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What is a Gas-to-Gas Heat Pipe Heat Recovery Unit?

      Because of its high thermal conductivity the heat pipe is a prime candidate for applications involving the conservation of energy, and has been used to advantage in heat recovery systems.
      A gas-to-gas heat pipe heat exchanger consists of a bundle of tubes, sometimes finned tubes, which are made up as individual heat pipes properly placed in a casing. The heat pipes evaporation-condensation cycle effects the transfer of heat from the evaporation zone of the pipes, located in the duct carrying the counter-current gas stream from which heat is required to be recovered (Hot exhausts in), to the condensation zone of the pipes in the adjacent duct carrying the gas stream which is to be preheated (Preheated air out), as illustrated in the photograph.

Features of gas-to-gas heat pipe heat exchangers that are attractive in industrial heat recovery applications are:

• No moving parts and no external power requirements, implying high reliability.
• Cross-contamination is totally eliminated because of a partition wall between the hot and cold gas streams.
• The unit can be easily cleaned.
• By keeping the surface temperature high, "cold corners" are eliminated reducing or eliminating corrosion.
• A wide variety of sizes are available, and the unit is in general compact and suitable for all.
• The gas-to-gas heat pipe heat exchanger is fully reversible; heat can be transferred in either direction.
• Collection of condensate in the exhaust gases can be arranged.
   
  The application of the gas-to-gas heat pipe heat exchangers fall into three main categories.
   
  · Recovery of waste heat from process for reuse in the same process or in other process (e.g. preheating of combustion air). This area of application is the most diverse and can involve a wide range of temperatures and duties. 
  · Recovery of waste heat from processes to preheat air for space heating. 
  · Heat recovery in air-conditioning systems.