Regenerative heat exchangers
In a regenerative heat exchanger, the flow path normally consists of a matrix, which is heated when the hot fluid passes through it (this is known as the “hot blow”). This heat is then released to the cold fluid when this flows through the matrix (the “cold blow”). Regenerative Heat Exchangers are sometimes known as Capacitive Heat Exchangers. A good overview of regenerators is provided by Walker (1982). Regenerators are mainly used in gas/gas heat recovery applications in power stations and other energy intensive industries. The two main types of regenerator are Static and Dynamic. Both types of regenerator are transient in operation and unless great care is taken in their design there is normally cross contamination of the hot and cold streams. However, the use of regenerators is likely to increase in the future as attempts are made to improve energy efficiency and recover more low-grade heat. However, because regenerative heat exchangers tend to be used for specialist applications recuperative heat exchangers are more common.