Load characteristics analysis of the water source heat pump heating system using data center waste heat.

• Performances of present water source heat pump (WSHP) unit were compared. • Three types of WSHP heating system using data center waste heat are proposed. • Thermal and energy characteristics of three proposed systems were studied. • Matching rule of data center waste heat, ending user and WSHP system is obtained. The number and scale of data centers (DCs) in China are constantly expanding with the advancement of networking and informatization. A large amount of waste heat is dissipated at its end. If this waste heat can be recovered, then achieving carbon neutrality in DCs can be effectively accelerated. At present, water source heat pump (WSHP) are widely used in air-cooled and liquid-cooled DCs of different sizes for waste heat recovery. This study analyzes the equipment type and heating capacity of different brands of WSHP units. Three WSHP heating systems are proposed according to the different locations of waste heat enhancement (SE, TDE, UE). The coupling and matching relationship between user-side heat load demand, DC waste heat load, and energy efficiency of WSHP units under different systems is also investigated. Moreover, the law of energy consumption and energy efficiency changes is analyzed. Thus, this study provides a reference for the DC waste heat recovery system design and equipment development. The results show that the coupling matching relationship between user-side heat load demand, DC waste heat load, and heating COP of WSHP units is Q. N / Q. S = C O P ′ / C O P ′ - 1 = φ , where φ ranges from 1.1962 to 1.3642. The heating COP of the SE system is the greatest when user-side heat load demand is between 0 and 120 kW. The heating COP of the TDE system is the highest when the user-side heat load demand is between 1750 and 70000 kW. Furthermore, the heating COP of the three WSHP heating system types is related to unit brand when user-side heat load demand is between 120 and 1750 kW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]