The first Workshop on Energy Data Analytics - Summary

Low Energy Dew Point Cooling for Computing Data Centres

Objective: Cooling systems for Computing & Data Centres consume 30% to 40% of energy delivered into the centre spaces, while electricity use in CDCs represents 1.3% of the world total energy consumption.

The traditional vapour compression cooling systems for CDCs are neither energy efficient nor environmentally friendly. Several alternative cooling systems, e.g., adsorption/absorption, ejector, and evaporative types, have certain level of energy saving potential but exhibit some inherent problems that have restricted their wide applications in CDCs.

This RISE programme aims to form an international and inter-sectoral network of organisations working on a joint research and innovation programme dedicated to develop the design theory, computerised tool and technology prototypes for a novel CDC dew point cooling system. Such a system, comprising a few critical and highly innovative components (i.e., dew point air cooler, adsorbent sorption/regeneration cycle, micro-channels-loop-heat-pipe (MCLHP) based CDC heat recovery system, paraffin/expanded-graphite based heat storage/exchanger, and internet-based intelligent monitoring and control system), is expected to achieve 60% to 90% of electrical energy saving and have a comparable initial price to traditional CDC air conditioning systems, thus removing the above outstanding problems remaining with existing CDC cooling systems.

Within the programme, the participants will exchange skills and knowledge that will allow them to progress towards the key target set for the CDC dew point cooling system, and strengthen collaborative research among different countries and sectors. The advances in the novel CDC dew point cooling system will have potential market opportunities for non-academic participants in the programme, and have significant benefits to European society and economy.

The staff members who participate in the programme will develop new skills, be exposed to new research environments and have their career perspectives widened.

Presenter: Feifei Sun, NPS, UK
Project details on CORDIS - https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/207043_en.html

Support Tool for Energy Efficiency programmes in medical centres

Objective: To meet the greenhouse gas reduction targets set by the European Commission and to reduce the reliance on imported energy sources from not-EU countries, the energy efficiency sector vitally needs basic analytical and decision support tools.

This is especially true for large scale energy-consumer plants (for ex. foundries) but also for medical centres which typically (1) use large amounts of energy, (2) run a wide number of energy consuming machinery with different electrical profiles, (3) serve a weak population that may be heavily affected by energy shortages, (4) have a continuous level of service with special periodicity and peak times, and (5) have to abide to all sorts of strict regulations (for ex. special air quality requirements).

The aim of this project is to create a tool that will provide medical centres and any other large institution involved in their energy efficiency programmes (governmental institutions, utilities providers, lending establishments, independent auditors, managers and technical staff), with information on the medical centre’s ideal energy consumption in different scenarios and on the most appropriate energy reduction plan for the medium-long term.

The project’s primary proposal is to identity the main variables that are responsible for the energy consumption in medical centres and give to each of them a weight. A novel mathematical model will be produced which will reproduce energy consumption in given scenarios. On the basis of the above model, the project will proceed to build a scenario-based assessment and a prediction tool.

It will be used by energy managers and decision makers to evaluate and compare future investments and actions to reduce energy consumption, also on the basis of their economic return. The acquired knowledge and expertise will be embedded in a software prototype (E3s) that will be used as a decision support tool. The product of each phase will be tested in the four medical centres that support the project.

Presenter: Christos Koulamas, ISI, Greece
Project details on CORDIS - https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/194363_en.html

Research, Demonstration, and Commercialisation of DC Microgrid Technologies

Objective: RDC2MT is a unique four-year research exchanges and networking programme that aims to address new challenges of DC microgrids and to disseminate successful demonstrations of DC powered houses and DC distribution networks.

Current research in this field has been fragmented, both disciplinarily and geographically. RDC2MT is a first-of-a-kind project bringing together unique and complementary expertise from 9 international leading research groups in the Europe (UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland), Asia (China) and North America (Canada).

RDC2MT will build upon the experience, knowledge and facility gained from ongoing funded projects within the consortium, of an equivalent of 10 million Euros. RDC2MT will be the catalyst to enable the synergy and strong links among the major research and innovation investments that will allow the individual research projects to expand even further.

This will be done by dealing with a unique set of challenges across multi-scales, going from fuel cell electrochemistry at molecular scale to microgrid optimizations at system level, through coherent multidisciplinary, inter-sectoral and international collaborations. It will enable knowledge transfer and sharing between project partners, establish long term collaborations, and maximize research impacts.

Presenter: Fulong Li, Aston University UK
Project details on CORDIS - https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/206774_en.html

Sustainable energy demand side management for GREEN Data Centers

Objective: At present, data centres (DCs) are one of the major energy consumers and source of CO2 emissions globally. The GREENDC project addresses this growing challenge by developing and exploiting a novel approach to forecasting energy demands. The project will bring together five leading academic and industrial partners with the overall aim of reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in specific national DCs.

It will implement a total of 163 person-months staff and knowledge exchanges between industry and academic partners. More specifically, knowledge of data centres operations will be transferred from industry to academic partners, whereas simulation based optimization for best practice of energy demand control will be transmitted from academia to industry through the knowledge transfer scheme.

Presenter: Dr Changwoo Suh, Brunel University London
Project details on CORDIS - https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/206516_en.html

Nano-scale traceable magnetic field measurements

Presenter: Alpasian Gozel

Effects of Distributed Generation Penetration Level on Total Power Loss

Presenter: Ayse Aybike Seker