District Cooling Solution for Guangzhou University Town: The Tianhe-2 Supercomputing System at Guangzhou Supercomputing Center

Tianhe-2, a flagship project under China’s 12th Five-Year 863 Program supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, achieved global prominence by topping the TOP500 list of supercomputers in 2013, boasting nearly twice the computing speed of the second-ranked system. The Guangzhou Supercomputing Center, home to Tianhe-2, aspires to become a world-class facility that integrates high-performance computing, large-scale data processing, and intelligent information services. Its applications span advanced industries, smart city development, and scientific research. It also supports disaster mitigation, genomics and pharmaceutical design, biomolecular simulation, digital media rendering, public sentiment monitoring, and intelligent emergency response. Moreover, it is expected to enhance the accuracy of weather forecasting.

Tianhe-2 is located at Guangzhou University and is supported by the regional district cooling system of Guangzhou University Town, which covers a total cooling area of 5 million square meters across ten universities, including Sun Yat-sen University and South China University of Technology. This is the largest district cooling project in Asia. With a total installed cooling capacity of 117,000 Refrigeration Tons (RT), the system comprises four central cooling plants. The first plant utilizes lithium bromide absorption chillers and electric chillers, while Plants 2 through 4 adopt ice storage systems with a total capacity of 252,000 RTh. Once completed, it will be the world’s second-largest ice storage-based district cooling project, second only to the UNICOM system in Chicago (310,000 RTh). This project integrates cutting-edge technologies and systems from leading global refrigeration equipment providers, including chillers, ice storage devices, plate heat exchangers, automation, and integrated controls.

As the core thermal infrastructure for cloud computing and supercomputing (data center) operations, cooling systems must meet exceptionally high standards of stability, reliability, and precise temperature control. In addition, rapid response capability from suppliers is essential to ensure the secure and uninterrupted operation of the entire system. As a key component of the Guangzhou University Town district cooling network, Accessen provided twelve AN-series plate heat exchangers, each designed for a 1°C approach temperature and rated at 5000 kW, along with two ABJ-series integrated heat exchange units, each with a 2400 kW capacity, to ensure reliable thermal support for the Tianhe-2 supercomputing facility. This deployment represents another strong endorsement of Accessen’s capabilities, building on its successful adoption in over 100 major data centers—including those of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Supercomputing Center, Baidu, Tencent, Asia-Pacific Neutral Internet Exchange, China Unicom, China Telecom, 21Vianet, Bank of Shanghai, Agricultural Bank of China, Chongqing Cloud Computing Taobao, Dr. Peng Telecom, China Mobile, ZTE Energy, Huawei, Postal Savings Bank of China, and the Zhejiang Xiasha Data Center. These projects have widely adopted Accessen’s adaptable and high-performance heat exchange solutions.