Record Details
Energy Analysis of Novel Data Center Cooling Technology : Evaporative Cooling System Operation and Microchannel Heat Exchanger Manufacturing
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Energy Analysis of Novel Data Center Cooling Technology : Evaporative Cooling System Operation and Microchannel Heat Exchanger Manufacturing |
| Names |
Lajevardi, Babak
(creator) Haapala, Karl R. (advisor) Paul, Brian K. (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 2015-05-28 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 2015 |
| Abstract | Worldwide, many organizations are pursuing higher energy efficiency by reducing power consumption of their processes, systems, and supporting infrastructure. The rapid growth of the information technology (IT) industry and the miniaturization of semiconductors have resulted in substantial increases in energy consumption and power density of IT equipment, and, subsequently, heat generated by data center equipment contained within data center racks. Energy efficiency and thermal management effectiveness are two major issues facing data centers due to increases in heat dissipated from data center racks. Higher data center energy efficiency will lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and enable organizations to better manage increasing computing and network demands. To improve data center energy efficiency, efforts have been focused on novel center-level and rack-level cooling technologies to remove the heat generated by high-density servers. The research presented herein investigates the operational energy performance of a data center evaporative cooling system and the manufacturing energy requirements for a server-scale microchannel heat exchanger (MCHX). Energy monitoring and analysis was conducted to evaluate an evaporative cooling system installed at a data center located in Gresham, OR. A holistic metric and measurement approach is developed to evaluate the impact of changes for data center infrastructure and information technology (IT) equipment. It was found that the developed metric is more responsive to changes in cooling power and environmental conditions than commonly used metrics. Further, the evaporative cooling technology was shown to be more efficient and effective than conventional cooling technology. Liquid cooling has been demonstrated as an effective strategy to provide a reliable environment for servers and to reduce the load on conventional cooling systems. While microchannel process technology (MPT)-based devices offer a space-efficient approach to liquid cooling of high-density servers, MPT device manufacturing, in particular device patterning and bonding, has been shown to be energy intensive. A weld depth model for bonding of MPT devices is developed and used to understand the capabilities and limitations of the laser welding process. Energy analysis is conducted for the production of a MCHX device to liquid cool the warm exiting air from server racks. Analysis of the patterning, photochemical machining (PCM), and bonding, diffusion bonding and laser welding, processes revealed a considerable reduction in cumulative energy demand (CED) and global warming potential (GWP) when laser welding is used in place of diffusion bonding. This environmental impact reduction was due to reduced process time, reduced energy use, and improved process yield. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Heat exchangers -- Design and construction |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/56162 |
