Performance optimization of server water cooling system based on minimum energy consumption analysis

To improve the thermal management of a data center, fin-type water-cooled heat sinks were applied to cool the chips in a server cabinet, and a water-cooled system based on the cooling tower of a data center with a thermal power of 4.8 kW was applied. TRNSYS was used to conduct an effect analysis of the operating condition parameters of the cooling water on the power consumption of the system. Finally, the operating conditions of the cooling water were optimized by minimizing the energy consumption of the water-cooled system. In addition, the factors of different safety chip temperatures and partial thermal loads were considered in optimizing the working conditions and analyzing cooling energy consumption. The results show that the optimal cooling water operating parameters significantly differ corresponding to different safety chip temperatures and thermal loads. Finally, the fitting correlation equations of the optimal flow rate of the primary and secondary cooling water under different safe chip temperatures and partial thermal loads are provided to guide the cooling system design. Considering an ambient temperature of 15 degrees C and a safety chip temperature of 70 degrees C as a case study, the optimal primary and secondary cooling water flow rates of 3 and 3.4 L/min, respectively, were obtained, with a mini-mum power usage effectiveness of 1.146.

Automated summary

By using a water-cooled system and TRNSYS to optimize working conditions and analyze cooling energy consumption, the study aimed to guide cooling system design based on the results showing optimal cooling water parameters vary significantly depending on safety chip temperatures and thermal loads.