Evaluation of an air-to-air cross flow plate heat exchanger using a new heat recovery test facility

Air-to-air heat recovery is a means of energy conservation in buildings. The plate type cross flow heat exchangers is predominantly used in the HVAC industry because of their low cost, low pressure drop, and medium to high thermal effectiveness. The two main objectives of the present research are to design, fabricate and commission a new low cost innovative heat recovery test facility, and to utilize the facility to evaluate the thermal performance of cross flow plate type heat exchanger. The heat recovery test facility was designed based on two existing North American standards for testing air-to-air heat recovery devices: ASHRAE Standard 84-1991 and CSA standard C439-00. The test facility uses two independent closed loop ducts that incorporate variable frequency drives to provide precise control of airflow. Thermocouple sensors were embedded in the plate heat exchanger allowing for a determination of the bulk air temperature distribution on both the cold and hot sides of the heat exchanger at a top, middle and bottom planes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.