Impact of a novel emergency cooling system on data center environment under long-term power failure

Abstract

Nuclear power plant data centers (NPPDCs) are in charge of regulating nuclear reactors. For nuclear safety, the cooling system should provide a stable operating environment for the NPPDC. A novel emergency cooling system with ultralow-temperature heat exchangers could enhance interior radiant cooling. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) flows into the indoor finned tube heat exchangers (FTHEs) under the pressure of the storage tank. In this paper, the impacts of the FTHE layout and connection and the LN2 flow rate on server cooling and interior temperature distribution were explored through experiments. The results indicated that the position and quantity of the LN2 inflow section had a major impact on the cooling effect of the cabinet. Changing the LN2 flow rate can adjust the cooling. A massive flow of LN2 was suitable for rapid emergency cooling while degrading the temperature stratification. In parallel, the FHTEs provided the best cooling effect and temperature uniformity. The Parallel 1 scheme cooled the interior of the cabinet 20% faster than the Parallel 2 scheme, and it had 11.3% less temperature stratification near the cabinet (Line 2).