IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v139y2015icp384-397.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Thermo-economic analysis of steady state waste heat recovery in data centers using absorption refrigeration

Author

Listed:
  • Ebrahimi, Khosrow
  • Jones, Gerard F.
  • Fleischer, Amy S.

Abstract

This paper addresses the technical and economic issues associated with waste heat recovery in data centers through the use of absorption cooling machines. The theoretical possibility of utilizing the heat dissipated by a server, or a number of servers, to power an absorption system, which in turn produces cooling for other servers in the data center, is investigated. For this purpose, a steady-state thermodynamic model is developed to perform energy balance and exergy analyses for a novel configuration of an on-chip two-phase cooling system and an absorption refrigeration system. This combination is created by replacing the condenser in the on-chip cooling circuit with the generator of an absorption refrigeration cycle. The performance of the developed model in simulating both LiBr–water and water–ammonia absorption cooling systems is examined through verification of the model results against the reference data available in the literature. The verification indicates the superiority of LiBr–water absorption system for data center/server operating conditions. Therefore, a LiBr–water absorption refrigeration system is modeled in the novel combined heat recovery system. For these systems it is shown that the traditional definition for the coefficient of performance (COP) is not appropriate to evaluate the performance and, in its place, introduce a new figure of merit. Through a sensitivity analysis, the effects of server waste heat quality, server coolant type, solution peak concentration, solution heat exchanger effectiveness, evaporator temperature, and operating pressures on the performance of the novel system are investigated. Finally, using the thermodynamic model and cost information provided by the absorption refrigeration industry, an economic analysis is carried out to calculate the payback period when this technology is used for data center waste heat recovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Ebrahimi, Khosrow & Jones, Gerard F. & Fleischer, Amy S., 2015. "Thermo-economic analysis of steady state waste heat recovery in data centers using absorption refrigeration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 384-397.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:139:y:2015:i:c:p:384-397
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.10.067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261914011179
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.10.067?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ebrahimi, Khosrow & Jones, Gerard F. & Fleischer, Amy S., 2014. "A review of data center cooling technology, operating conditions and the corresponding low-grade waste heat recovery opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 622-638.
    2. Kim, Yoon Jo & Kim, Sarah & Joshi, Yogendra K. & Fedorov, Andrei G. & Kohl, Paul A., 2012. "Thermodynamic analysis of an absorption refrigeration system with ionic-liquid/refrigerant mixture as a working fluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 1005-1016.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lan, Yun Cheng & Li, Cheng & Wang, Sui Lin, 2019. "Parabolic antenna snow melting and removal using waste heat from the transmitter room," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 738-744.
    2. Bao, Yuchen & Zhou, Haojie & Li, Ji, 2024. "Physics-based machine learning optimization of thermoelectric assembly for maximizing waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    3. Wang, Meng & Infante Ferreira, Carlos A., 2017. "Absorption heat pump cycles with NH3 – ionic liquid working pairs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 819-830.
    4. Utlu, Zafer, 2015. "Investigation of the potential for heat recovery at low, medium, and high stages in the Turkish industrial sector (TIS): An application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 394-405.
    5. Asfand, Faisal & Bourouis, Mahmoud, 2015. "A review of membrane contactors applied in absorption refrigeration systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 173-191.
    6. Di Salvo, André L.A. & Agostinho, Feni & Almeida, Cecília M.V.B. & Giannetti, Biagio F., 2017. "Can cloud computing be labeled as “green”? Insights under an environmental accounting perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 514-526.
    7. Cheng Liu & Hang Yu, 2021. "Evaluation and Optimization of a Two-Phase Liquid-Immersion Cooling System for Data Centers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Janghorban Esfahani, Iman & Kang, Yong Tae & Yoo, ChangKyoo, 2014. "A high efficient combined multi-effect evaporation–absorption heat pump and vapor-compression refrigeration part 1: Energy and economic modeling and analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 312-326.
    9. Twaha, Ssennoga & Zhu, Jie & Yan, Yuying & Li, Bo, 2016. "A comprehensive review of thermoelectric technology: Materials, applications, modelling and performance improvement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 698-726.
    10. Ljungqvist, Hampus Markeby & Mattsson, Louise & Risberg, Mikael & Vesterlund, Mattias, 2021. "Data center heated greenhouses, a matter for enhanced food self-sufficiency in sub-arctic regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(PB).
    11. Hrvoje Dorotić & Kristijan Čuljak & Josip Miškić & Tomislav Pukšec & Neven Duić, 2022. "Technical and Economic Assessment of Supermarket and Power Substation Waste Heat Integration into Existing District Heating Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-29, February.
    12. Yin Bi & Yugang Wang & Xiaoli Ma & Xudong Zhao, 2017. "Investigation on the Energy Saving Potential of Using a Novel Dew Point Cooling System in Data Centres," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, October.
    13. Borkowski, Mateusz & Piłat, Adam Krzysztof, 2022. "Customized data center cooling system operating at significant outdoor temperature fluctuations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).
    14. Min, Haye & Choi, Hyung Won & Jeong, Jaehui & Jeong, Jinhee & Kim, Young & Kang, Yong Tae, 2023. "Daily sorption thermal battery cycle for building applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    15. Wang, Dabiao & Ma, Yuezheng & Tian, Ran & Duan, Jie & Hu, Busong & Shi, Lin, 2018. "Thermodynamic evaluation of an ORC system with a Low Pressure Saturated Steam heat source," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 375-385.
    16. Privat, Romain & Qian, Jun-Wei & Alonso, Dominique & Jaubert, Jean-Noël, 2013. "Quest for an efficient binary working mixture for an absorption-demixing heat transformer," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 594-609.
    17. Ding, Zhixiong & Wu, Wei, 2022. "Type II absorption thermal battery for temperature upgrading: Energy storage heat transformer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    18. Jerez Monsalves, Juan & Bergaentzlé, Claire & Keles, Dogan, 2023. "Impacts of flexible-cooling and waste-heat recovery from data centres on energy systems: A Danish case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    19. Du, Han & Zhou, Xinlei & Nord, Natasa & Carden, Yale & Ma, Zhenjun, 2023. "A new data mining strategy for performance evaluation of a shared energy recovery system integrated with data centres and district heating networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    20. Cristina Ramos Cáceres & Suzanna Törnroth & Mattias Vesterlund & Andreas Johansson & Marcus Sandberg, 2022. "Data-Center Farming: Exploring the Potential of Industrial Symbiosis in a Subarctic Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:139:y:2015:i:c:p:384-397. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.