Heat and mass transfer in cross-flow air-to-air membrane heat exchanger in heating mode

The main objective of the paper is numerical simulation and analysis of heat and mass transfer, condensation and frost formation conditions in cross-flow membrane-based heat exchanger. To get the desired results, the following problems were solved: numerical models for heat transfer under uniform wall temperature for parallel plates channel without/with fins were developed; numerical models were validated using literature data; local Nusselt number equations were obtained for parallel plates channel without/with fins; numerical models for heat and mass transfer in cross-flow membrane-based heat exchanger were developed incorporating local Nusselt numbers for finite difference method; numerical models were validated using ε-NTU method and experimental data from laboratory; effectiveness, condensation and frosting conditions in cross-flow membrane-based heat exchanger were numerically studied for different water vapour permeability coefficients, outside air temperature and inside air relative humidity.