A new approach to the thermal analysis of rotary air preheater

In this paper a new approach is presented for analyzing the thermal behavior of rotary regenerator heat exchangers used in utility boilers. In this type of heat exchangers, due to the rotation of the solid matrix, the temperature of the fluids as well as heat exchange elements are functions of position and time. Energy equations for hot stream (gas) and cold stream (air) and the solid matrix have been solved using the Heat Balance Integral Method. The variation of physical properties of the cold and the hot fluids as well as the solid matrix has been considered. The results have been compared with existing data from lambertson (1958) and the agreement appears to be reasonably good.