Simulation study on the operating characteristics of the heat pipe for combined evaporative cooling of computer room air-conditioning system

• A novel combined air-conditioning system of computer room is constructed.
• The performance of the system and conventional system is simulated and compared.
• The applicability of the system in different climate regions is investigated.

In order to improve the energy efficiency of air conditioning systems in computer rooms, this paper proposed a new concept of integrating evaporative cooling air-conditioning system with heat pipes. Based on a computer room in Shenyang, China, a mathematical model was built to perform transient simulations of the new system. The annual dynamical performance of the new system was then compared with a typical conventional computer room air-conditioning system. The result showed that the new integrated air-conditioning system had better energy efficiency, i.e. 31.31% reduction in energy consumption and 29.49% increase in COP (coefficient of performance), due to the adoption of evaporative condenser and the separate type heat pipe technology. Further study also revealed that the incorporated heat pipes enabled a 36.88% of decrease in the operation duration of the vapor compressor, and a 53.86% of reduction for the activation times of the compressor, which could lead to a longer lifespan of the compressor. The new integrated evaporative cooling air-conditioning system was also tested in different climate regions. It showed that the energy saving of the new system was greatly affected by climate, and it had the best effect in cold and dry regions like Shenyang with up to 31.31% energy saving. In some warm and humid climate regions like Guangzhou, the energy saving could be achieved up to 13.66%.