Coupled Calculations of Data Center Cooling and Power Distribution Systems

Abstract

Physics-based modeling aids in designing efficient data center power and cooling systems. These systems have traditionally been modeled independently under the assumption that the inherent coupling of effects between the systems has negligible impact. This study tests the assumption through uncertainty quantification of models for a typical 300 kW data center supplied through either an alternating current (AC)-based or direct current (DC)-based power distribution system. A novel calculation scheme is introduced that couples the calculations of these two systems to estimate the resultant impact on predicted power usage effectiveness (PUE), computer room air conditioning (CRAC) return temperature, total system power requirement, and system power loss values. A two-sample z-test for comparing means is used to test for statistical significance with 95% confidence. The power distribution component efficiencies are calibrated to available published and experimental data. The predictions for a typical data center with an AC-based system suggest that the coupling of system calculations results in statistically significant differences for the cooling system PUE, the overall PUE, the CRAC return air temperature, and total electrical losses. However, none of the tested metrics are statistically significant for a DC-based system. The predictions also suggest that a DC-based system provides statistically significant lower overall PUE and electrical losses compared to the AC-based system, but only when coupled calculations are used. These results indicate that the coupled calculations impact predicted general energy efficiency metrics and enable statistically significant conclusions when comparing different data center cooling and power distribution strategies.