Cooling Environments/Heat Reuse
Welcome
Welcome to the OCP Heat Reuse Sub-Project Wiki. Efficient energy usage and sustainability are key global concerns and tenets of the Open Compute Project (OCP). ITE and data center design efficiency is just one factor in minimizing the carbon footprint associated with energy usage of a data center - use of renewable resources and reuse of its excess heat can have a positive impact as well.
Almost 100% of the energy used in a processor turns into heat.
Up until very recently this has been a liability and a challenge: an immense quantity of heat needed to be removed employing even more energy for it. With the proper design, data center cooling systems can be converted into a heat source and a heat management opportunity that in turn converts the heat from a liability to an asset.
The OCP Heat Reuse Subproject explores these challenges and opportunities. Its goal is to suggest solutions to allow easier implementations of technologies aimed at harnessing the heat and turn it into profit instead of a cost. During our journey we will study the field of the policies facilitating -or not- the usage of data centers’ excess heat around the globe; we will create guidance on designs leading to an easier implementation of heat reuse projects considering the needs of tomorrow and we will evaluate the profitability and the impacts of such an endeavor when applied to data centers.
- This Project is open to the public and we welcome all those who would like to be involved.
- Disclaimer: Please do not submit any confidential information to the Project Community. All presentation materials, proposals, meeting minutes and/or supporting documents are published by OCP and are open to the public in accordance to OCP's Bylaws and IP Policy. This can be found on the OCP OCP Policies page. If you have any questions please contact OCP.
Project Leadership
Sub-project Leads
Main Sub-project Leads email address: heatreuseleads@ocproject.net
- - Jaime Comella (AQ Compute)
- - Bharath Ramakrishnan (Microsoft)
Project Leads
- - Sean Sivapalan (NVidia)
- - John Fernandes (Meta)
- - Cosimo Pecchioli (Castrol/BP)
Incubation Committee Representative
- - Steve Mills (Meta)
Subproject structure
MAIN SUBPROJECT CALL: Heat Reuse
3rd Tuesday of the month: 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET
- Guest presentations
- Discussion and presentation of the workstreams' results and future outcomes
WORKSTREAMS / AREAS OF WORK:
After a period of general discussions during our old biweekly calls, during June 2023 we decided to open workstreams to better organized our focused work along three main topics: designs, economics and policies. The first one is probably the field for which this subproject was mainly created for: to create guidance around the technical needs of a data center willing to materialize a heat reuse project. The second topic is meant to answer the first question that comes next: how much will all this cost? and how much can I save or even earn with this? Finally, the third topic, even being the less technical of all, remains essential to understand the regulatory environment, crucial for an intersectoral coupling, which is needed to materialize this kind of projects.
More work is being conducted separate from the workstreams:
- heat reuse projects' data base + map: living documents unveiling heat reuse projects and their details around the globe. Maps and data base can be found under the Outcomes section further below.
- heat reuse readiness assessment: self-assessment built as a checklist using a spreadsheet to analyze the situation of a data center to realize a heat reuse project, showing optimum parameters to consider. Advanced beta version that you can find under the Outcomes section further below.
- a comparative analysis of the impacts of heat reuse on data centers with different characteristics and in different locations: only in conceptual stage, a first draft will be shared during 2024.
Other workstreams will see the light, but as for the rest, we will need support from the community. Is there any topic you believe we need a workstream for? Are you ready to lead it? Please join us and let's discuss.
Reference Designs
1st Thursday of the month: 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET.
Work:
- How does a “heat recovery room” look like?
- Definition of spacing, elements, basic parameters;
- Influence of size;
- In a second stage, define different application scenarios (district heating, greenhouse, swimming pool…) as variables of the base design;
Deliverables:
- Reference tools (tools for equipment dimensioning);
- Tables with equipment to be employed; tables with parameters;
- Drawings;
- latest version of the white paper -work in progress-: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PKqoQAz1jXdtvrERQpjBd_UdDFc1aXHN/edit?invite=COWE-9AP#heading=h.gjdgxs
Workstream Leads:
- - David Sickinger (NREL)
- - Mark Smith (AlfaLaval)
Heat Reuse Economics
2nd Thursday of the month: 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET.
Old name: TCO Analysis. New name: Heat Reuse economics, a cost-benefit analysis (TCO+earnings)
Work:
- Define how much does a baseline heat reuse project cost. Boundary: the data center exchange room.
- Define variables and parameters of influence,
- Potential earnings
- In a second stage, define different application scenarios (district heating, greenhouse, swimming pool…) as variables of the base design
Deliverables:
- model with the financials of heat reuse:
- base case(s) definition / example case /parameters to consider / boundaries
- Cost analysis of equipment
- White paper with an analysis of the results
Workstream Leads:
- - Jack Kolar (Dataquarium)
- - Petter Terenius (Uppsala University)
Policies around Heat Reuse
1st Tuesday of each month: 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET.
Work:
- identify barriers, needed actions and highlight sample policies around the globe for heat reuse in data centers
Deliverables:
- Whitepaper: Policies to Accelerate Data Center Heat Reuse: Achieving Economic and Climate Change Goals
- -an introduction/summary which makes the case for reusing data center waste heat;
- -a section which identifies key hurdles or barriers, general actions which governments can take, and 1-2 examples of good policies where they exist; and
- -a final section on potential people or organizations to engage who are outside of the OCP with whom we might engage.
- -Whitepaper published: https://www.opencompute.org/documents/2024-02-22-ocp-heatreuse-wp-policies-vfinal-docx-2-pdf
- 2-pager for local authorities:
- -guidance to help them untap opportunities by using excess heat of data centers planning to develop a project at their location: WIP https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L9qqu7NBHMtEnaSzbXAnpsrkTHyr5Uxt/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=118048834156548736709&rtpof=true&sd=true
Workstream Leads:
- - David Gardiner (David Gardiner and Associates)
- - Otto Van Geet (NREL)
Calendar
Always 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET:
- 1st Tuesday of the month: HR Policies call
- 1st Thursday of the month: HR Reference Designs call
- 2nd Thursday of the month: HR Economics call
- 3rd Tuesday of the month: General HR call
Here are all the calls displayed in a Google Calendar, extracted regularly from https://ocp-all.groups.io/g/OCP-CE-Heat-Reuse/calendar
All the calls are always in this Zoom room: https://opencompute-org.zoom.us/j/87427111429?pwd=Mkc5QVFNSWF4SE00enlYdnhvRElxdz09#success
Check here what are the calls going to be about: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XJSZyONA3FZtDtCHIL85R6H3w9-jJvDVlfu3aRYKAJw/edit?usp=sharing
Outcomes
HEAT REUSE 101 ARTICLE published version
https://www.opencompute.org/documents/20230623-data-centers-heatreuse-101-3-2-docx-pdf
HEAT REUSE PROJECTS DATA BASE living document (please comment and share data)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gRrnOUJ5aFezjIpCKaRWPueONUJ04AGcIfxC1g1tOOc/edit?usp=sharing
HEAT REUSE PROJECTS MAP (the map is "fed" with the data base above)
version2 (WIP) https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Kg1uzBkziqOnifc07PIT7QmSRxkVZq0&ll=51.826252107707354%2C2.2928116848082354&z=5
POLICIES TO ACCELERATE DATA CENTER HEAT REUSE: ACHIEVING ECONOMIC AND CLIMATE CHANGE GOALS published version
https://www.opencompute.org/documents/2024-02-22-ocp-heatreuse-wp-policies-vfinal-docx-2-pdf
REFERENCE DESIGNS FOR DATA CENTER HEAT REUSE preliminary version (input and comments are welcome)
HEAT REUSE READINESS ASSESSMENT preliminary version (input and comments are welcome)
Seizing Data Center Heat Reuse Opportunities. Guidelines for Local Authorities preliminary version
HEAT REUSE ECONOMICS TOOL preliminary version
https://github.com/opencomputeproject/OCP-CE-HR-Economics-Tool
Third-party content
GUEST PRESENTATIONS (yyyy mm dd)
2021 10 05 Cloud & Heat - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TLUX1hSPj80qSw-4hZR6Dxm1r8ixuHfK/view?usp=sharing
2021 11 23 Green Mountain - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eTAkymFu6h2DGAT92Rlz_M8ECTpQLZ0Y/view?usp=sharing
2021 12 02 LUMI - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MPJQPl9Xz79R5EgN2X3DWUQTBrJO5PZo/view?usp=sharing
2021 12 14 NREL - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W6hG85K4Oc6wiIk-MxPiFbGH9Q5tVp2N/view?usp=sharing
2022 01 11 Vattenfall - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UTaO-42rAYpMBWFIHcxKLCyfHIKKuGRT/view?usp=sharing
2022 01 25 Carrier - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jQkdSvOtTphPQmzMhMk4IhB_bz6V0JBn/view?usp=sharing
2022 03 08 Telehouse - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Aisd3IeU79h__trNnpyJS5A9Ac6TN2sU/view?usp=sharing
2022 04 19 Blockheating - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D4T6v8YXHSDAI4TX_ye_2DQHmzDfvuzL/view?usp=sharing
2022 05 03 Danfoss - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CQe4nE79F0qCyf2ysbn633uy9Z6UdCtL/view?usp=sharing
2022 05 31 Stanford - https://drive.google.com/file/d/10vktrFh8hY7JAuzhc045Htx1kSkJosFg/view?usp=sharing
2022 07 26 Qarnot - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F9vgCaqMT59rrE0L7dm9UnHdAKU5TQ2H/view?usp=sharing
2022 08 09 Intel - https://drive.google.com/file/d/17DL6b2NgrMGCJfLqSSlQj3lzsJSoTVri/view?usp=sharing
2022 09 06 Arcadis + Tomorrow Water - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L29i71Mh2JWu-uxW4h0VEZUWKktCjX7j/view?usp=sharing
2022 11 01 Quantum Loophole - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrcaEGDKijU
2022 11 15 M&M Carnot - https://drive.google.com/file/d/16qeAJ_iZIo885M1RjSNqjTk-yF-7Zu7X/view?usp=sharing
2023 01 24 Sabey - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z_BgfxGrS1Ty9As4ntbrKpg6pr9Q2JdM/view?usp=share_link
2023 03 31 Data Center Dutch Association - https://drive.google.com/file/d/15jQBP0C6Ma-LuMEpiXs5AvjXkSS1yA9S/view?usp=share_link
2023 04 04 Bytes2Heat, University of Stuttgart, DENEFF, IWN - https://drive.google.com/file/d/10J9MoyqlKakgMNzyEtRfvaFs67DheSfM/view?usp=share_link
2023 05 02 2CRSi Heat Reuse - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QQeZit_gpsJy3Bpa1OBWuUY5av8JruJA/view?usp=share_link
2023 05 16 QScale Canada - https://drive.google.com/file/d/10s_9k-P82SRxd3vn-czECIyhUInE38PL/view?usp=sharing
2023 07 11 DeepGreen - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jx8lGXfOE_Oh634NMYPVJ3sE84wcQnb8/view?usp=drive_link
2024 01 16 Microsoft - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UXpsSDuVSX36_kyjmJZYshXOVapbGXo9/view?usp=sharing
2024 07 16 Advanced Liquid Cooling Technologies - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zeqAmAoN5dfXrSYjAJLTz6_yomz-u2KF/view?usp=share_link
2024 07 16 Luminescent Power - https://drive.google.com/file/d/19LJXe1b71Drh8iwQ_dvZ9dwi6Cz6Da84/view?usp=sharing
2024 09 17 Intel + Submer - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NUjjPFZeXQz2otk6ILESNHjyB2vd7BRL/view?usp=drivesdk
PAPERS / WHITEPAPERS / TOOLS
A material social view on data center waste heat: Novel uses and metrics
- Authors: Petter Terenius; Peter Garraghan; Richard Harper
Get Involved
Regular Project Calls
This subproject currently meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month, 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET
The different workstreams meet monthly:
- Reference Designs: 1st Thursday of the month, 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET
- Economics: 2nd Thursday of the month, 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET
- Policies around Heat Reuse: 1st Tuesday of the month, 8-9 AM PT // 11-12 AM ET // 5-6 PM CET
Please download the invites from here: https://ocp-all.groups.io/login?r=https%3A%2F%2Focp-all.groups.io%2Fg%2FOCP-CE-Heat-Reuse%2Fcalendar
Call-in info and source of truth @ http://opencompute.org/projects/projects-calendar/
If there is ever a conflict between calendar invites, the OCP Project Calendar info on the website prevails. This call is open to the public.
Please join the meetings from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://opencompute-org.zoom.us/j/87427111429?pwd=Mkc5QVFNSWF4SE00enlYdnhvRElxdz09#success
(same link for all meetings!)
If there is a cancellation, we will try our best to cancel >24hrs before the meeting by the calendars above.
Recordings from Past Calls
- - Oct 03, 2024
- - Sep 19, 2024
- - Sep 17, 2024
- - Sep 12, 2024
- - Sep 05, 2024
- - Sep 03, 2024
- - Aug 20, 2024
- - Aug 08, 2024
- - Aug 06, 2024
- - Aug 01, 2024
- - Jul 18, 2024
- - Jul 16, 2024
- - Jul 11, 2024
- - Jul 02, 2024
- - Jun 18, 2024
- - Jun 13, 2024
- - Jun 06, 2024
- - Jun 04, 2024
- - May 21, 2024
- - May 09, 2024
- - May 07, 2024
- - May 02, 2024
- - Apr 16, 2024
- - Apr 11, 2024
- - Apr 04, 2024
- - Apr 02, 2024
- - Mar 19, 2024
- - Mar 14, 2024
- - Mar 07, 2024
- - Mar 05, 2024
- - Feb 20, 2024
- - Feb 08, 2024
- - Feb 06, 2024
- - Feb 01, 2024
- - Jan 16, 2024 : Recording | Slides
- - Jan 11, 2024
- - Jan 09, 2024
- - Jan 04, 2024
- - Dec 19, 2023
- - Dec 14, 2023
- - Dec 12, 2023
- - Dec 07, 2023
- - Nov 21, 2023
- - Nov 16, 2023
- - Nov 14, 2023
- - Nov 09, 2023
- - Oct 24, 2023
- - Oct 12, 2023
- - Oct 03, 2023
- - Sep 21, 2023
- - Sep 19, 2023
- - Sep 14, 2023
- - Sep 05, 2023
- - Aug 24, 2023
- - Aug 22, 2023
- - Aug 17, 2023
- - Aug 16, 2023
- - Aug 08, 2023
- - November 15th, 2022
- - November 1st, 2022
- - September 20th, 2022
- - September 6th, 2022
- - August 23, 2022
- - August 9, 2022
- - July 26th, 2022
- - July 12th, 2022
- - June 28th, 2022
- - June 14th, 2022 - No recording
- - May 31st, 2022
- - May 10th, 2022
- - April 26th, 2022
- - April 19th, 2022
- - April 5th, 2022
- - March 22nd, 2022
- - March 8th, 2022
- - February 22nd, 2022
- - February 8th, 2022