Integration of cryogenic exergy from liquid hydrogen into data center operation using an organic Rankine cycle

This study investigates the integration of cryogenic exergy of liquid hydrogen into data center power saving and cooling using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). In the proposed system, the cryogenic exergy is first utilized for supplementary power generation and then for supplying low-temperature cooling, resulting in improved overall energy efficiency. Parametric analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of hydrogen supply conditions on overall system performance. As the inlet temperature of liquid hydrogen decreased to 20 K, both the net power output and cooling capacity increased, reducing the power usage effectiveness (PUE) to 1.30. Increasing the mass flow rate of liquid hydrogen further improved the total energy efficiency to 69.2% and decreased the PUE to 1.14. Working fluid optimization using particle swarm optimization (PSO) demonstrated that R170 and R1270 achieved the best performance with a total energy efficiency of approximately 70% and a PUE of 1.1. Under the optimized conditions, 1.7 MW of cryogenic exergy can be recovered by integrating ORC and cooling loops, improving data center PUE by up to 36% and recovering approximately 10% of available exergy. These results suggest a promising pathway for reducing the electrical burden and advancing the sustainable development of both digital and hydrogen infrastructures. T-s and exergy flow diagram of integrated system using R170 as working fluidT-s and exergy flow diagram of integrated system using R1270 as working fluid