AbstractThe data-center cooling strategies have evolved from their original roots based on room air conditioning systems to the current status as a low-grade thermal energy resource. This paper presents an overview of different technologies driving the evolution of data-center cooling systems. Current status, future research trends and opportunities for developing energy-efficient systems utilizing single-phase and two-phase systems are highlighted. These changes are warranted more than ever, as the majority of large-scale data centers continue to be cooled by the conventional air cooling technology. Additional informationFundingThe first author gratefully acknowledges the financial support by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (51376097, 51138005) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB228300). The second author acknowledges the support provided by the Thermal Analysis, Microfluidics and Fuel Cell Laboratory in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Rochester Institute of Technology.Notes on contributorsZhen LiZhen Li is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University. He received his bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University in 1997, and his Ph.D. degree in 2005. He has worked in the areas of heat transfer, desiccant cooling system, liquid desiccant, heat pipe, and high-performance cooling technic of data centers. He has published more than 100 journal and conference papers. He has received the New Century Talent Supporting Project by Education Ministry of China. He is currently working on a project sponsored by NSFC of China on research into data-center cooling systems using separated heat pipes, and a Ministry of Science and Technology of China-sponsored project on steel plant waste heat dehumidification technology.Satish G. KandlikarSatish G. Kandlikar is the Gleason Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay in 1975 and has been a faculty member there before coming to RIT in 1980. He has worked extensively in the area of flow boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux (CHF) phenomena at microscale, single-phase flow in microchannels, high-heat-flux chip cooling, and water management in PEM fuel cells. He has published more than 200 journal and conference papers. He is a fellow of the ASME and a former associate editor of ASME Journal of Heat Transfer. He received RIT's Eisenhart Outstanding Teaching Award in 1997 and Trustees Outstanding Scholarship Award in 2006. He received the 2008 Rochester Engineer of the Year award from the Rochester Engineering Society. He is the recipient of the 2012 ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award. Currently he is working on Department of Energy (DOE)- and GM-sponsored projects on fuel cell water management under freezing conditions, and National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored projects on developing nanostructures for enhanced pool and flow boiling.
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Li et al. (2014) studied this question.