Energy Performance Study of a Data Center Combined Cooling System Integrated with Heat Storage and Waste Heat Recovery System

The energy efficiency of data centers has become an urgent problem as it is enjoying rapid development. This study proposes an integrated energy system involving a data center with different renewable energy sources and waste heat recovery, which can consider the partial and unsteady working load of data center. A dynamic and sophisticated system simulation model is established, which can provide both reliable and fast evaluations but also allow flexible extension of additional components. It is found that the free natural resource cooling system can cover about 28% of cooling demand. Compared to the reference condition, the proposed energy system achieves significant energy-saving benefits, with an energy-saving rate of 16.4%. The system COP increases from 3.88 to 4.64, and the PUE decreases from 1.36 to 1.30, resulting in a 23.45% reduction in electricity expenses. By integrating a waste heat recovery system, the heat pump can absorb approximately 3.57 million kWh of heat from the data center, providing approximately 4.587 million kWh of heating energy for users. The rooftop PV system generates approximately 370,000 kWh of electricity annually, covering approximately 8% of the total electricity consumption of the data center. This study can offer a new channel for the energy efficiency enhancement of data centers.

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