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A thermal integration between a solid oxide fuel cell and a lithium bromide absorption chiller is proposed for power and air conditioning in data centers. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) can be effectively implemented as primary energy producers at data centers due to their high efficiency, low emissions, and fuel flexibility. This study focuses on a small-scale 15 kW SOFC system which provides direct current power to meet the demand of a single server rack. SOFC systems produce high quality heat, operating at temperatures in excess of 500°C. The waste heat can be utilized by absorption chilling technology to provide supplemental cooling for the servers. This study investigates the operation of an absorption chiller in a configuration amenable to use in a data center. The novel configuration uses small scale absorption chilling based on distributed waste heat from each individual SOFC system. A single-effect absorption chiller is integrated with a single SOFC system to provide cooling at the individual rack level. The objective for this configuration is to assess the achievable cooling on such a scale and the overall system efficiency. Mathematical models are used to simulate the three components required for concept evaluation: solid oxide fuel cell, server racks, and absorption chiller and evaluate their effectiveness in this application. At full power demand conditions of 15 kW the SOFC electrical efficiency is found to be 0.64 with 5.1 kW of cooling produced by the absorption chiller leading to overall electric plus cooling efficiency of 0.89.
Citation: 2020 Winter Conference, Orlando, FL Conference Papers
Product Details
- Units of Measure:
- Dual
- File Size:
- 1 file , 930 KB
- Product Code(s):
- D-OR-20-C024
- Note:
- This product is unavailable in Belarus, Russia
