Climatic Applicability of Indirect Evaporative Cooling Technology for Data Centers in China

Abstract

Indirect evaporative cooling is widely utilized in data centers for its energy-saving benefits. Nonetheless, Few compare it to free cooling's climatic applicability. This article presents a case study of Xi'an on indirect evaporative cooling in data centers. Statistical analysis of Xi'an's outdoor temperature data calculates the percentage of annual hours of different operating modes of the indirect evaporative cooling system. Using meteorological data to study the climatic applicability of free cooling and indirect evaporative cooling. The results show that the application of complete free cooling based on the indirect evaporative cooling system reduces the usage time of mechanical cooling, significantly decreasing data center energy consumption. Indirect evaporative cooling has wider applicability than free cooling in China. Additionally, in the tropical monsoon climate of southern China, a combination of indirect evaporative cooling and mechanical cooling allows for maximum energy savings. This study informs the promotion of indirect evaporative cooling in Chinese data centers.