Operational and emission improvements in the power distribution grid and multi-energy network connected data center with alternative energy systems

As the number of data centers is increasing worldwide, there are concerns about their growing electricity demand on power grids and their environmental impact. These demand and emission concerns can be mitigated at the urban scale by multi-energy hub integration with the regions, utilizing a combined cooling heating and power (CCHP), renewable-based electricity generation, and waste heat recovery systems. The main objective of this thesis is to perform a comprehensive analysis of these proposed alternative systems for application in data centers to asses operational and emission impacts on the power distribution grid and the data center. In this study, a cost-optimization model for the data center has been used to satisfy the critical electricity and cooling demand of the data center, utilizing waste heat from the data center and addressing residential electricity, heating and cooling demands. Different cases were created to understand the individual effect of CCHP, PV, and district energy network connections. Furthermore, investment and life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis has been presented. In conclusion, the thesis suggests the use of alternative energy systems and district energy connections for the data centers to achieve cleaner, more sustainable, more resilient, more flexible, and more environmentally friendly data center operations. The proposed systems contribute to the power distribution grid and region with energy saving, peak demand reduction, power losses decrease, voltage regulation, and emission reductions.