1.9% at 43 °C to 4.6% at 81 °C. The largest contributors to ORC exergy destruction are the evaporator and condenser due to large fluid temperature differences in the heat exchangers. The average isentropic efficiency of the expander is 70%. A second-law analysis estimates a reduction of 4–8% in data center power requirements when ORC power is fed back into the servers at a waste heat temperature of 90 °C. The data from the lab-scale experiment, when complemented by the thermodynamic model, provide the necessary first step toward advancing this type of waste heat recovery for data centers (DCs).

Energy Consumption Analysis of Ship Energy System

2014 ◽  
Vol 962-965 ◽  
pp. 1836-1839
Author(s):  
Yong Ren ◽  
Zhen Ying Mu ◽  
Hong Tao Zheng ◽  
Shi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Recovery Rate ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Loss Ratio ◽  
Energy Consumption Analysis ◽  
Performance Indexes ◽  
Analysis Models

Energy consumption analysis models of ship energy system were established. The performance indexes, such as energy loss ratio, waste heat recovery rate and waste heat recovery perfect degree were defined. A 70000 - ton crude oil carrier was taken as an example for energy consumption analysis. The results show that the waste heat recovery rate of exhaust smoke was 15.69%, and the waste heat recovery perfect degree was 52.76%.

Solar Thermal Driven Cooling System for a Data Center in Albuquerque New Mexico

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Fumo ◽  
V. Bortone ◽  
J. C. Zambrano
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Data Center ◽  
Data Centers ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Continuous Operation ◽  
Solar Thermal ◽  
Primary Energy Consumption ◽  
Solar Collectors ◽  
Absorption Chiller ◽  
Solar Cooling

Data centers are facilities that primarily contain electronic equipment used for data processing, data storage, and communications networking. Regardless of their use and configuration, most data centers are more energy intensive than other buildings. The continuous operation of Information Technology equipment and power delivery systems generates a significant amount of heat that must be removed from the data center for the electronic equipment to operate properly. Since data centers spend up to half their energy on cooling, cooling systems becomes a key factor for energy consumption reduction strategies and alternatives in data centers. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of an absorption chiller driven by solar thermal energy as cooling plant alternative for data centers. Source primary energy consumption is used to compare the performance of different solar cooling plants with a standard cooling plant. The solar cooling plants correspond to different combinations of solar collector arrays and thermal storage tank, with a boiler as source of energy to ensure continuous operation of the absorption chiller. The standard cooling plant uses an electric chiller. Results suggest that the solar cooling plant with flat-plate solar collectors is a better option over the solar cooling plant with evacuated-tube solar collectors. However, although solar cooling plants can decrease the primary energy consumption when compared with the standard cooling plant, the net present value of the cost to install and operate the solar cooling plants are higher than the one for the standard cooling plant.

Reduction of Primary Energy Consumption Through Distributed Thermal Storage in Buildings Connected With a District Heating Network

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgia Baccino ◽  
Sara Cosentino ◽  
Elisa Guelpa ◽  
Adriano Sciacovelli ◽  
Vittorio Verda
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Thermal Load ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Distributed Storage ◽  
Fluid Dynamic ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Thermal Storage ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Primary Energy Consumption

One of the possible options for increasing the primary energy efficiency in district heating networks (DHNs) consists in flattening the thermal load diagram of the plants. This can be obtained through thermal storage. Storage generally allows one to increase the percentage of heat produced through CHP plants, waste heat or renewable systems. In this work, a numerical approach to analyze possible effects of distributed storage on the primary energy consumption is presented. This is based on the availability of detailed information about the thermal substations that connect the users to the DHN and a thermo-fluid dynamic model of the network. First, the analysis of a user of the district heating network is proposed in order to show the operating conditions of the heat exchanger in the thermal substation. Then the model of the network is presented and an application is proposed. This application allows us to discuss how the thermal request of a user modifies along the network because of the heat capacity of the network itself and mixing with the mass flow rates at different temperatures. Therefore, the thermal load that the plants should fulfill is different than the simple summation of the thermal request of the users. This tool allows one to link the thermal thermal request of the users to the thermal load of the plant and thus to the global primary energy consumption. It can be then applied to the evaluation of possible variation of thermal request profile of the users.

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