ZDATA Group and Volcano Engine R&D Innovation won the first prize of the 2023 Data Center Technology Achievement.

With the development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and large models, the demand for AI computing power has shown explosive growth, and chip performance iterates rapidly, posing new challenges to energy saving and heat dissipation in data centers. Traditional air-cooled air conditioning technology can no longer meet the cooling requirements of high-power cabinets. The "Data Center Cold Plate Liquid Cooling and Heat Recovery Application Technology" uses cold plate liquid cooling technology to cool high-power servers by producing medium-temperature chilled water through dry coolers and then distributing it through piping, CDUs, and manifold devices. At the same time, it integrates heat recovery technology to recover the waste heat in the data center, converting it into heating hot water and transferring the data center waste heat to buildings or equipment in need of heating through piping networks and new heating terminals, thereby changing the current situation of directly emitting data center waste heat into the atmosphere through air conditioning systems and further turning waste heat into valuable resources. This technology, combined with the current situation of data centers and customer needs, has been applied in the first-phase data center of China United Green Cloud Valley Industrial Base, with an annual average PUE as low as 1.15, providing customers with safe and reliable green computing power while achieving better economic and social benefits.

01 Cold Plate Liquid Cooling Technology

On the liquid cooling side, chilled water is produced through dry coolers, and servers are cooled using piping routes, CDUs, and manifold devices on the primary and secondary sides; the cold source on the air cooling side uses indirect evaporative cooling chillers, which can produce water about 3°C lower than the outdoor wet bulb temperature. Thin plate air conditioning units are used at the air conditioning end, and the air walls and cabinets are installed in parallel to form closed hot aisles. Both liquid cooling and air cooling sides use medium and high-temperature chilled water, combined with meteorological parameters in Datong, which can achieve natural cooling throughout the year.

02 Data Center Heat Recovery Technology

The data center heat recovery combines water-source heat pump technology with heat recovery evaporative cooling fluorine pump air conditioning technology. The water-source heat pump uses the return water of the air conditioning system as a high-temperature water source, greatly improving the efficiency of the heat pump; the heat recovery evaporative cooling fluorine pump air conditioning technology can directly recover heat from the closed hot aisle, breaking through the conventional mode of heat recovery technology can only perform large-scale heat recovery from the water system; this technology can achieve higher heat recovery rates from both the data center water system and the air system. At the same time, the heat recovery evaporative cooling fluorine pump air conditioning unit can effectively reduce the condenser inlet temperature of the air conditioning unit in summer through evaporative cooling technology, achieving a lower CLF value than indirect evaporative cooling air conditioning units.

03 Containerized Diesel Generator Composite Heating and Insulation Technology

On the basis of retaining the electric heating of the engine cylinder liner cooling liquid, a plate heat exchanger is set up to exchange heat between the recovered hot water and the engine cylinder liner cooling liquid, circulating and heating the cylinder liner cooling liquid to meet the heating needs of the diesel engine; the hot water heating system and the electric heating system are in parallel mode, with priority given to hot water heating and electric heating as emergency backup heat sources, realizing the utilization of waste heat instead of high-grade electrical energy.

ZDATA Group will continue to accelerate its exploration on the path of "zero carbon + computing power," continuously promote self-research and innovation of liquid cooling technology and other related technologies, and lead the green and efficient development of the data center industry into a new ecology.