Experimental investigation and modeling of a dual-core air-to-air exchanger

摘要

With the present leaning towards well-insulated and airtight energy-efficient buildings and houses, airto-air heat/energy exchangers have become very important for maintaining a good indoor air quality (IAQ) via continuous mechanical ventilation along with decreasing energy needed to condition the inbound fresh air. The present study aims to experimentally evaluate the performances of a dual-core ERV-HRV system in terms of heat and energy recovery in residential environment under Atlantic Canada weather. An IoT platform was designed and integrated to this ventilation system in order to collect and log real-time data. Moreover, this paper presents a detailed mathematical model of the proposed system to predict its energy exchange efficiency, using the effectiveness-NTU (i.e. epsilon - NTU) approach. The model was subsequently validated against experimental measurements within laboratory environment. As proved by experimental data, the theoretical model can predict, with a relative discrepancy less than 10%, the system energy exchange efficiency. Results from a real house located at Sainte-Anne-de-Kent in New-Brunswick, Canada are presented in this study, and the system efficiency was assessed under hot and cold weather conditions. The research findings show that, in the winter, the measured sensible and latent efficiencies are in ranges of 65.66-85.05% and 38.46-58.96%, respectively. Whereas, for the summer season, the corresponding effectiveness ranged from 31.7% to 85.72%, and from 68.51% to 92.69%, respectively. As consequence, the experimental results analysis revealed that the proposed dual-core exchanger is efficient during both heating and cooling seasons. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.