Experimentally measured and numerically simulated performance data are presented for an energy wheel operating in a wide range of conditions for mass flux, temperature, and humidity. Typically, the agreement between simulated and measured results is well within the experimental uncertainty. Both the simulated and numerical results show that the three effectiveness values (i.e., sensible, latent, and total) are unequal and each has its own unique sensitivity to operating conditions. Also, total effectiveness is shown to be a poor measurement of performance when the supply and exhaust inlet air enthalpies are nearly equal. Simulated results with the numerical model show that experimental results measured using half of the energy wheel, to reduce equipment sizes, underpredict the measured sensible effectiveness by up to 7%. The proposed method of determining energy wheel performance is to validate a detailed numerical model with a range of accurate experimental data and then use the model to predict performance for other operating conditions.

Units: SI