An Experimental Study on Heat Recovery Performances of Three-Dimensional Heat Pipes in Air-Conditioning Systems

The applications of conventional heat pipes have been hindered by a few weaknesses, such as the low heat recovery effectiveness, the cross-pollution of fresh and exhaust air, and the difficult switch modes between winter and summer working conditions. In order to find solutions for those problems, a three-dimensional heat pipe exchanger was developed, and an experimental platform was built to test the heat recovery effectiveness of this heat pipe exchanger under different working conditions. Moreover, the operating performances of the three-dimensional heat pipe exchanger unit were monitored throughout one year in a hospital located in the hot summer and cold winter region of China. The field measurement results indicated that the heat recovery effectiveness could be effectively improved by reducing the air volume and the up-wind speed, increasing the cold air and hot air inlet temperature, and increasing the rows of pipes. According to optimizing the structure and operation parameters, the heat recovery efficiencies of the three-dimensional heat pipe exchanger increased by 65~85%. The recommended operation parameters of the three-dimensional heat pipe exchanger in winter and summer for indoor exhaust air temperature were 20 ± 2 °C and 22 ± 2 °C, respectively. The heat recovery effectiveness could reach up to 66% and 64.5% when the indoor and outdoor air temperature differences were higher than 11 °C and 5 °C in winter and summer, respectively. This study provides effective, reliable, and easily implementable methods for the application of three-dimensional heat pipe heat recovery devices in building HVAC systems. It offers guidance for the future design of heat pipe heat recovery devices.

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