HotFlAd

The overall objective of this project is to demonstrate an innovative almost climate neutral cooling concept based on the waste heat utilization of IT equipment in buildings, combining holistic water-cooled server with adsorption cooling technology. The combination of waste heat and adsorption cooling opens up the possibility to use the dissipated heat from the server to cool other active, air-cooled IT equipment within the data center, for example storage systems, network components or the uninterrupted power supply. Also, a high temperature level of the waste heat enables the direct use for conventional heating.

Problem:
The server produce a large amount of waste heat, which is presently removed from the building under high energy expenditure. A utilization of the waste heat is a major issue in data center concepts today and in the future. Water-cooled systems are capable of increasing the overall temperature level of waste heat, enabling new options for the heat reuse. In common solutions the temperature levels still are not high enough to enable the use of adsorption cooling, but only a direct use of the heat.

Solution:
In HotFlAd a innovative holistic water cooling technology, which is capable of removing heat from all motherboard components is used to supply the driving heat. Thus, high temperature levels (> 55°C) are achieved for the purpose of heating. Within the project, this technology is optimized to achieve higher temperature levels (>> 55°C) in order to improve the cooling relation (usable cooling energy/driving heat) of the connected adsorption cooling system.

The project objective:
The project aims to demonstrate a new cooling system with an increase in energy efficiency of at least 300% compared to conventional data centers with compression refrigeration systems. The first proof of concept phase will be conducted at the Research and Test Data Center of the Hermann-Rietschel-Institut, which is comparable to a small Edge Data Center. After the demonstration of a functional and reliable system integration, a second system will be installed at the Noris Networks AG's Data Center for field testing. Both systems will further be monitored, evaluated and optimized for maximum efficiency. The results will be transferred and evaluated for two different applications: Non-residential buildings with a server room and Mini Data Centers as Edge Data Center solutions.