Reduce the Operating Costs and Carbon Emissions of Data Centers by using LNG Cold Utilization from Small-scale Liquefied Natural gas (LNG) Terminal

Abstract:
With the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitization, there has been an increased utilization of extensive data quantities. Data centers are the core of data storage. Data centers account for up to 2% of global electrical usage, resulting in substantial carbon emissions. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the fossil fuel with the lowest carbon emissions, yet a significant quantity of LNG cold energy gets wasted into the ocean during the re-gasification process. This study investigates the use of cooling using LNG cold energy from a small-scale LNG terminal with a capacity of 40–140 mmsfd (maximum 1 MTPA) through an intermediate fluid vaporizer (IFV) in a data center. The results of the study indicated the ability to generate a maximum LNG cold energy of 26.61 MW, corresponding to 7602 tons of refrigeration. This is sufficient for a data center accommodating 3215 racks, decreasing electricity consumption by 8.14 MWh, lowering OPEX costs by 7.74 million USD annually, and reducing carbon emissions by 42152 tons per year, while improving the power usage effectiveness (PUE) of the data center from 2.0 to 1.36.