Performance Analysis of a Coupled System based on Organic Rankine Cycle and Double Effect Absorption Refrigeration for Waste Heat Recovery in Data Center

  • LI Peng ,
  • XU Jiaqi ,
  • WANG Binbin ,
  • LIU Jianyang ,
  • ZHAO Wensheng ,
  • HAN Zhonghe
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  • 1. School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Baoding 071003, China
    2. Hebei Key Laboratory of Low Carbon and High Efficiency Power Generation Technology, North China Electric Power University, Baoding 071003, China

Online published: 2025-01-09

Supported by

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52106010), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (3232037), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2024MS150).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024

Abstract

During data center operation, it generates a significant volume of low-grade waste heat. To recover waste heat, a coupled system including solar collector, double effect absorption refrigeration and organic Rankine cycle is proposed. The system performance is analyzed in detail. For the organic Rankine cycle, five organic working fluids (R245fa, R245ca, R123, R11, and R113) are selected. R245fa, R113 and R245ca obtain the maximum net power output, thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency, respectively. In the double effect absorption refrigeration system, the evaporation temperature, condensation temperature, and generation pressure affect the COP and exergy efficiency. When the generator pressure is unchanged, the COP increases with increasing evaporation temperature and decreasing condensation temperature. When the COP reaches 1.3, the COP slightly decreases as the evaporation temperature or condensation temperature changes. Similarly, the exergy efficiency of refrigeration systems exhibits the same trend as the COP, and the exergy efficiency maximum value appears at approximately 0.32. A new performance indicator, rPUE, was defined to evaluate the data center power utilization efficiency. The flow distribution ratio and heat source temperature were optimized with multi-objective optimization. When the mass flow distribution rate is 0.6 and the heat source temperature is 441.5 K, rPUE and the total unit production costs of the system obtain the optimal solution.

Cite this article

LI Peng , XU Jiaqi , WANG Binbin , LIU Jianyang , ZHAO Wensheng , HAN Zhonghe . Performance Analysis of a Coupled System based on Organic Rankine Cycle and Double Effect Absorption Refrigeration for Waste Heat Recovery in Data Center[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2025 , 34(1) : 188 -205 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-024-2043-8

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