Energy performance analysis of multi-chiller cooling systems for data centers concerning progressive loading throughout the lifecycle under typical climates

Abstract The increasing demand for cooling energy in data centers has become a global concern. Existing studies lack a comprehensive analysis of the energy performance of widely used multi-chiller cooling systems in air-cooled data centers throughout their lifecycle, especially concerning progressive loading. To bridge this gap, this study conducts a thorough assessment of the energy performance of multi-chiller cooling systems throughout the entire lifecycle. Additionally, the impact of climate conditions on the energy efficiency of the cooling systems is analyzed, considering design variations for typical climates. Multi-chiller cooling system models are developed using the test data of cooling equipment and typical control algorithms. The energy performance of the cooling system is thoroughly analyzed under full-range cooling loads and climate conditions. Results show that free cooling time could differ up to 1442 hours at different part load ratios in the same location. Furthermore, the cooling system’s coefficient of performance (COP) varies significantly, by up to 6, at different part load ratios, corresponding to a difference in power usage effectiveness (PUE) up to 0.14. Notably, the average cooling system COP throughout the lifecycle loading is found to be only 11.7, 2.9 lower than the design system COP.