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Energy, economic, and environmental analysis of integration of thermal energy storage into district heating systems using waste heat from data centres

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  • Li, Haoran
  • Hou, Juan
  • Hong, Tianzhen
  • Ding, Yuemin
  • Nord, Natasa

Abstract

Data centres produce waste heat, which can be utilized in district heating systems. However, the mismatch between data centres’ heat supply and district heating systems’ heat demands limits its utilization. Further, high peak loads increase the operation cost of district heating systems. This study aimed to solve these problems by introducing thermal energy storages. A water tank and a borehole thermal energy storage system were selected as the short-term and long-term thermal energy storage, respectively. Energy, economic, and environmental indicators were introduced to evaluate different solutions. The case study was a campus district heating system in Norway. Results showed that the water tank could shave the peak load by 31% and save the annual energy cost by 5%. The payback period was lower than 15 years when the storage efficiency remained higher than 80%. However, it had no obvious benefits in terms of mismatch relieving and CO2 emissions reduction. In contrast, the borehole thermal energy storage increased the waste heat utilization rate to 96% and reduced the annual CO2 emissions by 8%. However, the payback period was more than 17 years. These results provide guidelines for the retrofit of district heating systems, where data centres’ waste heat is available.

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  • Li, Haoran & Hou, Juan & Hong, Tianzhen & Ding, Yuemin & Nord, Natasa, 2021. "Energy, economic, and environmental analysis of integration of thermal energy storage into district heating systems using waste heat from data centres," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:219:y:2021:i:c:s036054422032689x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.119582
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    7. Sorknæs, Peter & Nielsen, Steffen & Lund, Henrik & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Moreno, Diana & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck, 2022. "The benefits of 4th generation district heating and energy efficient datacentres," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    8. Knudsen, Brage Rugstad & Rohde, Daniel & Kauko, Hanne, 2021. "Thermal energy storage sizing for industrial waste-heat utilization in district heating: A model predictive control approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    9. Yuan, Xiaolei & Liang, Yumin & Hu, Xinyi & Xu, Yizhe & Chen, Yongbao & Kosonen, Risto, 2023. "Waste heat recoveries in data centers: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
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