Measurement and simulation of air flow in a two-zone chamber with heat-pipe heat recovery.

The performance of a heat-pipe heat recovery unit was tested in a two-zone chamber with a horizontal partition. Air velocity was found to have a significant effect on the effectiveness of heat recovery. The effectiveness decreased with increasing air velocity. Simulation of air flow was carried out for the test chamber under natural ventilation conditions. It was shown that a heat-pipe heat exchanger can be used to reclaim exhaust heat in naturally ventilated buildings to effect energy conservation.