Project

MODERATOR – Immersion Cooling and Advanced Materials for Heat Recovery from Data Centers

The project aims to design, validate and build an integrated prototype demonstrator that utilizes an immersion cooling system in combination with new, highly efficient materials and systems for long-term thermal energy storage.

Contact person

Galina Simonsen

Senior Research Scientist

5. September 2024

Additionally, various exploitation pathways for the recovered heat—such as space heating, hot water production, and electricity generation—will be demonstrated on-site. A visual representation of this overarching objective is provided in the figure below, which outlines the three key innovations contributed by the consortium

an immersion cooling system utilizing dielectric coolants
an advanced phase-change material (PCM) for thermal storage
a highly efficient multilayer insulation system, integrated with a Rankine cycle-based electricity conversion system.

The concept for project MODERATOR. Illustration: Loïc Duffo / SINTEF.

The synergy of these elements enables effective heat recovery from data centers and ensures its secure storage over extended periods.

Data centers are major consumers of global energy, using 220-230 TWh in 2021, about 0.9-1.3 % of global electricity demand, excluding cryptocurrency mining which used 100-140 TWh in 2021. The most common air-cooling method is not the most efficient one, resulting in significant waste heat release. Even a small improvement in data center energy efficiency could notably impact global energy consumption, especially given their increasing share in energy usage. MODERATOR project will efficiently address main obstacles hindering the reuse and further exploitation of waste heat from data centers by showcasing an integrated prototype, incorporating an immersion cooling system alongside advanced, long-term heat storage materials and systems.

SINTEF will develop and coordinate development of models for process design and optimization of the immersion cooling system combined with novel and highly efficient long-term heat storage solutions.