Mechanism of data center water-cooled hydrogen production and hydrogen power supply to synergistically improve energy efficiency and water efficiency of data center
CHENG Mengzeng
LIU Yan
LIU Guangshuo
DONG Jian
MA Guangchao
YAN Ning
MA Shaohua
Abstract：[Objective]With the development of artificial intelligence(AI)and 5G technology,data centers are called important infrastructure facilities for future development.However,there is a prominent contradiction between the high energy consumption characteristics of data centers and current low-carbon development needs.The optimization of relying solely on clean energy power supply faces bottlenecks,such as difficult waste heat recovery and low efficiency.In response,a large-scale hydrogen production capacity configuration method was proposed to study waste heat recovery in data centers,offering a new approach for the green low-carbon development of data center energy supply systems and enhancing green hydrogen production efficiency.[Methods]Firstly,the energy consumption structure of the data center was analyzed.The mathematical model of the output heat energy of the water-cooled data center was constructed,and the mathematical model of the influence of the electrolyte temperature change on the efficiency of electrolytic hydrogen production was established.The electrolyte temperature rise coefficient was proposed as the coupling node of the data center and electrolytic hydrogen production,which laid the foundation for the subsequent establishment of the waste heat water coordination mechanism.Secondly,the data center's energy consumption characteristics and hydrogen needs were analyzed.Using waste heat recovery and heating electrolyte theory,the data center+clean energy+green hydrogen operation architecture and the matched mode were built,and a dynamic supply-demand balance model was established.Based on clean energy output and data center operations,various electrolytic hydrogen production modes were formulated.Finally,considering the data center load characteristics,clean energy output fluctuations,hydrogen energy market demand,and other factors,a hydrogen production capacity configuration model was constructed with system economy,carbon emissions,and renewable energy consumption rate as optimization objectives.The multi-objective optimization method based on the improved timing difference algorithm and particle swarm optimization algorithm was designed,and simulation analysis was carried out with Matlab.[Results]The data center+clean energy+green hydrogen coordinated operation mode can reduce the annual electricity energy consumption by 2.59％under the typical day scenario.The pricing method of the auxiliary peak shaving market can guide the system to operate according to different objectives and can deal with the economy of the system to varying degrees and low carbon demand.This study achieves the structural transformation of the data center energy system through multi-dimensional technological innovation.[Conclusions]The proposed large-scale electrolytic hydrogen production capacity configuration method meets waste heat utilization needs of data centers and reduces reliance degree of the energy supply system on fossil energy.It offers a new technical path for creating a new energy system of"adjustable load-energy storage-energy supply"in data centers,supporting digital transformation of China's economy and the steady advancement of its"dual carbon"goals.
Keywords：data centerelectrolytic hydrogen productionwaste heat recoveryimproved timing difference algorithmparticle swarm optimization algorithmcapacity configurationlow-carbon economic operationgreen low-carbon transformation
Publication Date：2025-11-25
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-29(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：9( 695-703 )