Ground-Source Heat Pump System for Data Center Waste Heat Reuse
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Solution Overview
Problem
Data centers generate significant waste heat that requires efficient cooling, often through energy-intensive methods like dry or wet coolers, which also heat the ambient environment, and conventional ground-source heat pump systems struggle with efficient thermal management due to mismatched power capacities and thermal loads.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic downhole fluid circuit connects data centers, borehole heat exchangers, and ground-source heat pumps, allowing for multiple operating modes to efficiently transfer and balance heat between data centers, borehole heat exchangers, and facilities, leveraging data center waste heat for facility heating and reducing ground heat extraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cooling methods (dry or wet coolers) are used to reject data center waste heat, then cooling capacity is achieved, but energy expenditure increases and ambient environment heating occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines data center cooling with facility heating into a single integrated ground-source thermal system. The waste heat from data centers is transferred through a borefield heat exchanger to provide heating for nearby facilities, eliminating the need for separate cooling and heating systems and reducing overall energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the harmful waste heat generated by data centers into a beneficial resource for heating facilities. Instead of dissipating heat into the ambient environment where it causes heating, the heat is captured and redirected to meet the heating demands of facilities, turning a waste product into a useful energy source.
2Use of energy by moving object
If ground-source heat pump systems are used for data center cooling, then cooling efficiency improves, but system complexity increases due to mismatched power capacities and thermal loads
Solution Approach 1:
The ground-source thermal system is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: cooling data centers, heating facilities, and maintaining borefield thermal balance. By making the system universal and adaptable to different thermal demands, the complexity of managing mismatched capacities is reduced, as the same infrastructure serves multiple purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic operation modes that can adapt to varying thermal loads and environmental conditions. The control system can adjust heat transfer rates and operational parameters in real-time, allowing the system to efficiently handle mismatches between data center cooling demands and facility heating requirements without requiring overly complex fixed configurations.
3Use of energy by moving object
If data center waste heat is used for facility heating, then energy efficiency improves, but borefield thermal balance challenges arise
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates thermal balance monitoring and control mechanisms that provide feedback on borefield temperature conditions. Based on this feedback, the system adjusts heat transfer operations to prevent excessive heat extraction or injection, maintaining the thermal balance of the borefield while still achieving high energy efficiency by utilizing waste heat for facility heating.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system achieves high energy efficiency by utilizing data center waste heat for facility heating, minimizing ground heat extraction, and optimizing thermal management, thereby reducing energy consumption and environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
A borehole heat exchanger (BHE) may be implemented in a borefield to provide heating and/or cooling based on an exchange of heat or calories with the ground
Implementation Method 2
The GSHP may include a downhole heat exchanger on a downhole fluid side of the GSHP, and a facility heat exchanger on a facility fluid side of the GSHP for transferring heat between the downhole fluid circuit and a facility fluid circuit
Implementation Method 3
The data center, the BHE, and the GSHP may be connected via a downhole fluid circuit for facilitating a flow of a downhole fluid therebetween
Data Source
AI summary
A thermal system includes a borehole heat exchanger, a facility, a data center including at least one heat generating electronic component, and a ground-source heat pump. A dynamic downhole fluid circuit connects the data center, the borehole heat exchanger, and the ground-source heat pump with a flow of a downhole fluid and is configured to connect the data center, the borehole heat exchanger, and the ground-source heat pump in a plurality of different configurations to reject heat from the data center. The thermal system further includes a facility fluid circuit for connecting the facility and the ground-source heat pump with a facility fluid, wherein the ground-source heat pump thermally connects the dynamic downhole fluid circuit and the facility fluid circuit.