Heat wheels are used in ventilation systems to provide indoor thermal comfort by recovering considerable amount of sensible energy from exhaust airstream. The transient single step test is a new testing method developed to determine the sensible effectiveness of heat wheels. In practice, heat loss/gain may create large uncertainty in the sensible effectiveness obtained through the transient testing. In this study, the transient analytical model in the literature is extended to account for heat loss/gain effects in the transient testing. The results state that in particular operating conditions, the sensible effectiveness can be affected by more than 10% due to heat loss/gain. A new testing facility is developed to investigate the effects of heat loss/gain on the sensible effectiveness through transient testing of a small-scale heat exchanger. After decoupling heat loss/gain effects from transient test data, less than 2% difference was observed in the sensible effectiveness while supply and exhaust flow rate was small (Re < 209) and the temperature difference between them was ΔTst < 7.0 °C. However, the sensible effectiveness decreased more than 9% while ΔTst > 37.5 °C or Re > 600. An empirical correlation was proposed based on the transient test data that correlates the sensible effectiveness with the heat capacity rate ratio. Comparing the results of proposed correlation with literature, less than 2% difference was observed at the heat capacity rate ratio of greater than 0.5 after the heat loss/gain effects were decoupled from transient test data.
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September 2016
Research-Article
Effects of Heat Loss/Gain on the Transient Testing of Heat Wheels
Farhad Fathieh,
Farhad Fathieh
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Farhad.Fathieh@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Farhad.Fathieh@usask.ca
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Robert W. Besant,
Robert W. Besant
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Bob.Besant@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Bob.Besant@usask.ca
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Richard W. Evitts,
Richard W. Evitts
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Richard.Evitts@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Richard.Evitts@usask.ca
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Carey J. Simonson
Carey J. Simonson
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Carey.Simonson@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Carey.Simonson@usask.ca
Search for other works by this author on:
Farhad Fathieh
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Farhad.Fathieh@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Farhad.Fathieh@usask.ca
Robert W. Besant
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Bob.Besant@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Bob.Besant@usask.ca
Richard W. Evitts
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Richard.Evitts@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Richard.Evitts@usask.ca
Carey J. Simonson
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Carey.Simonson@usask.ca
University of Saskatchewan,
57 Campus Drive,
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
e-mail: Carey.Simonson@usask.ca
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS. Manuscript received October 3, 2015; final manuscript received February 4, 2016; published online April 5, 2016. Assoc. Editor: Pedro Mago.
J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl. Sep 2016, 8(3): 031003 (12 pages)
Published Online: April 5, 2016
Article history
Received:
October 3, 2015
Revised:
February 4, 2016
Citation
Fathieh, F., Besant, R. W., Evitts, R. W., and Simonson, C. J. (April 5, 2016). "Effects of Heat Loss/Gain on the Transient Testing of Heat Wheels." ASME. J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl. September 2016; 8(3): 031003. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4032762
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