Project case study Engineering
Microclimate control system
Heat and moisture recovery through a periodically reversing airflow.
- Organization
- AGH/Frapol
- Discipline
- Engineering
The challenge
Conventional heat recovery units can freeze in winter, while dry supply air makes indoor humidity difficult to maintain.
Contribution
The doctoral project covered development of a periodic counterflow heat exchanger, prototype testing and numerical evaluation, followed by a hotel installation near Kraków.
Approach
Cyclic changes in airflow direction enable heat and moisture recovery without a separate energy-consuming frost protection system. Laboratory measurements and simulations assessed performance under changing inlet conditions.
Results
At an intake temperature of −20°C, the reported temperature efficiency was 78.0% ± 0.8% and moisture recovery was 58.9% ± 3.8%. In the hotel trial, comfortable conditions were maintained for over 92% of the measured time. The existing project report records approximately 34% lower air-handling energy costs, about PLN 1,680 annually, for that installation.
Project figures
