Mesoporous silica gels for waste heat recovery and adsorption cooling of Big Data Centers

A.V. Cherpakova, M.V. Solovyeva, A.D. Grekova, Yu.I. Aristov and L.G. Gordeeva

Energy, 2025, vol. 316, issue C

Abstract: With the rise of intensive computing, the power consumption of big data centers (BDCs) has increased significantly, with 40 % being spent on cooling. This requires the development of energy-efficient technologies for cooling BDC components. Adsorption Cooling (AC) is an environmentally friendly technology that can utilize BDC waste heat to cool their components. However, the ultra-low temperature level (45–60°С) of this heat requires the search for new advanced adsorbents specialized for these harsh conditions, which is the aim of this study. Firstly, the demands for adsorbent sorption properties are formulated; the water adsorption equilibrium is compared for commercially available mesoporous silicas (pore sizes ranging from 2 to 8 nm) to select the most promising adsorbent for this cycle. At a heat rejection temperature of 30 °C, the mesoporous silica with 4.6 nm pores produces cold at T = 25 °C, sufficient for cooling BDC, with water uptake of 0.44–0.47 gH2O/gads, and can be regenerated at 50–60 °C. The main performance indexes of the cycle are assessed: the Coefficient of Performance of 0.86 and Specific Cooling Power of 0.7–3.1 kW/kg. This provides a solid foundation for the designing a compact energy-saving adsorption unit for waste heat recovery and BDCs cooling using this commercially available and cost-effective adsorbent.

Keywords: Adsorption cooling; Big data center; Mesoporous silica; Water vapor; Adsorption equilibrium and dynamics; Ultra-low temperature heat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:316:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225000696

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.134427

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