Application of the counter- and cross-flow indirect evaporative cooler for heat recovery under different climate conditions

This paper investigates the potential of applying an indirect evaporative cooler for heat recovery in air-conditioning system under various climate conditions. The counter- and cross-flow configurations of the indirect evaporative exchanger are addressed in this study in terms of their performance and applicability for different climate zones. Presented analyses are carried out with original ε-NTU model considering condensation from the product airflow and validated against experimental data. It was stated that both configurations of the indirect evaporative exchanger have a high application potential to be employed as a heat recovery device under most climatic parameters. Additionally for each climate zone considered in this paper, the air-conditioning system that consists of either the indirect evaporative exchanger and vapor-compression cooler or indirect evaporative exchanger and direct evaporative cooler is proposed.