Using sCO₂ Combined Cycles to Produce Power and Data-Center-Grade Cooling from Waste Heat

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Using sCO₂ Combined Cycles to Produce Power and Data-Center-Grade Cooling from Waste Heat

A supercritical CO₂ turbine operating at 750°C can simultaneously deliver megawatt-class electricity and data-center-grade chilled liquid cooling. The critical design choice is not thermodynamics alone, but which bottoming strategy delivers the most cooling per dollar.

Introduction: Turning Waste Heat into a Cooling Asset

Modern data centers increasingly operate with hot liquid cooling loops, often rejecting coolant in the 30–45°C (86–113°F) range before secondary chilling. When paired with a high-temperature supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) turbine, this thermal profile creates an opportunity: convert fuel or waste heat into both electricity and chilled liquid cooling, without water consumption.

This article evaluates a 1 MW cluster-mesh sCO₂ turbine system operating at 750°C turbine inlet temperature, where the bottoming function is dedicated solely to cooling, not additional power generation. The ambient heat-rejection sink is a dry cooler at 70°F (21°C)—a favorable but realistic condition.

Baseline System: 1 MW sCO₂ Topping Cycle

At 750°C, a recuperated sCO₂ Brayton cycle can realistically achieve ~45% fuel-to-electric efficiency at the module level.

For a 1 MW electrical output:

Fuel input ≈ 2.22 MW thermal

Waste heat remaining ≈ 1.22 MW thermal

With a well-designed fired heater, recuperator, and economizer, approximately 85–90% of this waste heat is available above useful temperatures for a thermal cooling process.

Recoverable drive heat available for cooling:

≈ 1.0–1.1 MW thermal

This is the thermodynamic “budget” that all bottoming cooling strategies must share.

Target Cooling Conditions (Data Center Compatible)

Assumptions aligned with modern liquid-cooled data centers:

Chilled supply temperature: ~7–15°C (45–59°F)

Return temperature: ~20–30°C (68–86°F)

Heat rejection: dry cooler at 70°F ambient

These conditions favor high COP cooling, particularly for electrically driven heat pumps, while remaining compatible with absorption and ejector systems.

Cooling Strategy Options

Option 1: Bottoming Cycle Power → Electric Heat Pump

(Highest thermodynamic ceiling, highest cost)

Thermodynamics

Bottoming heat → electricity efficiency: ~15–20%

Electric heat pump COP (70°F ambient): 5–7

Effective thermal COP: 0.75–1.4

Cooling Output

From ~1.05 MW thermal drive:

~0.8–1.5 MW cooling

~2.7–5.1 million BTU/hr

Cost

Bottoming power turbine: $500/kW

Electric heat pump: $250/kW

High capital complexity, rotating machinery, controls

Assessment

Thermodynamically strong, but financially heavy. This approach only makes sense if:

electrical power from the bottoming cycle has independent value, or

extremely low chilled temperatures are required.

Option 2: Direct Heat-Driven Absorption Cooling

(Balanced performance, moderate cost)

Thermodynamics

Double-effect absorption COP: ~1.0–1.2

Very well matched to 750°C exhaust and recuperator heat

Cooling Output

From ~1.05 MW thermal drive:

~1.0–1.25 MW cooling

~3.4–4.3 million BTU/hr

Cost

Absorption systems (effective equivalent): ~$200–300/kW

No compressors, low parasitics, proven reliability

Assessment

This is often the engineering optimum for steady, baseload cooling. However, absorption chillers are heavier, slower to ramp, and less modular than ejector-based systems.

Option 3: Heat-Driven Ejector Cooling

(Lowest cost, simplest architecture)

Thermodynamics

Thermal COP: ~0.4–0.6

Performance improves at higher drive temperature and lower lift

Cooling Output

From ~1.05 MW thermal drive:

~0.4–0.65 MW cooling

~1.4–2.2 million BTU/hr

Cost

Ejector cooling hardware: ~$50/kW

No moving parts, minimal controls, extremely durable

Assessment

Ejector cooling delivers the lowest cost per ton of cooling, even if COP is lower. For data centers already using warm liquid cooling, ejectors can provide substantial cooling value with minimal capital risk.

Cost-Normalized Comparison (Cooling Value per Dollar)

| • | --• | --• | -• |

| Bottoming + HP | 0.8–1.5 | ~$750 | High output, poor ROI |

| Absorption | 1.0–1.25 | ~$250 | Best thermodynamic balance |

| Ejector | 0.4–0.65 | ~$50 | Best cost efficiency |

Conclusion: What Makes the Most Sense?

For a 1 MW sCO₂ cluster-mesh turbine serving data-center-grade cooling:

Ejector cooling delivers the highest cooling per dollar, with unmatched simplicity and durability.

Absorption cooling offers the best thermodynamic balance, ideal for steady, high-capacity sites.

Bottoming power → heat pump achieves the maximum theoretical cooling, but at a capital cost that is difficult to justify unless electricity has secondary value.

Strategic Recommendation

For most deployments, the optimal architecture is:

High-temperature sCO₂ topping cycle for power

Ejector or absorption cooling for waste-heat utilization

Dry cooling at 70°F ambient

No bottoming power turbine

This configuration maximizes system ROI, minimizes mechanical complexity, and aligns naturally with the thermal characteristics of modern liquid-cooled data centers.

Infinity Super Turbine