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

Sui Zengguang; Lin Haosheng; Sui Yunren; Ding Zhixiong; Zeng Weitao; Wu Wei

doi:10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20250820002

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

更新时间：2026-03-12

- Research and Application Progress of Sorption-Based Energy and Water Saving Technologies in Data Centers
- Journal of Refrigeration Vol. 47, Issue 1, Pages: 37-50(2026)
- 作者机构：
  
  1.香港城市大学能源及环境学院香港 999077
  2. 香港城市大学深圳研究院深圳 518057
- 作者简介：
- 基金信息：
  
  the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52106028;52322812;52476019)
- DOI：10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20250820002
  CLC： TB61⁺1;TK11⁺5;TQ051.5;TP308
- CSTR：XXXXX.XX.XXX.20250820002
- Received：20 August 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-09-08，
  
  Accepted：09 October 2025，
  
  Published：16 February 2026
- 稿件说明：
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隋增光,林昊晟,隋云任等.数据中心吸收式节能节水技术研究与应用进展[J].制冷学报,2026,47(01):37-50.

Sui Zengguang,Lin Haosheng,Sui Yunren,et al.Research and Application Progress of Sorption-Based Energy and Water Saving Technologies in Data Centers[J].Journal of Refrigeration,2026,47(01):37-50.
隋增光,林昊晟,隋云任等.数据中心吸收式节能节水技术研究与应用进展[J].制冷学报,2026,47(01):37-50. DOI： 10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20250820002. CSTR： XXXXX.XX.XXX.20250820002.

Sui Zengguang,Lin Haosheng,Sui Yunren,et al.Research and Application Progress of Sorption-Based Energy and Water Saving Technologies in Data Centers[J].Journal of Refrigeration,2026,47(01):37-50. DOI： 10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20250820002. CSTR： XXXXX.XX.XXX.20250820002.

摘要

数据中心算力需求不断攀升导致能耗激增，而其消耗的电能几乎全部转化成废热，该特性推动了余热回收技术的发展。吸收式技术以热驱动为特征，可在降低电力消耗的同时实现余热的多功能利用。然而，现有关于吸收式技术的研究多集中于建筑和工业余热场景。本文综述了面向数据中心的新型吸收式技术体系，涵盖器件级热管理、余热制冷、余热储能、余热发电以及空气取水5个方向。在器件热管理方面，吸收式盐水散热器可实现高达21 ℃的温降（热通量为25 kW/m²）；对比了单级、双级与增压吸收式制冷系统在40~60 ℃驱动热源下的性能差异，性能系数（COP）可达0.7以上；评估了吸收式储热在削峰填谷与可再生能源耦合中的作用；探讨了余热发电在低品位热源下的发电效率；分析了余热空气取水和冷却塔排风回收对节水潜力的贡献，可使水资源利用效率（WUE）降低约75%；总结了吸收式技术应用于数据中心时所面临的关键技术挑战，包括材料稳定性、传热传质强化方法、系统控制策略与工程集成等。本研究为吸收式技术在数据中心的多元化利用提供了新的技术路径，对实现数据中心节能节水具有重要意义。

Abstract

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/m

） 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 l

ow-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.

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references

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