Abstract
To improve the reliability and the energy efficiency of datacenters, as well as to reduce infrastructure costs and environmental impacts, we demonstrated and evaluated the use of a 10 kW Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) stack and system for powering the servers in a data center. In this study, we designed, tested and demonstrated a PEMFC system as a Distributed Generation (DG) prime mover that has high reliability and efficiency for both steady state and dynamic operations. The 10kW PEMFC stack and system was designed to power a server rack and eliminate the power distribution system in the datacenter. The steady state electrical properties such as efficiency and polarization curves were evaluated. The ramp rate and dynamic response of the PEMFC system to server and system dynamics was also characterized and can be used to determine energy storage requirements and develop optimal control strategies to enable the dynamic load following capability.
Highlights
Fuel cell technology is an attractive electrical power generation technology receiving a great deal of recent attention
To explore the feasibility and benefits of direct power generation in the server racks and the electrical properties of fuel cells, we demonstrated the use of a 10kW Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) stack and system as the distributed power source to power a server rack and eliminate the power distribution system in the data center
Steady-State Performance The IV polarization curve of the PEMFC system tested in this study is presented in Figure 2 with error bars showing the variation in the data
Summary
Fuel cell technology is an attractive electrical power generation technology receiving a great deal of recent attention. Hagstotz [7] described the use of a molten carbonate fuel cell for data centers and telecommunication installations supplying cooling and electricity Few of these published studies pertain to utilizing a midsize PEMFC system within the server rack that directly generates power, as is accomplished in this effort. The UPS system converts the fuel cell power to conditioned power for the connected server/load This configuration was selected for initial investigation of the battery and the fuel cell dynamic response characteristics, but it does not represent any preferred or optimal design of the type of hybrid fuel cell battery system envisioned . The type of servers used in this study was 750W HP Proliant SE326M1 server with two quadcore CPUs and 98GB of memory, total 9 servers were used in this study
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
