System and method for distributing power and chilled water in an off-grid data center

Abstract

In an off-grid data center 2a including a gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50 that supplies power to IT equipment 10 housed in a data center room 11, a cooling device 20 for cooling the IT equipment, and an air conditioner 30 for air conditioning the data center room, the IT equipment 10 is made to process information using the power generated by the gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50 that generates power using hydrogen gas supplied from an evaporator 40 that vaporizes liquefied hydrogen, and a refrigerator 60 is operated to cool a second chilled water to a second temperature. The first chilled water cooled to a first temperature by the evaporator 40 is used by the air conditioner 30 to air condition the data center room. The second chilled water cooled to the second temperature is cooled in a heat exchanger 75 by surplus first chilled water not used by the air conditioner 30.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for supplying electric power and chilled water to an off-grid data center that supplies electric power to IT equipment such as servers housed in a data center room, and also supplies chilled water for cooling the IT equipment and for air conditioning the data center room. [Background technology]

[0002] Servers and other IT equipment consume large amounts of electricity and generate a lot of heat when in operation, so data centers that house many IT devices consume large amounts of electricity and need to cool the IT equipment to prevent it from malfunctioning or breaking down due to the heat it generates, and they also need to air-condition the data center rooms where the IT equipment is housed and where workers work to maintain a comfortable room temperature.The main sources of electricity used in data centers are the electricity used by servers and other IT equipment to process data, the electricity used to cool the heat generated by the IT equipment, and the electricity used to air-condition the data center rooms where the IT equipment is housed. Data centers use electricity continuously, so a stable supply of electricity is required day and night. Hyperscale data centers, which are currently under construction, will require a large-scale power supply. Many businesses that use data centers are looking to use carbon-free electricity such as renewable energy. As the use of generative AI expands and new data centers are being built, electricity usage is increasing rapidly, but it is difficult to meet the three requirements of stability, energy conservation, and carbon-free electricity with commercially available electricity. For this reason, there is a demand for data centers that are off-grid by installing power plants next to them and that can supply electricity self-sufficiently. In addition, the electricity used to cool IT equipment in data centers and to air-condition the data center rooms in which the IT equipment is housed is said to account for 20-30% of the total electricity used in data centers, so there is a demand for energy conservation. Patent Document 1 describes the installation of a cogeneration type air conditioning system equipped with a cogeneration unit 4 in a data center 1. The electricity generated by the steam power generation unit 6 and the hot water power generation unit 7 of the cogeneration unit 4 is supplied as a power source to the server equipment 27 and the like in the data center 1, and drives the fluid compressor of the refrigerator 91 to cause the refrigerator 91 to send out cold water for cooling the server equipment 27. The cold water cooled by the refrigerator 91 is supplied to a heat exchanger 141 provided in the oil storage tank 14, and exchanges heat with the cooling oil stored in the oil storage tank 14 to cool the cooling oil. A part of the cooled cooling oil flows down from the cooling oil supply unit 12 to the server equipment 27 in the server room space A1 to cool the server equipment 27. The other part of the cooled cooling oil is supplied from the second cooling oil supply section 162 to the air cooling section 16 of the air recovery section 15, and the air recovered in the air recovery section 15 after being heated by cooling the server equipment 27 in the server room space A1 is cooled in the air cooling section 16. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-153241 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The cogeneration type air conditioning system described in Patent Document 1 can achieve energy conservation in the data center 1 by using surplus steam and surplus hot water generated in steel mills, factories, etc. to generate electricity in the cogeneration system 4 and supplying it to the server equipment 27 in the data center 1 as operating power. Furthermore, by exchanging heat between the cold water generated by the refrigerator 9 driven by the electricity generated by the cogeneration system 4 and the cooling oil that has cooled the server equipment 27 in the server room space A1, the server equipment 27 can be cooled at low cost. However, the electricity generated by the cogeneration type air conditioning system described in Patent Document 1 does not meet the requirements for stability and decarbonization required for the electricity supplied to the data center 1, because the steam power generation equipment 6 and hot water power generation equipment 7 are operated using surplus steam and surplus hot water generated at steel mills, factories, etc. Furthermore, although Patent Document 1 describes supplying cold water from a refrigerator 9 to an electronic device cooling device 10 for cooling server devices 27, it does not describe anything about the relationship between the electronic device cooling device 10 and an air conditioning device that conditions the interior of a data center room that houses a server room 20 that houses multiple server devices 27 in a sealed state.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for stable, carbon-free and energy-efficient supply and distribution of electricity and chilled water in an off-grid data center that includes a power supply device that supplies power to IT equipment such as data processing servers, a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes power and generates heat, and an air conditioning device for conditioning the interior of the data center room in which the IT equipment is housed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention relates to a system for supplying and distributing electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center, the system including a power supply device for supplying electric power to IT equipment in a data center room in which the IT equipment is housed, a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat, and an air conditioning device for conditioning the interior of the data center room, the system including a vaporizer that performs heat exchange between liquefied hydrogen supplied from a liquefied hydrogen supply device and circulating first chilled water to vaporize the liquefied hydrogen into hydrogen gas, cools the first chilled water to a first temperature and sends it out, a gas turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas generated by combustion of the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer, and a steam turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a steam turbine with steam generated by heating condensed water in a waste heat recovery boiler with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine, condenses exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine into the condensed water in a condenser and sends it to the waste heat recovery boiler, and a chiller including a gas turbine combined cycle power plant that supplies electric power to the IT equipment housed in a center room, a chiller including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and an electric motor that is supplied with a portion of the electric power from the gas turbine combined cycle power plant to drive the compressor, and that cools a second chilled water circulated through the cooling device to a second temperature higher than the first temperature, a flow dividing device that divides the first chilled water cooled to the first temperature in the evaporator into air conditioning chilled water of a flow rate required by the air conditioning device and cooling chilled water of a remaining flow rate that is circulated through the air conditioning device and returned to the evaporator, and a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second chilled water supplied from the chiller and the cooling chilled water supplied from the flow dividing device, cools the second chilled water to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, sends it to the cooling device, and returns the cooling chilled water that has exchanged heat with the second chilled water to the evaporator.

[0007] The present invention also relates to a method for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center including a power supply device that supplies electric power to IT equipment in a data center room in which IT equipment is housed, a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat, and an air conditioning device for conditioning the interior of the data center room, the method including a gas turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas generated by burning the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer and a power supply device that supplies electric power to the IT equipment in a data center room in which the IT equipment is housed, a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat, and an air conditioning device for conditioning the interior of the data center room, the gas turbine generator including a vaporizer that vaporizes the liquefied hydrogen supplied from a liquefied hydrogen supply device by heat exchange between the liquefied hydrogen and circulating first chilled water, the first chilled water being cooled to a first temperature and sent out, and a steam turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a steam turbine with steam generated by heating condensed water in a waste heat recovery boiler with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine, and the exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine being condensed into the condensed water in a condenser and sent out to the waste heat recovery boiler. a gas turbine combined cycle power plant supplies power to the IT equipment accommodated in the data center room, a chiller including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and an electric motor that is supplied with a portion of the power from the gas turbine combined cycle power plant and drives the compressor cools the second chilled water circulated through the cooling device to a second temperature higher than the first temperature, the first chilled water cooled to the first temperature by the evaporator is circulated through the air conditioner by a diversion device and circulated back to the evaporator into air conditioning chilled water of a required flow rate and cooling chilled water of a remaining flow rate, and a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second chilled water supplied from the chiller and the cooling chilled water supplied from the diversion device cools the second chilled water to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, sends it to the cooling device, and circulates the cooling chilled water that has exchanged heat with the second chilled water back to the evaporator. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, in an off-grid data center, liquefied hydrogen can be vaporized in a vaporizer to produce hydrogen gas, which can then be used in a gas turbine combined cycle power plant to generate self-sufficient electricity that can be supplied to IT equipment in a stable, decarbonized manner. The first chilled water, which has been cooled to a first temperature by removing the heat of vaporization required when liquefied hydrogen vaporizes in the vaporizer, is then diverted by a diversion device into air conditioning chilled water required for the air conditioning system to maintain the specified temperature inside the data center room housing the IT equipment, and the remaining flow rate of cooling chilled water. The air conditioning chilled water is returned to the vaporizer after conditioning the data center room. The second chilled water, which has cooled the IT equipment in the cooling system and then circulated through the refrigerator, is cooled to a second temperature higher than the first temperature by the refrigerator. The second chilled water cooled to the second temperature exchanges heat with the remaining flow rate of cooling chilled water in the heat exchanger, and is cooled to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, and sent to the cooling system. The cooling chilled water is circulated from the heat exchanger to the vaporizer. This makes it possible to reduce energy consumption in air conditioning and cooling the data center rooms housing IT equipment by distributing the cold heat generated as the heat of vaporization when liquefied hydrogen is vaporized to produce hydrogen gas used to generate electricity for off-grid data centers to air conditioning and cooling equipment. Furthermore, of the cold energy generated when vaporizing liquefied hydrogen, the amount of cold energy needed to cool the data center room to a specified temperature is transferred to the air conditioning equipment via air conditioning chilled water, and the remaining cold energy is transferred from the cooling chilled water to a second chilled water cooled by a refrigerator and used in the cooling equipment.This makes it possible to effectively utilize the cold energy generated in the evaporator regardless of changes in weather conditions, etc., thereby further achieving energy savings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center according to a first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 3]FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center according to a third embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center according to a fourth embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the mass-energy balance of a system that supplies electricity and chilled water in an off-grid data center according to the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] 1. Configuration of the First Embodiment According to a first embodiment, a system 1a for supplying power and chilled water in an off-grid data center 2a supplies power to IT equipment 10 such as servers housed in a large number in a data center room 11, cools the IT equipment 10 that consumes power and generates heat for data processing, and conditions the data center room 11 in accordance with the outdoor temperature, the amount of solar radiation, the introduced outside air, the number of people present, the indoor lighting, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 1a includes a cooling device 20 for cooling the IT equipment 10, an air conditioner 30 for conditioning the data center room 11, and a cooling device 40 for cooling the data center room 11. The cooling device 40 exchanges heat between liquefied hydrogen and a first chilled water 41 to vaporize the liquefied hydrogen into hydrogen gas and then cools the data center room 11. The system includes an evaporator 40 that cools first chilled water 41 to a first temperature and sends it out, a gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50 that supplies power to IT equipment 10, a chiller 60 that cools second chilled water 21 circulated through a cooling device 20 to a second temperature higher than the first temperature, a flow dividing device 70 that divides the first chilled water 41 cooled by the evaporator 40 into air conditioning chilled water 43 and cooling chilled water 42, and a heat exchanger 75 that exchanges heat between the second chilled water 21 at the second temperature supplied from the chiller 60 and the cooling chilled water 42 supplied from the flow dividing device 70, and cools the second chilled water 21 to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature.

[0011] A data center room 11 provided in a data center building 12 houses a large number of IT devices 10 such as servers that consume power and generate heat to process data. A plurality of racks 13 are arranged in the data center room 11, and the racks 13 have a plurality of shelves arranged vertically on which the plurality of IT devices 10 are placed in parallel. The large number of IT devices 10 such as servers consume large amounts of power and generate heat to process data. A cooling device 20 cools the IT devices 10 to prevent malfunction due to a rise in temperature of the IT devices 10.

[0012] The cooling device 20 for cooling the IT equipment 10 takes in air from inside the data center room 11 and circulates it through the high-temperature side 23 of the cooling exchanger 22, and circulates second cold water 21 at a third temperature supplied from a heat exchanger 75 through the low-temperature side 24, and blows the cold air, which is the taken-in air cooled by the second cold water 21, from the outlet section 25 onto multiple IT equipment 10 placed on a rack 13, thereby cooling the IT equipment 10. The cooling device 20 is not limited to one that cools the IT equipment 10 by blowing cold air onto it, but may be a cold water cooling system that cools the IT equipment by having cold water exchange heat with the IT equipment. Also, the IT equipment 10 may be cooled by being immersed in cooling oil cooled by second cold water 21 at a third temperature while placed on the rack 13.

[0013] In the vaporizer 40, liquefied hydrogen supplied from a liquefied hydrogen supply device 47 flows through a low-temperature side 44, and the circulating first cold water 41 flows through a high-temperature side 45, thereby exchanging heat between the liquefied hydrogen and the first cold water 41, vaporizing the liquefied hydrogen into hydrogen gas and sending it to the gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50, and cooling the first cold water 41 to a first temperature and sending it to the diversion device 70.

[0014] The chiller 60 is a well-known type in which a refrigerant circulates through a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, and an electric motor 61 drives the compressor, and the electric motor 61 is supplied with power from the gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50. The high-temperature, high-pressure gas medium pressurized by the compressor is cooled by cooling water circulating between the condenser and the cooling tower to become a medium-temperature, low-pressure liquid medium, which is then vaporized into a low-temperature, constant-pressure gas in the evaporator. The second cold water 21 returned from the cooling device 20 to the chiller 60 supplies heat of vaporization to the medium in the evaporator, and is cooled to a second temperature higher than the first temperature.

[0015] In the heat exchanger 75, the second chilled water 21 at the second temperature supplied from the chiller 60 flows through a high-temperature side 76, and the cooling chilled water 42 supplied from the flow dividing device 70 flows through a low-temperature side 77. The second chilled water 21 at the second temperature is cooled by the cooling chilled water 42 to a third temperature that is higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature. The cooling chilled water 42 flowing out from the low-temperature side 77 is circulated to the evaporator 40.

[0016] The first chilled water 41 cooled to a first temperature by the evaporator 40 is divided by the flow dividing device 70 into cooling chilled water 42 and air conditioning chilled water 43. The flow dividing device 70 is equipped with a first variable throttle valve 71 that controls the flow resistance of the cooling chilled water 42 and a second variable throttle valve 72 that controls the flow resistance of the air conditioning chilled water 43. The flow dividing device 70 controls the flow resistances of the first and second variable throttle valves 71, 72, thereby dividing the first chilled water 41 at the first temperature into air conditioning chilled water 43 at a flow rate required by the air conditioner 30 and cooling chilled water 42 supplied to the heat exchanger 75 at the remaining flow rate. The flow rate of the air conditioning chilled water 43 required by the air conditioner 30 is the flow rate required for the air conditioner 30 to air condition the data center room 11 to a predetermined temperature.

[0017] The air conditioner 30, which conditions the data center room 11 to a predetermined temperature, takes in air from the data center room 11 and circulates it through the high temperature side 32 of the air conditioning heat exchanger 31, and causes air conditioning chilled water 43 supplied from a diverter 70 to flow through the low temperature side 33, cooling the air in the data center room 11 with the air conditioning chilled water 43 to condition the data center room 11 to a predetermined temperature. The air conditioning chilled water 43 flowing out from the low temperature side 33 is circulated to the evaporator 40. The air conditioning control device 34 calculates the required flow rate of the air conditioning chilled water 43 required to condition the data center room 11 to a predetermined temperature based on the temperature difference between the indoor temperature and the outside air temperature in the server center room 11, and controls the first and second variable throttle valves 71, 72 so that the required flow rate of the air conditioning chilled water 43 flows through the low temperature side 33 of the air conditioning heat exchanger 31. As a result, if the flow rate of the first chilled water 41 is 100, then, for example, the flow rate of the air conditioning chilled water 43 will be 50 to 0, and the flow rate of the cooling chilled water 42 will be 50 to 100, depending on weather conditions and the like.

[0018] The gas turbine combined cycle power plant (GTCC) 50 is a known one, and includes a gas turbine generator 53 that rotates a gas turbine 51 with combustion gas generated by the combustion of hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer 40 to drive a generator 52, and a steam turbine generator 57 that rotates a steam turbine 55 with steam generated by heating condensed water in a heat recovery boiler 54 with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine 51 to drive a generator 56. The exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine 55 is condensed into condensed water in a condenser and sent to the heat recovery boiler 54. The electricity generated by the gas turbine generator 53 and the steam turbine generator 57 is used for the IT equipment 10, the cooling device 20, the air conditioner 30, the refrigerator 60, the lighting in the data center room 11, and the like, which are housed in the data center room 11.

[0019] 2. Operation of the First Embodiment The liquefied hydrogen supplied from the liquefied hydrogen supply device 47 to the vaporizer 40 exchanges heat with the first cold water 41 and is vaporized into hydrogen gas, cooling the first cold water 41 to a first temperature, for example, 7° C. The hydrogen gas is sent to the gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50, where it is combusted to drive a gas turbine generator 53, and the combustion exhaust gas is used to generate steam to drive a steam turbine generator 57, generating electricity.

[0020] IT equipment 10 such as servers supplied with power from a gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50 generates heat while performing data processing and the like. The cooling device 20 cools air taken in from the data center room 11 with second chilled water 21 at a third temperature supplied from a heat exchanger 75, and blows the generated chilled air onto a plurality of IT equipment 10 to cool the IT equipment 10. The second chilled water 21, which has cooled the IT equipment 10 and been heated to, for example, 25°C, is circulated to a chiller 60. The second chilled water 21 is cooled by the chiller 60 to a second temperature, for example, 15.5°C+ / -.

[0021] In the heat exchanger 75, the second chilled water 21 at the second temperature supplied from the chiller 60 flows through a high-temperature side 76, and the cooling chilled water 42 supplied from the flow dividing device 70 flows through a low-temperature side 77. The second chilled water 21 at the second temperature is cooled by the cooling chilled water 42 to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, for example, 15° C. The cooling chilled water 42 flowing out from the low-temperature side 77 is circulated to the evaporator 40.

[0022] The air conditioner 30 cools the air in the data center room 11 with air conditioning chilled water 43 to condition the data center room 11 to a predetermined temperature. The flow rate of the air conditioning chilled water 43 supplied to the air conditioner 30 is controlled by the flow dividing device 70 to a flow rate necessary for the air conditioner 30 to condition the data center room 11 to the predetermined temperature, and the cooling chilled water 42 of the remaining flow rate cools the second chilled water of the second temperature to a third temperature in the heat exchanger 75, and cools the IT equipment 10 via the cooling device 20.

[0023] 3. Effects of the First Embodiment According to the first embodiment, in an off-grid data center 2a, hydrogen gas vaporized from liquefied hydrogen in a vaporizer 40 is combusted in a gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50 to generate electricity, and the generated electricity can be stably and decarbonized to supply the IT equipment 10 with self-sufficient electricity. Based on the temperature difference between the outside air temperature and the temperature inside the data center room 11, the first cold water to which cold heat is transferred in the vaporizer 40 is divided by the diversion device 70 into air conditioning cold water 43 with a flow rate required for the air conditioner 30 and cooling cold water 42 with a remaining flow rate, and the air conditioning cold water 43 is used to maintain the data center room 11 at a predetermined temperature, while the cooling cold water 43 with a remaining flow rate is used to cool the IT equipment 10. Therefore, the air conditioning inside the data center room 11 and the cooling of the IT equipment 10 can be performed efficiently and energy-savingly regardless of changes in the outside air temperature. In this way, all the electricity used in the off-grid data center 2a is supplied by hydrogen gas power generation, the heat of vaporization of liquefied hydrogen is used preferentially for the air conditioner 30, and the surplus can be used for the cooling device 20. When the outside air temperature is low and the heat of vaporization in the air conditioner 30 is not used much, the cooling device 20 uses more, making it possible to reduce the electricity in the refrigeration device 60 and, ultimately, the use of liquefied hydrogen.

[0024] 4. Configuration of the Second Embodiment A system 1b for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center in the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that, whereas in the first embodiment, a gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50 is driven by the combustion of hydrogen gas, a gas turbine combined cycle power plant 85 is driven by the combustion of methane gas produced by a hydrogenation reaction between hydrogen gas and recovered carbon dioxide. Therefore, only the differences will be described, and the same reference numbers will be used for the same components as in the first embodiment, and their descriptions will be omitted.

[0025] In the off-grid data center 2b, the vaporizer 40 sends out hydrogen gas to a known methanation device 80. The methanation device 80 includes a reaction tube 81 configured to hydrogenate the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer 40 and the recovered carbon dioxide gas supplied from a carbon dioxide gas supply device 83 into carbon-neutral methane gas at a predetermined pressure and temperature using a hydrogenation reaction catalyst and send it out, and a cooling unit 82 that transfers reaction heat generated by the hydrogenation reaction to the circulating condensed water, maintains the inside of the reaction tube 81 at a predetermined temperature at which the hydrogenation catalyst is active, and sends out the condensed water as high-temperature water.

[0026] The gas turbine combined cycle power plant 85 is a known one, and includes a gas turbine generator 88 that rotates a gas turbine 86 with combustion gas generated by the mixed combustion of carbon-neutral methane gas supplied from the reaction tube 81 of the methanation device 80 and hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer 40 to drive a generator 87, and a steam turbine generator 57 that rotates a steam turbine 55 with steam generated by heating high-temperature water supplied from the cooling section 82 of the methanation device 80 in the exhaust heat recovery boiler 74 with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine 86 to drive the generator 56. The exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine 55 is condensed into condensed water in a condenser and sent to the cooling section 82 of the methanation device 80. The electricity generated by the gas turbine generator 88 and the steam turbine generator 57 is transmitted to the IT equipment 10, the chiller 61 of the chiller 60, and the like.

[0027] 5. Operation and Effects of the Second Embodiment In the second embodiment, the gas turbine 86 can be efficiently driven by the combustion gas of methane gas, which has a larger mass than hydrogen gas, and the methane gas can be stably burned at a high temperature by the combustion of hydrogen gas. Furthermore, the second embodiment has the same effects as the first embodiment.

[0028] In the second embodiment, hydrogen gas is supplied from the vaporizer 40 to the gas turbine 86. However, the supply of hydrogen gas may be eliminated, and the gas turbine 86 may be rotated by the combustion gas produced by the exclusive combustion of carbon-neutral methane gas supplied from the reaction tube 81 of the methanation device 80 to drive the generator 87.

[0029] 6. Third embodiment A system 1c for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center according to the third embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the chiller 60 in the first embodiment is a triple-effect absorption chiller 80. Therefore, only the differences will be described, and the same reference numbers will be used to designate the same components as in the first embodiment, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0030] The triple-effect absorption chiller 62 is publicly known, as described in, for example, JP 2014-196861 A, and includes an absorber 63, a low-temperature regenerator 64, an intermediate-temperature regenerator 65, a high-temperature regenerator 66, a condenser 67, and an evaporator 68, as shown in FIG. 3. The high-temperature regenerator 66 heats the thin absorbing liquid, which contains a large amount of refrigerant and is sent from the absorber 63 by the electric pump 69, with the combustion heat of hydrogen gas diverted from the vaporizer 40 and supplied, to evaporate the refrigerant into a thick absorbing liquid, which is then sent to the absorber 63 by the electric pump 69. The intermediate-temperature regenerator 65 heats the thin absorbing liquid sent from the absorber 63 by the refrigerant vapor generated in the high-temperature regenerator 66, evaporates the refrigerant, and sends it to the absorber 63. The low-temperature regenerator 64 heats the thin absorbing liquid sent from the absorber 63 by the refrigerant vapor generated in the high-temperature regenerator 66 and the intermediate-temperature regenerator 65, evaporates the refrigerant, and sends it to the absorber 63. The refrigerant vapor generated in the high, medium and low temperature regenerators 66, 65 and 64 is sent from the low temperature regenerator 64 to the condenser 67 where it is liquefied, and then sent to the low pressure evaporator 68 where it is evaporated.

[0031] The second cold water 21, which has been circulated through the cooling device 20 to cool the IT equipment 10 and has been heated to, for example, 25°C, is sent from the condenser 67 to the low-pressure evaporator 68, where it is cooled by the heat of vaporization of the refrigerant that evaporates, and is cooled to a second temperature of 15.5°C + / -, which is higher than the first temperature of 7°C. The vaporized refrigerant is sent to the absorber 63, where it is cooled, and is absorbed into the concentrated absorption liquid sent from the high-, medium-, and low-temperature regenerators 46, 45, and 44. Each electric pump 69 is supplied with electricity from the gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50. The condenser 67 and absorber 63 are provided with a cooling section through which cooling water circulates.

[0032] The third embodiment can reduce the consumption of electricity generated by the gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50, and can utilize hydrogen gas to efficiently cool the second chilled water for cooling the IT equipment 10. Furthermore, the third embodiment has the same effects as the first embodiment.

[0033] 7. Fourth embodiment A system 1d for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center in the fourth embodiment is the same as the second embodiment except that the chiller 60 in the second embodiment is a waste heat input triple effect absorption chiller 90. Therefore, only the differences will be described, and the same reference numbers will be used for the same components as in the second embodiment, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0034] A waste heat input type triple effect absorption chiller 90 is also known as described in JP 2014-196861 A, and as shown in Fig. 4, a waste heat recovery regenerator 92 is added to a triple effect absorption chiller 62 as a waste heat recovery device 91. The waste heat recovery regenerator 92 heats the thin absorption liquid sent from the absorber 63 by the electric pump 69 with high temperature water to which the hydrogenation reaction heat has been transferred in the cooling section 82 of the methanation device 80, and evaporates the refrigerant. Although not shown, the high temperature water transfers the hydrogenation reaction heat to the absorption liquid and then returns to the cooling section 82. The absorption liquid from which the refrigerant has been evaporated is sent to the low temperature regenerator 64, and the evaporated refrigerant vapor is sent to the condenser 67 and liquefied. In the triple-effect absorption chiller 62 shown in FIG. 3 , a heat exchanger may be provided as an exhaust heat recovery device 91, which heats the absorption liquid sent from the absorber 63 to the low-temperature regenerator 64 in the cooling section 82 of the methanation device 80 with high-temperature water to which the hydrogenation reaction heat has been transferred.

[0035] The fourth embodiment reduces the consumption of electricity generated by the gas turbine combined cycle power plant 50, uses hydrogen gas in the exhaust heat input triple effect absorption chiller 90, and utilizes the exhaust heat of the methanation device 80 to efficiently cool the second chilled water for cooling the IT equipment 10. Furthermore, the fourth embodiment has the same effects as the first embodiment.

[0036] Next, an example of the mass-energy balance of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5 will be described. A. Assumptions 1. The data center is an off-grid type that uses liquefied hydrogen as its energy source. 2. The cooling system for IT equipment such as servers uses a chilled water cooling system. 3.The power consumption of IT equipment is 40,000kW x 0.9 = 36,000kW, of which 4,000kW is other power requirements. 4. The building cooling load (structure, outside air, number of occupants, lighting, etc.) will be met by the heat of vaporization of liquefied hydrogen. 5. The unit of power consumption for the chiller is 0.9kW / RT. 6. Physical properties of hydrogen: LHV; 2,600 kcal / Nm 3 , density; 0.089kg / Nm 3 , specific heat: 3.4 kcal / kg·℃, latent heat of vaporization: 0 B. Off-grid Data Center Design 1.IT equipment cooling load: 36,000kW×860kcal / kW÷3,024kcal / h / RT=10,238RT IT equipment power consumption = IT equipment cooling load 2.Required power for refrigerator: (10,238-409)RT×0.9KW / RT=8,846KW 3.GTCC capacity: 40,000kW+8,846kW=48,848kW 4. Hydrogen supply: 48,848kW x 860kcal / kW ÷ 2,600kcalNm 3 -H 2 =32,314Nm 3 -H 2 / h 5. Heat of vaporization of liquefied hydrogen: 32,314 Nm 3 / h×0.089kg / Nm 3 ×3.4kcal / kg℃×253℃÷3,024Kcal / RT=818RT 6. All electricity used in off-grid data center 1a is generated by hydrogen gas power generation, and the heat of vaporization of liquefied hydrogen is used preferentially for air conditioning equipment 30, with the surplus being used for cooling equipment 20. The power supply to refrigerator 60, and therefore the amount of liquid hydrogen supplied to vaporizer 40, is adjusted in accordance with an increase or decrease in the allocation of heat of vaporization to cooling equipment 20.

[0037] The method for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center according to the present invention can be configured by operating the system 1a or 1b for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center described in the configuration of the first or second embodiment as described in the operation of the first or second embodiment, and provides the same effects as the system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center described in this specification. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1a to 1d: system for supplying electricity and chilled water in an off-grid data center, 2a to 2d: off-grid data center, 10: IT equipment, 11: data center room, 20: cooling device, 21: second chilled water, 30: air conditioning device, 40: evaporator, 41: first chilled water, 42: cooling chilled water, 43: air conditioning chilled water, 47: liquefied hydrogen supply device, 50, 85: gas turbine combined cycle power plant, 53, 88: gas turbine generator, 57: steam turbine generator, 60: chiller, 61: electric motor, 62: triple effect absorption chiller, 69: electric pump, 70: flow splitter, 75: heat exchanger, 80: methanation device, 90: exhaust heat input type triple effect absorption chiller, 91: exhaust heat recovery device, 92: exhaust heat recovery regenerator

Claims

1. A system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center, the system comprising: a power supply device for supplying electric power to IT equipment in a data center room in which the IT equipment is housed; a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat; and an air conditioning device for conditioning the data center room, a vaporizer that performs heat exchange between liquefied hydrogen supplied from a liquefied hydrogen supply device and a circulating first cold water to vaporize the liquefied hydrogen into hydrogen gas, and cools the first cold water to a first temperature and delivers it; a gas turbine combined cycle power generation plant comprising: a gas turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas generated by combustion of the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer, and a steam turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a steam turbine with steam generated by heating condensed water in a heat recovery boiler with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine, and condenses the exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine into the condensed water in a condenser and sends it to the heat recovery boiler, and supplies power to the IT equipment accommodated in the data center room; a chiller including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and an electric motor that receives a portion of the electric power from the gas turbine combined cycle power plant to drive the compressor, and that cools the second chilled water circulated through the cooling device to a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature; a flow dividing device that divides the first cold water cooled to the first temperature by the evaporator into air conditioning cold water of a flow rate required by the air conditioner and cooled to the evaporator by circulating the air conditioner and cooling cold water of a remaining flow rate; a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second cold water supplied from the refrigerator and the cooling cold water supplied from the flow dividing device, cools the second cold water to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, sends the second cold water to the cooling device, and circulates the cooling cold water that has exchanged heat with the second cold water back to the evaporator; A system for supplying power and chilled water to an off-grid data center comprising:

2. A system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center, the system comprising: a power supply device for supplying electric power to IT equipment in a data center room in which the IT equipment is housed; a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat; and an air conditioning device for conditioning the data center room, a vaporizer that performs heat exchange between liquefied hydrogen supplied from a liquefied hydrogen supply device and a circulating first cold water to vaporize the liquefied hydrogen into hydrogen gas, and cools the first cold water to a first temperature and delivers it; a methanation device including a reaction tube configured to hydrogenate the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer and the recovered carbon dioxide gas supplied from a carbon dioxide gas supply device to carbon-neutral methane gas at a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature using a hydrogenation reaction catalyst and deliver the gas; and a cooling unit that transfers reaction heat generated by the hydrogenation reaction to circulating condensed water to maintain the inside of the reaction tube at the predetermined temperature at which the hydrogenation catalyst is active, and delivers the condensed water as high-temperature water; a gas turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas generated by burning the carbon-neutral methane gas supplied from the reaction tube, or by burning the carbon-neutral methane gas supplied from the reaction tube and the hydrogen gas diverted and supplied from the vaporizer, and a steam turbine generator that rotates a steam turbine with steam generated by heating the high-temperature water supplied from the cooling section in a heat recovery boiler with the exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine to generate steam, and condenses the exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine into the condensed water in a condenser and sends it to the cooling section, and supplies power to the IT equipment accommodated in the data center room; a chiller including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and an electric motor that receives a portion of the electric power from the gas turbine combined cycle power plant to drive the compressor, and that cools the second chilled water circulated from the cooling device to a second temperature higher than the first temperature; a flow dividing device that divides the first cold water cooled to the first temperature by the evaporator into air conditioning cold water of a flow rate required by the air conditioner and cooled to the evaporator by circulating the air conditioner and cooling cold water of a remaining flow rate; a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second cold water supplied from the refrigerator and the cooling cold water supplied from the flow dividing device, cools the second cold water to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, sends the second cold water to the cooling device, and circulates the cooling cold water that has exchanged heat with the second cold water back to the evaporator; A system for supplying power and chilled water to an off-grid data center comprising:

3. A system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center, the system comprising: a power supply device for supplying electric power to IT equipment in a data center room in which the IT equipment is housed; a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat; and an air conditioning device for conditioning the data center room, a vaporizer that performs heat exchange between liquefied hydrogen supplied from a liquefied hydrogen supply device and a circulating first cold water to vaporize the liquefied hydrogen into hydrogen gas, and cools the first cold water to a first temperature and delivers it; a gas turbine combined cycle power generation plant comprising: a gas turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas generated by combustion of the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer, and a steam turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a steam turbine with steam generated by heating condensed water in a heat recovery boiler with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine, and condenses the exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine into the condensed water in a condenser and sends it to the heat recovery boiler, and supplies power to the IT equipment accommodated in the data center room; a triple-effect absorption chiller including a high-temperature regenerator, a medium-temperature regenerator and a low-temperature regenerator for heating an absorption liquid to evaporate a refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the evaporated refrigerant in a condenser, an evaporator for vaporizing the condensed refrigerant, and an absorber for absorbing the vaporized refrigerant into the absorption liquid, the high-temperature regenerator being heated by the combustion heat of the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer, and cooling a second cold water circulated through the cooling device to a second temperature higher than the first temperature in the evaporator; a flow dividing device that divides the first cold water cooled to the first temperature by the evaporator into air conditioning cold water of a flow rate required by the air conditioner and cooled to the evaporator by circulating the air conditioner and cooling cold water of a remaining flow rate; a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second cold water supplied from the triple effect absorption chiller and the cooling cold water supplied from the flow dividing device, cools the second cold water to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, sends the second cold water to the cooling device, and circulates the cooling cold water that has been heat exchanged with the second cold water to the evaporator; A system for supplying power and chilled water to an off-grid data center comprising:

4. A system for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center, the system comprising: a power supply device for supplying electric power to IT equipment in a data center room in which the IT equipment is housed; a cooling device for cooling the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat; and an air conditioning device for conditioning the data center room, a vaporizer that performs heat exchange between liquefied hydrogen supplied from a liquefied hydrogen supply device and a circulating first cold water to vaporize the liquefied hydrogen into hydrogen gas, and cools the first cold water to a first temperature and delivers it; a methanation device including a reaction tube configured to hydrogenate the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer and the recovered carbon dioxide gas supplied from a carbon dioxide gas supply device to carbon-neutral methane gas at a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature using a hydrogenation reaction catalyst and deliver the gas; and a cooling unit that transfers reaction heat generated by the hydrogenation reaction to circulating condensed water to maintain the inside of the reaction tube at the predetermined temperature at which the hydrogenation catalyst is active, and delivers the condensed water as high-temperature water; a gas turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas generated by burning the carbon-neutral methane gas supplied from the reaction tube, or by burning the carbon-neutral methane gas supplied from the reaction tube and the hydrogen gas diverted and supplied from the vaporizer, and a steam turbine generator that rotates a steam turbine with steam generated by heating the high-temperature water supplied from the cooling section in a heat recovery boiler with the exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine to drive a generator, and condenses the exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine into the condensed water in a condenser, and supplies electric power to the IT equipment accommodated in the data center room; a waste heat input triple effect absorption chiller comprising a high temperature regenerator, a medium temperature regenerator, a low temperature regenerator and a waste heat regenerator which heat an absorption liquid to evaporate a refrigerant, a condenser which condenses the evaporated refrigerant in a condenser, an evaporator which vaporizes the condensed refrigerant and an absorber which absorbs the vaporized refrigerant into the absorption liquid, wherein the high temperature regenerator is heated by the combustion heat of the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer, the waste heat regenerator receives the reaction heat from the high temperature water circulated through the cooling section of the methanation device, and the second cold water circulated through the cooling device is cooled to a second temperature higher than the first temperature by the evaporator; a flow dividing device that divides the first cold water cooled to the first temperature by the evaporator into air conditioning cold water of a flow rate required by the air conditioner and cooled to the evaporator by circulating the air conditioner and cooling cold water of a remaining flow rate; a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second cold water supplied from the waste heat input triple effect absorption chiller and the cooling cold water supplied from the flow dividing device, cools the second cold water to a third temperature higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, sends the second cold water to the cooling device, and circulates the cooling cold water that has exchanged heat with the second cold water back to the evaporator; A system for supplying power and chilled water to an off-grid data center comprising:

5. A method for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center including a power supply device that supplies electric power to IT equipment in a data center room housing the IT equipment, a cooling device that cools the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat, and an air conditioning device that conditions the air in the data center room, comprising: a vaporizer that vaporizes the liquefied hydrogen supplied from the liquefied hydrogen supply device into hydrogen gas by heat exchange between the liquefied hydrogen supply device and a circulating first cold water, and cools the first cold water to a first temperature and sends it out; supplying electric power to the IT equipment housed in the data center room from a gas turbine combined cycle power plant including a gas turbine generator which drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas produced by combustion of the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer, and a steam turbine generator which drives a generator by rotating a steam turbine with steam produced by heating condensed water in a heat recovery boiler with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine, and which condenses the exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine into the condensed water in a condenser and sends the condensed water to the heat recovery boiler; cooling the second cold water circulated through the cooling device to a second temperature higher than the first temperature by a chiller including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and an electric motor that receives a portion of the electric power from the gas turbine combined cycle power plant and drives the compressor; The first cold water cooled to the first temperature by the evaporator is divided by a dividing device into air conditioning cold water of a flow rate required by the air conditioner and cooling cold water of a remaining flow rate, which is circulated through the air conditioner and returned to the evaporator; a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second cold water supplied from the refrigerator and the cooling cold water supplied from the flow dividing device, and cools the second cold water to a third temperature that is higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, and sends the third temperature to the cooling device, and circulates the cooling cold water that has exchanged heat with the second cold water back to the evaporator. A method for distributing power and chilled water in an off-grid data center.

6. A method for supplying electric power and chilled water in an off-grid data center including a power supply device that supplies electric power to IT equipment in a data center room housing the IT equipment, a cooling device that cools the IT equipment that consumes electric power and generates heat, and an air conditioning device that conditions the air in the data center room, comprising: a vaporizer that vaporizes the liquefied hydrogen supplied from the liquefied hydrogen supply device into hydrogen gas by heat exchange between the liquefied hydrogen supply device and a circulating first cold water, and cools the first cold water to a first temperature and sends it out; the carbon-neutral methane gas is delivered from a methanation device comprising a reaction tube configured to hydrogenate the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer and the recovered carbon dioxide gas supplied from a carbon dioxide gas supply device into carbon-neutral methane gas at a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature using a hydrogenation reaction catalyst, and a cooling section that transfers reaction heat generated in the hydrogenation reaction to circulating cooling water to maintain the inside of the reaction tube at the predetermined temperature at which the hydrogenation catalyst is active; supplying electric power to the IT equipment accommodated in the data center room from a gas turbine combined cycle power generation plant including a gas turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a gas turbine with combustion gas produced by combustion of the carbon-neutral methane gas supplied from the methanation device, and a steam turbine generator that drives a generator by rotating a steam turbine with steam generated by heating condensed water in a heat recovery boiler with exhaust gas discharged from the gas turbine, and condensing the exhaust steam discharged from the steam turbine into the condensed water in a condenser and sending it to the heat recovery boiler; In a waste heat input triple effect absorption chiller including a high temperature regenerator, a medium temperature regenerator, a low temperature regenerator and a waste heat regenerator for heating an absorption liquid to evaporate a refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the evaporated refrigerant in a condenser, an evaporator for vaporizing the condensed refrigerant and an absorber for absorbing the vaporized refrigerant into the absorption liquid, the high temperature regenerator is heated by the combustion heat of the hydrogen gas supplied from the vaporizer, the reaction heat is transferred to the waste heat regenerator from the high temperature water circulated through the cooling section of the methanation device, and a second cold water circulated through the cooling device is cooled to a second temperature higher than the first temperature by the evaporator, The first cold water cooled to the first temperature by the evaporator is divided by a dividing device into air conditioning cold water of a flow rate required by the air conditioner and cooling cold water of a remaining flow rate, which is circulated through the air conditioner and returned to the evaporator; a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the second cold water supplied from the waste heat input triple effect absorption chiller and the cooling cold water supplied from the flow dividing device, the second cold water is cooled to a third temperature that is higher than the first temperature and lower than the second temperature, and the third temperature is sent to the cooling device, and the cooling cold water that has exchanged heat with the second cold water is circulated to the evaporator. A method for distributing power and chilled water in an off-grid data center.