Polymer Membranes for Enthalpy Exchangers

Kamil Križo, Andrej Kapjor and Michal Holubčík ()
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Kamil Križo: Department of Power Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zilina, Univerzitná 8215, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia
Andrej Kapjor: Department of Power Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zilina, Univerzitná 8215, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia
Michal Holubčík: Department of Power Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zilina, Univerzitná 8215, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-22

Abstract: A membrane-based enthalpy exchanger is a device used for heat and humidity recovery in ventilated buildings. The energy-saving potential of such a device is dependent on the parameters responsible for heat and moisture recovery. The trend is toward composite membranes, which are custom produced, and their parameters can be adjusted for a given application; therefore, the diffusion and sorption characteristics of such membranes are unknown. In order to obtain the values of the water vapor diffusivity of three investigated handmade membranes, a serial resistance model using a Field and Laboratory Emission Cell (FLEC) is proposed. Experiments were conducted to identify the resistance in each step of the moisture transfer process to extract the moisture diffusivity in the membranes. The calculated moisture diffusivities in the membranes were 8.99 × 10 −12 (m 2 /s) for the membranes from cellulose acetate, 1.9 × 10 −10 (m 2 /s) for the microporous PE/PUR membranes, and 1.53 × 10 −11 (m 2 /s) for the PET/PUR microfibrous membranes. The obtained membrane diffusivities were then used in the proposed effectiveness-NTU-based model of an exchanger with a cross-flow arrangement to predict performance under various operating conditions. The results show that the highest latent effectiveness was found for the exchanger core made from the PE/PUR membrane and the lowest was for the one with the PE/PUR membrane core.

Keywords: enthalpy exchanger; mass transfer; polymer membranes; water vapor diffusivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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