Alternating Plate Recuperator for Heat and Moisture Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recuperators face challenges in achieving a balance between ease of manufacture and efficiency, as they often require uniform materials and weights for plates, limiting flexibility and increasing costs, while also struggling to effectively manage moisture transfer and condensation in ventilation systems.
Innovation Solution
The use of alternating plates with different materials (permeable and impermeable to moisture) and shapes within the recuperator stack, allowing for efficient heat and moisture transfer through latent and hybrid recuperator designs, which can be manufactured economically and with varying weights, and incorporating fans and valves for optimized airflow management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If uniform plates of the same material and weight are used in the recuperator stack, then manufacturing consistency is maintained, but manufacturing flexibility and cost-effectiveness are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The recuperator stack is segmented into alternating plates of two different types (first type and second type), where each type has distinct characteristics. This segmentation allows each plate type to be optimized independently for specific functions while maintaining overall system coherence, thereby improving manufacturing flexibility without compromising composition stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the recuperator (different plate positions) are assigned different material properties and weights. Specifically, first plates have a first material with a first weight and second plates have a second material with a second weight, allowing local optimization of manufacturing processes and material selection for cost-effectiveness while maintaining the required overall composition stability through alternating arrangement.
2Ease of manufacture
If plates made from moisture-permeable material are used throughout the stack, then moisture transfer capacity is maximized, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The stack is divided into alternating moisture-permeable plates and moisture-impermeable plates. This segmentation allows the system to achieve both manufacturing simplicity (by using standard impermeable plates for most positions) and reliable moisture transfer control (by strategically placing permeable plates where moisture exchange is required), resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and functional reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Moisture permeability is applied locally rather than uniformly throughout the entire stack. Only specific plates (first type) are made from moisture-permeable material while others (second type) remain impermeable, allowing the system to achieve effective moisture transfer control in critical areas while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through the use of standard materials in non-critical areas.
3Ease of manufacture
If planar plates are used throughout the stack, then manufacturing ease is maintained, but heat exchange efficiency is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The stack alternates between planar plates and profiled plates, segmenting the heat exchange function across different plate geometries. This allows the system to maintain manufacturing ease for the majority of plates while enhancing heat exchange efficiency in specific regions where profiled plates are positioned, effectively resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and thermal performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Profiled geometry is applied locally to specific plates (either first or second type) rather than uniformly to all plates. This local application of complex geometry allows enhanced heat exchange efficiency in critical areas while maintaining manufacturing ease for the overall stack by using simple planar plates in other positions, thus balancing the two competing requirements.
4Adaptability or versatility
If all plates are made from the same material, then manufacturing consistency is maintained, but adaptability to different functional requirements is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The recuperator stack is segmented into alternating plates of two different materials, allowing each material type to be optimized for specific functional requirements. This segmentation provides functional adaptability (different materials for different needs) while limiting device complexity by using only two material types in an alternating pattern, rather than requiring many different materials throughout the stack.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances energy exchange efficiency, reduces the risk of condensation and ice formation, and allows for cost-effective production by varying plate materials and shapes, while maintaining effective moisture transfer and humidity control in ventilation systems.
Implementation Method 1
The material of the plates of one of the first and second types is permeable to moisture whereas the material of the plates of the other one of the first and second types is impermeable to moisture
Implementation Method 2
The force effecting the transfer of moisture in the latent recuperator is a difference in water vapour pressure between the two air flows
Implementation Method 3
Recuperator for exchange of energy between two air flows comprising stacked plates such that first flow channels and second flow channels for the first air flow and the second air flow, respectively, are arranged between neighbouring plates
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3a~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention provides a recuperator for exchanging energy between air flows, comprising stacked plates with flow channels for air flows being provided between mutually adjoining plates. Plates of a first type and plates of a second type are provided in the stack. The plates of the first type and the plates of the second type differ from one another as to their weight and/or the material from which they are manufactured. The invention further relates to a ventilation device provided with such a recuperator, to a window frame provided with such a ventilation device, and to a building provided with such a ventilation device or such a window frame.