Research and Application Progress of Sorption-Based Energy and Water Saving Technologies in Data Centers

The increasing demand for computing power in data centers has led to a surge in energy consumption. Almost all the electricity consumed is converted into waste heat, which promotes the development of waste heat recovery technologies in data centers. Sorption-based technologies, driven by thermal energy, can reduce electricity consumption while enabling the multifunctional utilization of waste heat. However, most studies on sorption-based technologies have focused on building and industrial waste heat scenarios. This study reviews and summarizes a novel sorption-based technology framework tailored for data centers, covering five key areas: device-level thermal management, cooling driven by waste heat, energy storage, power generation from waste heat, and atmospheric water harvesting. A key quantitative finding of the study is a temperature drop of up to 21 ℃ (25 kW/m²) using sorption-based salt-water heat sinks. Furthermore, the study compares the performance differences among single-effect, double-effect, and pressurized sorption cooling systems driven by 40-60 ℃ heat sources, with a coefficient of performance (COP) above 0.7. The role of sorption-based thermal energy storage in peak shaving, valley filling, and renewable energy integration is reviewed. The power generation efficiency of sorption-based power systems under low-grade heat sources is examined, and the potential of atmospheric water harvesting from waste heat and cooling tower exhaust air recovery in relation to water conservation is analyzed, which can reduce the water usage effectiveness (WUE) by approximately 75%. In addition, key technical challenges, including material stability, heat and mass transfer enhancement, system control strategies, and engineering integration, are summarized. Overall, this study provides a new technical pathway for the diversified utilization of sorption-based technologies in data centers with significant implications for achieving energy and water conservation.