Volume 15: Low Carbon Cities and Urban Energy Systems: Part IV

Optimal Thermal Match for Internal and External Cooling Water Cycles in Data Server Cooling System Wei He, Jifang Zhang, Chenchen Pei, Xinqiao Wang, Hailong Li, Baoyin Lv

Abstract

With the development of data centers for high heat flux, the energy consumption of cooling systems has gradually increased. Introducing an optimal thermal management method for water operation parameters is important for energy saving, but there is a lack of research on this topic. This study focuses on the optimal match for internal and external cooling water operation parameters based on the demand for low energy consumption using TRNSYS simulation software. The relationships among the primary cooling water flow rate, the secondary cooling water flow rate, the cabinet inlet water temperature, and the water supply temperatures of the chiller are explored based on a 4.8 kW data server water cooling system equipped with an air-cooled chiller and a fin-type heat sink, and assuming a safe chip temperature of 70 ℃ and an environmental temperature of 20 ℃. Finally, the optimal performance of the internal and external water cycles were obtained by minimizing the cooling power consumption. The fitting curve of the optimal parameters is provided to improve the design of a low-energy consumption system. In addition, a high chiller water supply temperature is recommended; when the water supply temperature increases from 6 ℃ to 16 ℃, the total power consumption can be reduced by 14%.

Keywords Data center, Power consumption, Water chiller, Thermal management