Immersion cooling & advanced materials for heat recovery from data centers

The MODERATOR project aims to improve the overall energy efficiency of data centres by developing an integrated system based on immersion cooling combined with novel and highly efficient long-term heat storage materials and systems.

The main innovations of the project are related to the development and integration of individual components, which include (i) a novel designed immersion cooling system that enables heat recovery from data centres, (ii) a novel waste heat recovery (WHR) system using phase change materials (PCMs) for efficient low-temperature heat recovery, (iii) a highly efficient multilayer insulation system for thermal energy storage (TES) that uses recycled glass granules and microparticles to minimize heat losses and (iv) the integration of these components into an automated prototype for direct heat utilization and long-term storage.

Furthermore, the project employs modeling and simulation activities, evaluation tools and dissemination methods to increase the exploitation potential of the developed technologies.

The major outcome will be the operation and demonstration of a fully automated integrated prototype combining a 40 kW data centre immersion cooling system and a 500 kWh TES for WHR (TRL8).

Potential utilization options of the stored thermal energy (i.e. space heating and electricity generation) will also be demonstrated within the project. The successful implementation of the MODERATOR project will have multiple impacts on different sectors. To accomplish all these results, the MODERATOR project will build upon the wide expertise of its 11 partners.

In particular, the consortium consists of 3 research organizations and 8 SMEs with experience on various research and technological areas including materials science, systems design, process engineering, systems operation, modeling and simulation, technoeconomic, environmental and socioeconomic assessment, roadmap design, dissemination and communication, etc.