Efficient Use of Waste Heat from Data Centers

• Published in: Thermal engineering 2023-10, Vol.70 (10), p.769-776
• Main Authors: Yakovlev, I. V., Avdokunin, N. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Computer centers; Cost control; Data centers; Discharge; Energy costs; Energy efficiency; Energy sources; Engineering; Engineering Thermodynamics; Estimates; Fuel consumption; Heat and Mass Transfer; Heat exchangers; Heat pumps; Mathematical analysis; Operating temperature; The Institute of Energy Efficiency and Hydrogen Technologies of Nru Mpei Is 70 Years Old; Thermal energy; Utilization; Ventilation; Waste heat recovery
• ISSN: 0040-6015; 1555-6301
• DOI: 10.1134/S0040601523100117

Data centers, being one of the main consumers of energy, deserve attention as objects in which there is a significant loss of energy in the form of heat, discharged from its equipment and discharged into the environment. Currently in Russia, the potential for energy saving through the efficient use of waste heat of data centers is estimated at 2 × 10 6 MW h/year and it can reach 6.3 × 10 6 MW h/year by 2030. With regard to the waste heat of the data center, questions arise: how large are these losses and how to use them, if we consider waste heat as a secondary energy resource, and how energy efficient are the utilization and application of this heat? The paper discusses the possibilities of estimating the amount of waste heat of the data center, which can be directed to its own needs and external applications. Estimates are made for data centers that use ventilation air for cooling equipment, taking into account the climatic conditions of the location of the data center, the range of optimal operating temperatures of the cooled equipment, and the characteristics of the utilization equipment, which includes a heat exchanger and a heat pump that increases the potential of the heat used. The factors affecting the quantitative estimates of the utilized and used heat of the data center are analyzed. The calculated ventilation model of the data center premises is based on the balance equations of energy and mass preservation recorded for the serviced room and individual elements of the utilization plant. The energy efficiency of utilization and application of waste heat is represented as a share of the amount of heat used relative to the basic value of the savings of the conventional fuel at the heat source taking into account the costs of electrical energy for the operation of the heat pump. The dependence of specific fuel economy at the source of thermal energy on climatic conditions, the ratio of specific fuel costs for the production of thermal and electrical energy , the degree of approximation of the thermodynamic vapor-compression cycle of the heat pump to the ideal cycle, heat efficiency of heat exchanger-recovery, and temperature of intermediate heat carrier are analyzed.