Hamza Salih Erden

We are pleased to share that our recent article titled “Effective energy use and passive cooling in data centers using heat pipes and PCM-integrated TEG systems” has been published in the Journal of Energy Storage.

Led by Dr. Murat Emre Demir, the study introduces a novel passive cooling system that combines thermoelectric generators (TEGs), phase change materials (PCMs), and heat pipes to improve energy use in data centers. Applied to a 25 kW server rack, the conceptual system generates 125 W of power, delivers 67.8 °C hot water, and achieves 80% energy and 33% exergy efficiency with minimal reliance on active cooling systems such as CRAC units. The study also introduces a new performance metric—the Exergy Reuse Factor (ExRF)—to evaluate the quality of recovered heat.

This research was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Istanbul Technical University under project no. MGA-2022-43743.

The full article is available in the Journal of Energy Storage and at ResearchGate.

Beltus Nkwawir Wiysobunri, a PhD student in our group, has published an article titled “CNN-based server state monitoring and fault diagnosis using infrared thermal images” in the journal Soft Computing.

The study, co-authored with his advisors Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamza Salih Erden and Prof. Dr. Behçcet Uğur Töreyin, presents a deep learning-based method for diagnosing server operation states in high-performance computing data centers. Using infrared thermal images, the proposed method can automatically detect issues such as fan failures, CPU load levels, and server entrance blockages with an impressive accuracy of 99.60%.

This work is based on Beltus’s master’s research and demonstrates the potential of intelligent, non-contact methods to improve data center reliability and efficiency.

Full article is available at Springer Link and at ResearchGate

Congratulations to Beltus for this achievement!

The Thermal Systems in Cloud Infrastructure research group from Istanbul Technical University Informatics Institute actively participated in the Data Center Ankara 2024 Conference on February 27, showcasing graduate-level research addressing pressing issues in data center thermal and energy management.

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The group engaged with conference attendees through posters and a dedicated stand, where they presented their innovative approaches and ongoing studies. This platform allowed graduate researchers to share their contributions with industry professionals and academics, fostering meaningful discussions and potential collaborations.

As part of the event, Dr. Hamza Salih Erden delivered an invited talk titled “Research Activities on Data Center Thermal and Energy Challenges.” The talk explored the operational challenges faced by modern data centers, the latest industry advancements, and the group’s initiatives to develop energy management systems that optimize data centers as critical assets for both owners and energy grids.

You can watch the talk here.

On December 5th, 2023, members and alumni of the “Thermal Systems in Cloud Infrastructure” research group attended Data Center Istanbul, a sectoral conference, where Dr. Hamza Salih Erden gave an invited speech titled “Research Activities on the Data Center Thermal and Energy Challenges”. He presented highlights of past and ongoing research conducted in his research group at the Informatics Institute and future research directions. He shared ongoing efforts to create an energy management system for optimizing data centers as assets for owners and energy grids.

The group members enjoyed the hospitality of the organization committee, speeches by the stakeholders of the industry, networking opportunities with the participating company representatives and guests.

Video recording of the session can be accessed below (in Turkish).

Our research group members attended International Conference on Smart Energy Systems and Technologies (SEST 2023) between September 4-6 in Muğla at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. Beltus Nkwawir presented the preliminary results of the TÜBİTAK project in the session “Demand Side Management” chaired by Dr. Hamza Salih Erden. The conference paper Beltus presented is titled “Data Center Energy Optimization under Different Dynamic Pricing Schemes”. The study explores the cost-saving potential of data centers utilizing energy optimization under a demand response program with various existing electricity tariffs in Turkey and others that are not available. You can access the paper by following the link.

ASHRAE Annual Conference 2023 took place between June 24-28 in Tampa, FL, USA. Dr. Erden attended the conference and presented the conference paper titled “Investigations on the Cost-Effective Design and Operation of Water-Based Thermal Energy Storage Systems for Data Centers” co-authored by Amir Abdolhosseinzadeh, Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate at Boğaziçi University. Funded by the TÜBİTAK project, the study explores the cost-saving potential of thermal energy storage systems (i.e., water tanks), which are primarily designed as emergency cooling systems in data centers. While investigating the dynamic behavior of the data center cooling infrastructure and controls based on thermodynamic models, the work proposes an optimization framework to minimize the total cost of ownership of the system while ensuring a feasible design and operation. As a corresponding member of the Technical Committee 9.9: Mission Critical Facilities, Data Centers, Technology Spaces and Electronic Equipment, Dr. Erden attended in-person meetings of the Technical Committee aside from the wide variety of technical sessions.

STAR Internship positions are available as part of our TÜBİTAK 3501 Career Project titled “Modeling and Optimization of Grid-Integrated Energy Systems for the Demand-Side Management of Data Centers” (VERİ MERKEZLERİNİN TALEP TARAFI YÖNETİMİ IÇİN ŞEBEKEYLE ENTEGRE ENERJİ SİSTEMLERİNİN MODELLEME VE OPTİMİZASYONU).

This is an open call for Mechanical and Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Students interested in getting involved with state-of-the-art research in our group and modeling thermal systems in the data center infrastructure. You can submit your applications through the STAR Internship Program website until the deadline on April 22nd, 2022. If you would like to know more about the project and our group, please feel free to contact us.

National and international journal articles have been published recently in our group on the energy and economic assessments of computer room air handling (CRAH) bypass (BP) method for data centers.

The first article, titled “Comprehensive energy and economic assessment of CRAH bypass method in air-cooled data centers” is published in the Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments. The article provides a holistic optimization tool for various configurations of air-cooled data centers based on detailed thermodynamic modeling using hour-by-hour annual energy simulations. Despite the significant energy-saving potential of the CRAH BP method, economics plays a pivotal role in the feasibility of such an investment. The results include design considerations for the successful application of the CRAH BP method in air-cooled data centers.

The second article, titled “Energy and economic analysis of the bypass method for the computer room air conditioning units of a small data center“, published in the Journal of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of Gazi University is a national article published in Turkish. The article elaborates on the energy and economic analysis of the method for a small data center on campus, the National High-Performance Computing Center, exploring the feasibility of the application for the first time in an operational data center.

Both articles are funded by the financial support provided by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) as part of the project 118M238, titled “CFD Analysis and Economic Assessment of CRAH Bypass Method for the Cooling Optimization of Data Centers”.

Full citation records of the articles:

Erden, H. S., (2022). “Comprehensive energy and economic assessment of CRAH bypass method in air-cooled data centers”. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, Vol. 52B, 102120.
doi: 10.1016/j.seta.2022.102120

Erden, H. S. & Türkmen, İ., (2022). “Küçük bir veri merkezinin iklimlendirme ünitelerine yönelik baypas yönteminin enerji ve ekonomik analizi”. Gazi Üniversitesi Mühendislik Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi , 37 (4) , 1883-1898.
doi: 10.17341/gazimmfd.897270