A study of heat-pipe heat recovery for natural ventilation

Summary The performance of four types of heat-pipe heat recovery unit for naturally ventilated buildings was determined in terms of effectiveness and pressure drop. The effectiveness of the heat recovery units was tested in a two-zone chamber. The pressure loss characteristics of the heat recovery units were determined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experimental measurement. CFD was also used to evaluate the performance of a solar chimney for heat recovery in naturally ventilated buildings. List of symbols A Cross-sectional area of a duct (m2) C Concentration of tracer gas in exhaust duct (ppm) k Pressure loss coefficient (dimensionless) n Number of heat-pipe banks ~7 Air flow rate (ms s 1) q Injection rate of tracer gas (m3 s-’