Modern buildings bring in large volumes of fresh air, and exhausting that same air to outdoors wastes the energy spent conditioning it. A heat-recovery core inside the air-handling unit (AHU) transfers energy between supply and exhaust streams - cutting heating and cooling loads while meeting ventilation codes.
Core types
- Plate (fixed) cores - cross-flow or counter-flow; sensible recovery, simple and leak-free. The most common AHU choice.
- Rotary (wheels) - higher recovery and can transfer moisture (enthalpy); needs a purge sector to limit carry-over.
- Enthalpy (total) cores - plate or polymer membranes that recover both heat and humidity.
- Sensible vs total - sensible (显热) recovers temperature only; total (全热) recovers temperature and moisture.
Applications
- Commercial and public-building AHUs - offices, schools, hospitals.
- Retrofit of existing ventilation - add a recovery core to an AHU during a plant upgrade.
- Residential fresh-air systems - compact ERV units.
- Clean and semi-clean rooms - where air change is high.
Selection tips
- Match core size to design airflow and target recovery efficiency (counter-flow beats cross-flow).
- In humid climates, a total (enthalpy) core controls indoor humidity better than sensible-only.
- Size frost protection for cold-climate supply air (preheat or bypass).
For plate and rotary recovery cores for AHU and ERV duty, see rotary heat-recovery wheels and the Zibo Qiyu range, or request sizing.
Key takeaway
Fresh air is mandatory; wasting its conditioning is not. A recovery core is the cheapest energy a building can buy.