BULETINUL INSTITUTULUI POLITEHNIC DIN IAŞI

Publicat de
Universitatea Tehnică „Gheorghe Asachi” din Iaşi
Tomul LX (LXIV), Fasc. 2, 2014
Secţia
CONSTRUCŢII. ARHITECTURĂ

MECHANICAL VENTILATION SYSTEMS WITH

HEAT RECOVERY FOR REFURBISHMENT
PROJECTS AND NEW BUILDINGS
BY

FLORIN BABOTA*
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Faculty of Civil Engineering

Received: May 15, 2014

Accepted for publication: June 26, 2014

Abstract. Indoor air quality is important to human health because we spend

over 80% of our time indoors. Tight insulation, too much humidity and other
factors can lead to unhealthy air in our home or workplace, causing a number of
health problems. In today’s energy-conscious world, the regulation of thermal
performance of buildings has created a need for more efficient ventilation
systems to minimise heat loss and unneccessary energy consumption. It has also
become increasingly obvious that traditional ventilation methods, like opening a
window or use of a common bath fan, do not provide adequate ventilation. A
properly designed and installed ventilation system is the solution to moisture
control and will help to ensure a healthy indoor environment for the occupant.
This paper discusses about heat/energy recovery systems in building and types of
heat/energy recovery. The mechanical ventilation systems use fans to maintain a
low-velocity flow of fresh outdoor air into the house (incoming air stream) while
exhausting out an equal amount of stale indoor air (exhaust air stream).
Key words: energy recovery ventilators; heat recovery ventilators; improve
indoor air quality; heat supply systems; efficient ventilation systems.

*
Corresponding author: e-mail: [email protected]
40 Florin Babota

1. Introduction
Building energy use is a major concern in the European Union, where
the building sector accounts for the 40% of total primary energy use. The
Member States of the European Union are required to implement energy
efficiency measures for buildings under the Energy Performance of Building
Directive. Ventilation has a significant impact on the energy performance of
buildings, accounting for 30%...60% of the energy use in buildings (Dodooa et
al., 2011). Energy is used to cover the heat losses due to the ventilation air and
to move the ventilation air for mechanical ventilation. The ventilation system
also influences the air infiltration through the building envelope.
The envelopes of buildings constructed in recent decades are made of
materials with high thermal resistance. These buildings have strong air tightness
in order to minimize heat loss and gain through the envelopes. This design
contributes to the savings of heating and cooling energy in buildings, but it also
causes important ventilation issues by cutting off natural infiltration rates
through the envelopes. While the air tightness applied to building envelopes is
effective for energy savings, it reduces infiltration rates, and consequently
results in the deterioration of indoor air quality. Life inside today's tight home
generates both moisture and pollutants. The moisture comes from cooking,
washing, showers and breathing.
It is commonly understood that heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) are
effective for saving energy and maintaining necessary ventilation rates. The
type of HRVs that reuse the heat ejected from indoor spaces has been
effectively utilized in buildings in countries throughout Europe. A variety of
studies have been conducted to examine the influence of heat recovery systems
on building energy performance. The studies have proved that the application of
heat recovery ventilators conserves energy for heating; however, more energy
for cooling is necessary to handle particular outdoor conditions in summer.
Other studies have shown that “HRVs that are capable of exchanging latent and
sensible heat have successfully reduced heating and cooling energy together”
(Kima et al., 2012).

2. Heat/Energy Recovery System – Definition and Concept

Heat recovery as a term refers to an air-to-air heat or energy recovery

system which is defined as the process of recovering energy (heat/mass) from a
stream at a high temperature to a low temperature stream that is effective and
economical to run, or that heat or energy recovery means any device that
removes in terms of extracts, recovers or salvages heat or mass from one air
stream and transfers it to another air stream. This means that the energy that
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 2, 2014 41

would otherwise be lost is used to heat the incoming air, helping to maintain a
comfortable temperature (Mardiana & Riffat, 2013).
While in industries, it is abbreviated as HRV (heat recovery ventilation)
or ERV (energy recovery ventilation), the term has become of general use.
There are many different types of heat recovery systems available for
transferring energy from the exhaust air to the supply air or vice versa. These
include sensible heat recovery and enthalpy (sensible and latent) heat recovery
(Mardiana & Riffat, 2013). The heat transfer surfaces based on sensible heat
recovery can only transfer sensible heat between the makeup and exhaust air,
while in the enthalpy recovery, it can transfer both sensible and latent heat
(moisture); however, they have greater maintenance requirements and are
costlier than sensible heat recovery. Above all, these systems are significantly
proved as “the most efficient single energy saving method of building in a cold
climate “(Mardiana & Riffat, 2013).

3. Heat Recovery Systems in Building

HRVs are relatively newcomers on the cold climate construction scene,

yet have become almost indispensible in today’s super-insulated, air tight
homes. They are also becoming an increasingly common element in the current
weatherization and insulation retrofitting trend. As older homes are undergoing
energy facelifts, and becoming tighter and better insulated, they are also facing
the same indoor air quality challenges one would see in new construction.
The HRV is principally designed to supply a regulated exchange of
fresh air to the house, while simultaneously expelling stale indoor air. This is of
particular importance in a home that is too tight to do so on its own, through
passive means. At the core of the HRV unit is a heat exchanger (recuperator)
where the airways exhausting the warm, moisture laden indoor air, flow next to
the air passages bringing in outside air. At the junction, the cooler incoming air
is warmed by the outgoing exhaust air, recovering a substantial amount of heat
that would otherwise simply be lost. Typical heat recovery percentages can
range from 60 to over 95 percent (Mardiana & Riffat, 2013), depending on the
unit and the controls. This is where the HRV shines in comparison to a simple
exhaust fan that blows warm air directly outside.
There are a number of possibilities and concepts for heat recovery from
exhaust air in ventilation. The concept to be chosen depends on the possibilities
for utilizing the recovered energy. A typical heat recovery system in building
consists of ducts for incoming fresh air and outgoing stale air, a heat exchanger
core (recuperator), where heat or energy is transferred from one stream to the
other and two blower fans; one is to exhaust stale air and supply fresh air via the
heat exchanger core (Fig. 3).
42 Florin Babota

This system is designed such that its ducts supply fresh air to bedrooms
and living areas while exhausting stale, humid air from bathrooms, kitchens,
and laundry rooms (Fig. 3). In the core, the fresh air stream is automatically pre-
heated or pre-cooled (depending on the season) by the exhausted air and
distributed to the interior part of the buildings. The outgoing and incoming air
passes next to each other but does not mix in the heat exchanger. The system is
often installed in a roof space or within the building interior, recovers heat from
the internal air before it is discharged to the outside and warms the incoming
air. This system is also used in building HVAC energy recovery systems, where
building exhaust heat is returned to the comfort conditioning system. The device
lowers the enthalpy of the building supply during warm weather and raises it
during cold weather by transferring energy between the ventilation air supply
and exhaust air streams (Fig. 3).

Fig. 1 – Installation using Fig. 2 – Partially Fig. 3 – Fully dedicated duct

existing HVAC duct. dedicated installation. system for the HRV/ERV.

Combining the HRV/ERV system with the existing air distribution

system may be the only alternative for existing homes. Depending upon the
design, the furnace or air-handling unit may have to run in conjunction with the
HRV/ERV, which could add considerably to energy usage (Figs. 1 and 2).
Another option is to run a dedicated duct system for the HRV/ERV.
This arrangement may be the only choice for houses without other air
distribution. A technique is to pull exhaust air from one or more bathrooms
(Fig. 3). Some advanced technologies offer further efficiency improvements,
such as a defrost function. Although more expensive, they may be appropriate,
depending upon the building requirements and the efficiency goal (Babota et
al., 2013).
Properly applied, HRV/ERVs are a great way to improve indoor air
quality by introducing outside air, while recovering much of the energy in
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 2, 2014 43

exhaust air. Although there is a higher capital cost compared to simple exhaust
fans, the HRV/ERV system will save energy (and money) over the long term,
while providing a quieter, healthier indoor environment.

4. Types of Heat/Energy Recovery Devices

Heat/Energy recovery system or air-to-air heat recovery systems are

made in so many types, sizes, configurations and flow arrangements. There are
many types of heat recovery units which are in use in building applications and
these depend on the heat exchanger core, such as fixed plate, heat pipe, rotary
wheel and run-around.

4.1. Fixed-Plate

Fixed-plate heat recovery is the most common type of heat recovery

device which is obviously named after the construction of its exchanger. In this
unit, the plate exchanger surfaces are normally constructed of thin plates that
are stacked together or consist of individual solid panel with several internal
airstreams. The plates may be smooth or may have some form of corrugation. It
operates by transferring thermal energy from outgoing to incoming air streams
via plate heat exchanger surfaces. The typical effectiveness of sensible heat
transfer is 50%...90% and airflow arrangements are cross-flow (Fig. 4) and
counter-flow (Fig. 5). Fixed-plate types provide an excellent means of achieving
highly efficient heat recovery because their high heat transfer coefficients,
coupled with counter-current flow, enable the production of close end-
temperature differences (Mardiana & Riffat, 2013).

Fig. 4 – Cross-flow heat recovery. Fig. 5 – Counter-flow heat recovery.

In heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, HVAC,

recuperators (fixed-plate types) are commonly used to re-use waste heat from
exhaust air normally expelled to atmosphere. Devices typically comprise a
44 Florin Babota

series of parallel plates of aluminium, plastic, stainless steel, or synthetic fibre,

in alternate pairs are enclosed on two sides to form twin sets of ducts at right
angles to each other, and which contain the supply and extract air streams.
In this manner, heat from the exhaust air stream is transferred through
the separating plates, and into the supply air stream. Manufacturers claim gross
efficiencies of up to 90% depending upon the specification of the unit.

4.2. Heat Pipe

A heat pipe or heat pin is a heat-transfer device that combines the

principles of both thermal conductivity and phase transition to efficiently
manage the transfer of heat between two solid interfaces (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6 – Heat pipe mechanism.

The unit is divided into two sections for heat/energy exchanges between
exhaust and supply air which are the evaporator and condenser. Heat is
transferred from the hot incoming gas to the evaporator section of the heat pipe.
The thermal efficiency of heat pipes is between 45% and 55%. There are some
advantages in terms of flow resistance, such as no moving parts, no external
power requirements and high reliability, no cross contamination, compact and
suitable for all temperature applications in heating, ventilation and air-
conditioning, fully reversible and easy to clean. In addition, large quantities of
heat can be transported through a small cross-sectional area over a considerable
distance with no additional power input to the system. Heat pipe recovery units
are suitable to use in naturally ventilated buildings because they offer several
advantages over conventional heat recovery device.
In heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, HVAC, heat pipes
are positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of an air handling
system or in the exhaust gases of an industrial process, in order to recover the
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 2, 2014 45

heat energy. The device consists of a battery of multi-row finned heat pipe tubes
located within both the supply and exhaust air streams. Within the exhaust air
side of the heat pipe, the refrigerant evaporates, taking its heat from the extract
air. The refrigerant vapour moves towards the cooler end of the tube, within the
supply air side of the device, where it condenses and gives up its heat. The
condensed refrigerant returns by a combination of gravity and capillary action
in the wick. Thus heat is transferred from the exhaust air stream through the
tube wall to the refrigerant, and then from the refrigerant through the tube wall
to the supply air stream.
Because of the characteristics of the device, better efficiencies are
obtained when the unit is positioned upright with the supply air side mounted
over the exhaust air side, which allows the liquid refrigerant to flow quickly
back to the evaporator aided by the force of gravity. Generally, gross heat
transfer efficiencies of up to 75% are claimed by manufacturers.

4.3. Thermal Wheel (Rotary Wheel)

A thermal wheel (rotary wheel) consists of a circular honeycomb matrix

of heat-absorbing material, which is slowly rotated within the supply and
exhaust air streams of an air handling system (Fig. 7). As the thermal wheel
rotates heat is picked up from the exhaust air stream in one half of the rotation,
and given up to the fresh air stream in the other half of the rotation. Thus, waste

Fig. 7 – Thermal wheel Fig. 8 – Operation principles

(rotary wheel). of rotary wheels.

heat energy from the exhaust air stream is transferred to the matrix material and
then from the matrix material to the fresh air stream (Fig. 8), raising the
temperature of the supply air stream by an amount proportional to the
temperature difference between air streams, or 'thermal gradient', and depending
upon the efficiency of the device. Heat exchange is most efficient when the
46 Florin Babota

streams flow in opposite directions, since this causes a favourable temperature

gradient across the thickness of the wheel.
The heat exchange matrix is normally manufactured in aluminium,
which has good heat transfer properties, but can also be manufactured from
plastics and synthetic fibres. The heat exchanger is rotated by a small electric
motor and belt drive system.

4.4. Run-Around Coil

A run-around coil is a type of energy recovery heat exchanger most

often positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of an air handling
system, or in the exhaust gases of an industrial process, to recover the heat
energy.

Fig. 9 – Run-around system.

Generally, it refers to any intermediate stream used to transfer heat

between two streams that are not directly connected for reasons of safety or
practicality. It may also be referred to as a run-around loop, a pump-around coil
or a liquid coupled heat exchanger. A typical run-around coil system comprises
two or more multi-row finned tube coils connected to each other (Fig. 9) by a
pumped pipework circuit. The pipework is charged with a heat exchange fluid,
normally water, which picks up heat from the exhaust air coil and gives up heat
to the supply air coil before returning again. Thus heat from the exhaust air
stream is transferred through the pipework coil to the circulating fluid, and then
from the fluid through the pipework coil to the supply air stream.

4.5. Comparison Air-to-Air Heat Exchangers

A variety of devices are available which facilitate air-to-air heat

exchange (Table 1), these include: Plate Heat Exchangers, Heat Pipe, Rotary
Heat Wheel and Run-Around Coil (S.E.A.I., 2010).
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 2, 2014 47

Table 1
Comparison of the different types of Air-to-Air Heat Exchangers (S.E.A.I., 2010)
Plate Heat
Heat Pipe Rotary Heat Wheel Run-Around Coil
Exchanger
Heat recovery 50...80 % 45...65 % 50...85 % Sensible 50...65%
effectiveness, [%] Sensible only Sensible only 50...85 % Latent Sensible only
Temperature range,
–60…800 –40…40 –55…800 –45…500
[ºC]
Typ. pressure drop,
150…300 150…500 100…300 150…500
[Pa]
Typ. face
1.0…5.0 2.0...4.0 2.0...5.0 1.5...3.0
velocity, [m/s]
Air flow Counter-Flow Counter-Flow Counter-Flow
Not Applicable
arrangements Cross-Flow Parallel-Flow Parallel-Flow
Cross-leakage, [%] 0...5 0 1...10 0
Tilt angle down Pump speed
Wheel speed or
Modulation control By-pass damper to 10% of control or by-pass
by-pass damper
maximum valve
Equipment size
25 l/s and up 50 l/s and up 25...35,000 l/s 50 l/s and up
range
Plant life
25...30 15...20 15 20...30
expectancy, [Yrs]
Payback
0.7 1.3 0.7 1.2
period, [Yrs]
Advantages - No moving - Few moving - Relatively high - Flexibility (air
parts. parts (except heat transfer streams can be
- Low pressure tilting mecha- efficiency. separated).
drop, but can be nism). - Low pressure drop. - No risk of cross-
selected for - High pressure - Easily cleaned. contamination.
high pressure differentials - Compact large - Suitable for
differentials. between air sizes. retro-fit to existing
- Easily cleaned. streams is - Matrix material ductwork systems.
- Plate material possible. can be selected to - Standard, well
can be selected - Relatively suit a wide range of proven coil
to suit a wide space efficient applications. technology.
range of - no external - Capability of - Relatively space
applications. power recovering sensible Efficient.
- Relatively high requirements and latent heat.
heat transfer - fully reversible
efficiency. - easy cleaning.
- Extensively
used in
residential and
commercial
applications.
48 Florin Babota

Table 1 (Continuation)
Disadvantages - Some risk of - Few suppliers. -Cross - Two stage heat
cross- - Air streams must contamination transfer leading to
contamination. be adjacent. between air streams. inefficiencies.
- Air streams must - Some risk of - Air streams must - Predicting
be adjacent. cross- be adjacent. performance
- Sensible heat contamination - Fan location is requires accurate
transfer only. (depends on important. analysis.
construction - Large space - Sensible heat
quality). required to accom- transfer only.
- Sensible heat modate the wheel. - Relatively low
transfer only. - Regular heat transfer
maintenance is efficiency.
required. -Filtration required
- Large surface area to protect coils.
to volume of matrix
makes it susceptible
to corrosion.

The actual level of heat recovery will depend on the type of heat
recovery device selected and the temperature difference between the supply and
extract air streams. All heat recovery devices create a resistance against which a
fan has to operate (pressure drop). This causes the fan to work harder to
maintain the flow rate, so increasing electricity consumption. Where an
intermediate circulating fluid is used, there is the additional consideration of the
electrical consumption of the circulating pump and the losses from the
interconnecting pipework.

5. Conclusions
Findings from literature review shown that there are different of heat
recovery types such as fixed plate, heat pipe, rotary wheel and run-around units
utilized to recover energy loss. In Table 1, the efficiency, advantages and
disadvantages of various types are summarized.
For natural or passive ventilation heat pipe recovery has been used since
no moving part is required in this system. For mechanical ventilation,
researchers tend to integrate heat pumps, the so-called mechanical ventilation
heat pump recovery, while rotary wheel recovery has widely been used in
desiccant dehumidification to recover heat and moisture. Many theoretical and
experimental works in literature have been conducted for integrating heat
recovery system with natural ventilation, mechanical ventilation,
dehumidification systems and air conditioning.
The amount of energy saved by installing a heat recovery device is
equal to the energy recovered less the extra energy used in operating pumps,
fans, etc. The final decision on installing heat recovery systems depends on
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 2, 2014 49

economic viability. As the cost of electric energy is greater than the cost of
fossil fuels, the heat recovery device will need to recover enough energy to
economically justify its inclusion, while delivering a reasonable payback period
(Table 1).

REFERENCES

Babotă F., Munteanu C., Tamas-Gavrea D.R., Andreica L., Stanca S., Heat/Energy
Recovery Ventilators - the Key to a Healthy Indoor Environment in Residential
Buildings. C60 Internat. Conf., Nov. 7-9, 2013, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Dodooa A., Gustavssona L., Sathrea R., Primary Energy Implications of Ventilation
Heat Recovery in Residential Buildings. Energy a. Build., 43, 7, 1566–1572
(2011).
Mardiana A., Riffat S.B., Review on Physical and Performance Parameters of Heat
Recovery Systems for Building Applications. Renew. a. Sust. Energy Rev., 28
174–190 (2013).
Sang-Min Kima, Ji-Hyun Leeb, Sooyoung Kimc, Hyeun Jun Moond, Jinsoo Choe
Determining Operation Schedules of Heat Recovery Ventilators for Optimum
Energy Savings in High-Rise Residential Buildings. Energy a. Build., 46 3–13
(2012).
*
* * Waste Heat Recovery Potential for HVAC Systems. S.E.A.I. (Sustainable Energy
Authority of Ireland), 2010.

SISTEME MECANICE DE VENTILAŢIE CU RECUPERAREA CĂLDURII

PENTRU PROIECTE DE RENOVARE ŞI PENTRU CLĂDIRI NOI

(Rezumat)

Calitatea aerului din interior este important pentru sănătatea umană, deoarece
ne petrecem mai mult de 80% din timp în interiorul clădirii. O izolare etanşă, prea multă
umiditate, precum şi alţi factori pot duce la un aer nesănătos în casa noastră sau la locul
de muncă, provocând o serie de probleme de sănătate. În lumea de azi, conştientă de
importanţa energiei, reglementarea privind performanţa termică a clădirilor a creat
nevoia de sisteme de ventilaţie mai eficiente pentru a minimiza pierderile de căldură şi
consumul inutil de energie. De asemenea, a devenit tot mai evident faptul că metodele
de ventilaţie tradiţionale, cum ar fi deschiderea unei ferestre sau utilizarea unui
ventilator, nu oferă o ventilaţie adecvată. Un sistem de ventilaţie adecvat proiectat şi
instalat este soluţia de control a umidităţii şi va contribui la asigurarea unui mediu
interior sănătos pentru ocupant. Această lucrare studiază sistemele de recuperare a
căldurii/energiei în clădire şi tipuri de dispozitive de recuperare a căldurii/energiei.
Aceste sisteme de ventilaţie mecanică folosesc ventilatoare pentru a menţine un flux cu
viteză redusă de aer proaspăt din exterior în casă (aer admis) în acelaşi timp cu
evacuarea unei cantităţi egale de aer viciat din interior (aer evacuat).