Simulation and Modelling of Organic Rankine Cycle and Absorption Chiller Processes for Cooling Requirements Integrated with Ferrara Medium Enthalpy Geothermal System and Utilizing the Best Process to Design a Data Center

The swift expansion of data centers has resulted in a significant increase in electricity usage, with cooling accounting for a large portion of overall energy consumption. This research examines the incorporation of medium-enthalpy geothermal energy from the Ferrara geothermal system (Italy) to aid in the design of an eco-friendly data center with minimized environmental effects. The geothermal resource offers around 14 MW of thermal energy at 100 °C, ideal for energy conversion systems. A comparative evaluation of two geothermal utilization methods was initially performed: (1) an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) producing electricity to power standard electric chillers, and (2) a direct Lithium Bromide–Water (LiBr–H₂O) absorption chiller powered by geothermal energy. The cooling capacity and thermodynamic performance of both systems were assessed by modelling them with Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Plus. According to the comparison, the LiBr absorption chiller exhibited better performance, providing significantly more useful cooling by directly utilizing thermal energy and minimizing various conversion losses. Also environmental assessment shows substantial decreases in indirect CO₂ emissions and removal of high-GWP refrigerants. As a result, a conceptual design for a data center in the Ferrara region was created utilizing a geothermal-driven absorption cooling system. This confirms that direct geothermal absorption cooling is the most effective and sustainable method for integrating geothermal power in data centers. As assumed, integration of geothermal energy with data centers cooling processes will help in reducing the Power Usage Effectiveness of the data center, thus reducing the annual energy consumption and CO2 emissions.