Advances in direct liquid cooling technology and waste heat recovery for data center: A state-of-the-art review

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production 2024-10, Vol.477, p.143872, Article 143872
• Main Authors: Wang, Ningbo, Guo, Yanhua, Huang, Congqi, Shao, Shuangquan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: carbon; cooling; Cooling system; Data center; Direct liquid cooling; energy conservation; energy efficiency; Immersion cooling; information storage; landscapes; liquids; Spray cooling; temperature; Waste heat recovery
• ISSN: 0959-6526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143872

The escalating demand for computational power and data storage has led to a substantial increase in the number and scale of data centers (DCs) worldwide. Due to characteristics of high heat flux and reliable operational security, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions to solve the problem of DC cooling and waste heat recovery. Direct liquid cooling technology is one of the most promising energy-saving cooling technologies due to its advantages of high cooling efficiency, low noise, and reduction of hot spots. Waste heat recovery is also one of the effective ways to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions due to higher coolant temperature. This study provides a comprehensive review of direct liquid cooling and waste heat recovery technologies for DCs that have been published in high level journals in recent years. Herein, the primary innovation and contribution of this review paper is its comprehensive coverage of advanced/emerging cooling technologies for DCs including immersion cooling and spray cooling, and its broad overview of global trends in performance, energy consumption, power density, and PUE of related systems. In addition, this review addresses the issue of heat recovery and reuse in DCs with an overview of common waste heat recovery technologies such as heating, district heating networks, cooling supply and organic Rankine cycle (ORC) are summarized and then compared and analyzed their application scenarios, advantages and disadvantages. Through the comprehensive review of cutting-edge technologies and methodologies for direct liquid cooling and waste heat recovery, this review aims to provide a thorough understanding of current landscape and future direction of sustainable and high-performance DC solutions. [Display omitted] •The systematic research and analysis of direct cooling and waste heat recovery are elaborated.•Simulation, and experimental studies of immersion cooling and spray cooling are summarized.•Comparison of energy saving potential and PUE of DC direct liquid cooling are presented.•Regard various applications to conduct a comprehensive review of waste heat recovery in DCs.•The existing challenges and future work opportunities are discussed.