Heat Recovery 231

HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEMS

There are three basic types of heat recovery systems: com-

fort-to-comfort, process-to-comfort, and process-to-process. The
types of heat exchangers for these systems include rotary wheel,
fixed plate, heat pipe, and run-around coil. To obtain a better
understanding of how to best make use of heat transfer systems
it is important to first understand the components that make up
heat recovery. Heat is a form of energy, which can be converted
from-or-to other forms of energy such as mechanical energy or
electrical energy.
Thermodynamics is the science of heat energy and the study
of how heat energy can be changed from one form of energy to
another. One of the laws of thermodynamics states that heat en-
ergy flows from a higher level to a lower level. When this law is
applied to heat recovery systems, it tells us that the waste heat in
a fluid such as air, flue gas, steam, refrigerant, brine, or water
from a heat-generating process can be captured and transferred to
a cooler fluid for use in another process. The intent of heat recov-
ery is to reduce energy costs by supplementing the energy re-
quired to fuel the process or comfort system. Conduction,
convection, and radiation are the three means of heat transfer.
Conduction is the transfer of heat from one substance to another
when each substance is in direct physical contact with the other.
A simpler way to view conduction is by placing a human hand on
a cold pipe. Warmth from the skin is transferred to the pipe.
Convection is heat transfer by movement of a fluid over a sub-
stance. Convection is demonstrated when heated air flows into a
room and warms the occupants. Radiation is heat transfer by
waves transmitted from the source of the heat to an object receiv-
ing the heat waves without heating the space. Examples are when
the sun’s rays heat a glass window or when a person is warmed
by the heat waves from a fire or infrared heater.
The effectiveness of a heat exchanger (coil, plate heat ex-
changer, heat wheel, etc.) in a heat recovery system is dependent
upon three factors: (1) the temperature difference of the fluids
232 HVAC Fundamentals

circulated through the exchanger; (2) the thermal conductivity

(ability to conduct heat) of the material (copper, aluminum, steel,
etc.) in the exchanger; and (3) the flow pattern (e.g., counter flow
or parallel flow) of the fluids. Heat transfer is greatest in counter
flow exchangers. Counter flow is when “Fluid A” enters on the
same side of the exchanger that “Fluid B” is leaving. Parallel flow
is when “Fluid A” enters on the same side of the exchanger that
“Fluid B” is entering.

COMFORT-TO-COMFORT HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEMS

Comfort-to-comfort systems are typically used in HVAC

applications. These heat recovery systems capture a building’s
exhaust air and reuse the energy in that waste heat to precondi-
tion the outside air coming into the building. In comfort-to-com-
fort applications, the energy recovery process is reversible, i.e., the
enthalpy (total heat content) of the building supply air is lowered
during warm weather and raised during cold weather. Air-to-air
heat recovery systems for comfort-to-comfort applications fall
into two general categories: sensible heat (dry bulb) systems and
total heat (wet bulb, sensible heat plus latent heat) systems. Sen-
sible heat recovery systems transfer sensible heat between ex-
haust air leaving the building and make-up or supply air entering
the building. Rotary wheel heat exchangers are used in typical
comfort-to-comfort sensible heat recovery applications. To deter-
mine the amount of heat transferred, use the sensible heat transfer
equation.

Btuhs = cfm × 1.08 × ∆T

Where:
Btuhs = sensible heat transferred
cfm = quantity of airflow
1.08 = a constant for sensible heat equations
∆T = the dry bulb (db) temperature difference between
the airstreams.