Choosing between an enthalpy recovery wheel and a membrane exchanger comes down to contamination risk, maintenance tolerance, and how much latent recovery you need. This comparison distills the trade-offs. Side-by-Side Factor Enthalpy Wheel Membrane Moving parts Yes (motor, seals) No Air cross-contamination Small (seal leakage) None (separate streams) Latent effectiveness 70–85% 60–80% Frost risk (cold […]
High-Temperature Heat Pump Heat Recovery
A high-temperature heat pump (HTHP) upgrades low-grade waste heat to useful process temperatures of 80 to 120°C, replacing steam boilers or direct electric heaters in industry. This article covers selection and integration. How It Differs from a Standard Pump An HTHP uses refrigerants and compression ratios tuned for high lift. The trade-off is lower COP […]
Membrane Air Conditioning Systems
Membrane air conditioning systems separate the sensible and latent cooling loads using a liquid-desiccant loop and a membrane contactor, rather than a single overcooling coil. The result is drier supply air at a higher coil evaporating temperature — which raises the chiller COP. Core Components A typical unit pairs a membrane energy recovery ventilation core […]
Desiccant Dehumidification Heat Recovery
Desiccant dehumidification heat recovery combines moisture removal with energy recycling. A desiccant material (solid wheel or liquid solution) absorbs water vapor from process air; the now-concentrated desiccant is regenerated using low-grade heat, and that regeneration stream’s energy is recovered rather than wasted. Why Pair Desiccation with Recovery Conventional cooling-only dehumidification overcools then reheats the air, […]
Membrane Energy Recovery Ventilation
Membrane energy recovery ventilation (MERV) uses a stationary, non-rotating polymer membrane core to transfer both sensible and latent heat between supply and exhaust airstreams. Unlike a rotating energy recovery wheel, a membrane exchanger has no moving parts and physically separates the two airstreams, which eliminates the carryover of moisture, odors, and particulates that can occur […]
AHU Components: Fans, Filters, and the Recovery Core
Anatomy of an Air Handling Unit An AHU conditions outdoor air before it enters a building. The core components are: the supply fan, the exhaust fan, filters, coils (heating/cooling), and – increasingly – a heat recovery core. How these are arranged decides both air quality and energy use. Fans Supply and exhaust fans move the […]