HIGH EFFICIENCY ENERGY RECOVERY CORE FOR VENTILATION

Abstract

An energy recovery device includes a first fluid path extending between a fresh air inlet and a fresh air outlet, and a second fluid path extending between an exhaust inlet and an exhaust air outlet. The first fluid path and the second fluid path may direct flow in a direction that is substantially parallel to one another through at least part of the energy recovery device. In some cases, a bend may be provided in at least part of the energy recovery device such that the first fluid path directs flow in a direction that is at a first angle relative to fluid flow through the second fluid path for a first portion of the first fluid path, and in a direction that is at a second angle relative to fluid flow through the second fluid path for a second portion of the first fluid path.

Description

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application Number 201110032500.X, which was filed Jan. 30, 2011, and which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to ventilation equipment, and in particular, to an energy recovery device for ventilation equipment.

BACKGROUND

As people are paying more attention to the air quality, there is a need for ventilation equipment that provides fresh air-flow. Such ventilation equipment often employs an energy recovery device to achieve the complete heat exchange between a fresh air-flow and an exhaust air-flow, thus fresh air-flow can be achieved while making use of the energy from the exhaust air-flow, so that a fresh air-flow of a higher quality can be provided to users.

For example, in International Publication No. WO2009090395, an energy recovery device is disclosed, which includes an exhaust air-flow inlet, an exhaust air-flow outlet in fluid communication with the exhaust air-flow inlet via a first duct, a fresh air-flow inlet, and a fresh air-flow outlet in fluid communication with the fresh air-flow inlet via a second duct. However, this international patent application does not disclose the specific construction of the energy recovery device.

An energy recovery device in the prior art has a feature that by means of a “X” configuration or a “S” configuration, the direction of fresh air-flow and the direction of exhaust air-flow are crossed. The energy recovery device with such a configuration increases the height or length of the ventilation equipment, thus increasing the costs of the ventilation equipment. At the same time, this energy recovery device in the prior art only provides slots and projections for sealing at its inlet side/outlet side, which increases the risk of mixing the fresh air-flow with the exhaust air-flow, and reduces the quality of fresh air-flow. Furthermore, the counter-flow energy exchanging portion of the energy recovery device in the prior art is provided with ducts, which are parallel to one another and equal in length and in distance therebetween, so as to form laminar flow and to enable the pressure drop in each of the ducts to remain balanced without the need to consider the differences in inlet angles, outlet angles, pressures and speeds, but this reduces the efficiency of the energy exchange.

SUMMARY

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel energy recovery device with low costs, high efficiency to address the disadvantages in the prior art.

In an illustrative embodiment, an energy recovery device is provided that may include at least two frames which are adjacently arranged, wherein said at least two frames comprise fresh air-flow and exhaust air-flow frames, wherein the fresh air-flow frame comprises fresh air-flow frame rods and a plurality of fresh air-flow ducts arranged therein, with each fresh air-flow duct has a fresh air-flow duct inlet, a fresh air-flow duct outlet, and a bend section of the fresh air-flow duct for connecting them; the exhaust air-flow frame may include exhaust air-flow frame rods and a plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts arranged therein, with each exhaust air-flow duct having an exhaust air-flow inlet, an exhaust air-flow outlet, and a bend section of the exhaust air-flow duct for connecting them. The plurality of fresh air-flow ducts and the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts may be in a mirror image arrangement such that the fresh air-flow duct inlets and exhaust air-flow duct outlets are located generally on the same side, and the fresh air-flow duct outlets and the exhaust air-flow duct inlets are located generally on the same side, so that the exhaust air-flow in the space to be ventilated is discharged into the atmosphere from the exhaust air-flow duct outlet after entering the exhaust air-flow duct inlet and passing through the bend section of the exhaust air-flow duct, and the fresh air-flow from the atmosphere enters into the space to be ventilated through the bend section of the fresh air-flow duct after entering the fresh air-flow duct inlet. The fresh air-flow and the exhaust air-flow may have energy exchange via the fresh air-flow ducts and the exhaust air-flow ducts.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein the fresh air-flow frame and the exhaust air-flow frame are hexagons in shape; the fresh air-flow frame comprises a first fresh air-flow frame rod, a second fresh air-flow frame rod, a third fresh air-flow frame rod, a fourth fresh air-flow frame rod, a fifth fresh air-flow frame rod and a sixth fresh air-flow frame; and the exhaust air-flow frame comprises a first exhaust air-flow frame rod, a second exhaust air-flow frame rod, a third exhaust air-flow frame rod, a fourth exhaust air-flow frame rod, a fifth exhaust air-flow frame rod and a sixth exhaust air-flow frame rod; wherein the fresh air-flow duct inlets of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts are provided on the fifth fresh air-flow frame rod of the fresh air-flow frame, the fresh air-flow duct outlets of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts are provided on the first fresh air-flow frame rod of the fresh air-flow frame, the exhaust air-flow duct inlets of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts are provided on the second exhaust air-flow frame rod of the exhaust air-flow frame, and the exhaust air-flow duct outlets of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts are provided on the fourth exhaust air-flow frame rod of the exhaust air-flow frame, so that the flowing direction of the fresh air-flow in the fresh air-flow ducts is opposite to the flowing direction of the exhaust air-flow in the exhaust air-flow ducts.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein each of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts and each of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts are “C-shaped” or “L-shaped”.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein each of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts has unequal lengths, and they are spaced from one another unequally.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein each of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts has unequal lengths, and they are spaced from one another unequally.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts have different inlets and outlets, respectively.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts have different inlets and outlets, respectively.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein the energy recovery device further comprises a medium with heat transmissibility and moisture permeability, which is arranged between the at least two frames.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein the medium with heat transmissibility and moisture permeability arranged between the at least two frames is a membrane and/or paper.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein a cover lid is used for installing said at least two frames.

An energy recovery device may be provided, wherein the fresh air-flow frame, the exhaust air-flow frame, the fresh air-flow ducts and the exhaust air-flow ducts are all made of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene.

Another illustrative embodiment may include ventilation equipment, wherein said ventilation equipment includes a housing and an above-mentioned energy recovery device provided therein, with said housing includes a fresh air-flow inlet, a fresh air-flow outlet, an exhaust air-flow inlet and an exhaust air-flow outlet, and wherein the fresh air-flow duct inlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the fresh air-flow inlet of said housing, the fresh air-flow duct outlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the fresh air-flow outlet of said housing, the exhaust air-flow duct inlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the exhaust air-flow inlet of said housing, and the exhaust air-flow duct outlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the exhaust air-flow outlet of said housing.

Some embodiments may have one or more of the following advantages: when the fresh air-flow ducts and exhaust air-flow ducts employ a “C-shaped” configuration or a “L-shaped” configuration, the inlets and outlets can be located at the same side, allowing either side of the ventilation equipment to have a bypass function, thus increasing the area for total heat exchanging at every level, and improving a good energy exchange efficiency.

Some embodiments may have one or more of the following advantages: the fresh air-flow ducts and the exhaust air-flow ducts may include inlets, outlets and “C-shaped” or “L-shaped” bend sections, wherein the “C-shaped” or “L-shaped” bend sections are used for counter-flow heat exchanging, thus making it possible for the six frame rods of the fresh air-flow frame and the exhaust air-flow frame to be sealed properly without relative movements therebetween.

Some embodiments may have one or more of the following advantages: the fresh air-flow ducts and the exhaust air-flow ducts may employ parallel bent portions, unequal angles and lengths, and unequal inlets and outlets, thus enabling the energy exchange to be realized by way of turbulent flows, so as to increase the efficiency of energy exchange.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the disclosure of the present invention will become readily understandable. It is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that these accompanying drawings are intended only for purpose of illustration, and are not intended to limit the protective scope of the present invention, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the ventilation equipment with an energy recovery device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an energy recovery device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a view of one of the frames having a plurality of ducts, for forming the energy recovery device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a view of another frame having a plurality of ducts, for forming the energy recovery device of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 shows a layout diagram of at least two frames having a plurality of ducts, for forming the energy recovery device of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION

The particular embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 and the following description to teach those skilled in the art how to implement and reproduce the best mode of the present invention. For the sake of teaching the inventive principles, some conventional aspects are simplified or omitted. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the variants derived from these embodiments will fall into the protective scope of the present invention. It should be also understood by those skilled in the art that the features mentioned below can be combined in various ways to form a plurality of variants of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described below, instead it is defined only by the terms of the claims and the equivalents thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the ventilation equipment comprising an energy recovery apparatus in an embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the ventilation equipment comprises a housing, a fresh air-flow outlet 1, a fresh air-flow inlet 3, an exhaust air-flow inlet 5, an exhaust air-flow outlet 7, an energy recovery device 9 arranged in the housing; a first separation wall 14a, a second separation wall 14b, a third separation wall 14c, a fourth separation wall 14d and a fifth separation wall 14e, each of these separation walls is arranged in the housing. In this case, the housing comprises the first side wall 13a, the second side wall 13b, the third side wall 13c, and the fourth side wall 13d, wherein each of these side walls is arranged next to one another in succession. Among them, the fresh air-flow outlet 1 and the exhaust air-flow outlet 5 are arranged on the first side wall 13a, and the fresh air-flow inlet 3 and exhaust air-flow outlet 7 are arranged on the third side wall 13c. The energy recovery device 9 comprises at least two frames, in which one frame is referred to as the fresh air-flow frame 15, and the other frame is referred to as the exhaust air-flow frame 17. A medium with good heat conductivity and moisture permeability (not shown) is disposed between the fresh air-flow frame 15 and the exhaust air-flow frame 17. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an energy recovery apparatus in an embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a view of one of the frames with a plurality of ducts, for forming the energy recovery device in FIG. 2. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the energy recovery device 9 comprises at least one normal hexagonal shaped fresh air-flow frame 15, which comprises a first fresh air-flow frame rod 15a, a second fresh air-flow frame rod 15b, a third fresh air-flow frame rod 15c, a fourth fresh air-flow frame rod 15d, a fifth fresh air-flow frame rod 15e, and a sixth fresh air-flow frame rod 15f. The fresh air-flow frame 15 also comprises a plurality of “C-shaped” fresh air-flow ducts 16 which are arranged therein, with each of the fresh air-flow ducts 16 comprising a fresh air-flow duct inlet 16a and a fresh air-flow duct outlet 16b. In which a plurality of fresh air-flow duct inlets 16a are arranged on the fifth fresh air-flow frame rod 15e, and a plurality of fresh air-flow duct outlets 16b are arranged on the first fresh air-flow frame rod 15a. FIG. 5 shows a layout diagram of at least two frames with a plurality of ducts, for forming the energy recovery device in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 5, the energy recovery device 9 further comprises at least one normal hexagonal shaped exhaust air-flow frame 17, and FIG. 4 shows a view of the other one of the frames with a plurality of ducts for forming the energy recovery device in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the exhaust air-flow frame 17 comprises the first exhaust air-flow frame rod 17a, the second exhaust air-flow frame rod 17b, the third exhaust air-flow frame rod 17c, the fourth exhaust air-flow frame rod 17d, the fifth exhaust air-flow frame rod 17e, and the sixth exhaust air-flow frame rod 17f, wherein each of these exhaust air-flow frame rods is arranged next to one another in succession. The exhaust air-flow frame 17 also comprises a plurality of “C-shaped” exhaust air-flow ducts 18 which are arranged therein, with each of the exhaust air-flow ducts 18 comprising an exhaust air-flow duct inlet 18a and an exhaust air-flow duct outlet 18b. A plurality of exhaust air-flow duct inlets 18a are arranged on the second exhaust air-flow frame rod 17b of the exhaust air-flow duct 18, and a plurality of exhaust air-flow duct outlet 18b are arranged on the fourth exhaust air-flow frame rod 17d. FIG. 5 shows a layout diagram of the at least two frames with a plurality of ducts, for forming the energy recovery device in FIG. 2. It can be seen from FIG. 5 that the plurality of “C-shaped” exhaust air-flow ducts 18 arranged on the exhaust air-flow frame 17 and the plurality of “C-shaped” fresh air-flow ducts 16 arranged on the fresh air-flow frame 15 are in a mirror image arrangement. As shown in FIG. 1, the third separation wall 14c, the fourth separation wall 14d, the fifth separation wall 14e, the third side wall 13c, the fourth side wall 13d and the fresh air-flow inlet side of the energy recovery device 9 form a fresh air-flow inlet area. The first separation wall 14a, the fourth separation wall 14d, the first side wall 13a, the fourth side wall 13d and the fresh air-flow outlet side of the energy recovery device 9 form a fresh air-flow outlet area, in which an air blower 11 is arranged in the fresh air-flow outlet area. The first separation wall 14a, the second separation wall 14b, the first side wall 13a, the second side wall 13b and the exhaust air-flow inlet side of the energy recovery device 9 form an exhaust air-flow inlet area. The second separation wall 14b, the third separation wall 14c, the second side wall 13b, the third side wall 13c and the fresh air-flow outlet side of the energy recovery device 9 form an exhaust air-flow outlet area, in which another air blower 11 is arranged in the exhaust air-flow outlet area.

When the ventilation equipment shown in FIG. 1 is in operation, on the one hand, the exhaust air-flow in the ventilation space enters into the exhaust air-flow inlet area under the effects of the air blower 11 arranged in the exhaust air-flow outlet area, then it enters the “C-shaped” exhaust air-flow ducts 18 via the plurality of exhaust air-flow duct inlets 18a arranged on the exhaust air-flow inlet side of the energy recovery device 9, subsequently, it enters from the exhaust air-flow duct outlets 18b of the “C-shaped” exhaust air-flow ducts 18 into the exhaust air-flow outlet area, and finally, it is exhausted into the atmosphere via the exhaust air-flow outlet 7. On the other hand, the fresh air-flow in the atmosphere is drawn into the fresh air-flow inlet area under the effects of the air blower 11 arranged in the fresh air outlet area, then it enters into the “C-shaped” fresh air-flow ducts 16 via the plurality of fresh air-flow duct inlets 16a arranged in the fresh air-flow inlet side of the energy recovery device 9, subsequently, it enters from the fresh air-flow duct outlets 16b of the “C-shaped” fresh air-flow ducts 16 into the fresh air-flow inlet area, and finally it enters into the space to be ventilated via the fresh air-flow outlet 1. Since the fresh air-flow ducts 16 and the exhaust air-flow ducts 18 are arranged next to one another in the energy recovery device 9 in a mirror image arrangement, this allows the fresh air-flow which has passed through the “C-shaped” fresh air-flow ducts 16 and the exhaust air-flow which has passed through the “C-shaped” exhaust air-flow ducts 18, to have heat exchange in the energy recovery device 9 via a medium with heat conductivity and moisture permeability characteristics arranged between the fresh air-flow frame 15 and the exhaust air-flow frame 17, —so as to enable the fresh air-flow which has had heat exchange with the exhaust air-flow to be pumped into the space to be ventilated.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the fresh air-flow frame 15, the exhaust air-flow frame 17, the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts 16 and the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts 18 are preferably made of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene. It needs to be mentioned that the fresh air-flow frame 15, the exhaust air-flow frame 17, the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts 16 and the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts 18 can also be made of other materials, and this would still fall into the scope of the present invention.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the medium with good heat conductivity and moisture permeability characteristics arranged between the fresh air-flow frame 15 and the exhaust air-flow frame 17 is a membrane or a piece of special paper. For those skilled in the art, the membrane and the special paper are the membrane and paper commonly used in the art, therefore they do not need to be described redundantly herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the fresh air-flow duct 16 and the exhaust air-flow duct 18 can also adopt an L-shaped configuration. As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts 16 and exhaust air-flow ducts 18 respectively have bend sections, different inlets and outlets, different lengths and different spacing. The “C-shaped” or “L-shaped” configuration is applied in the fresh air-flow ducts 16 and exhaust air-flow ducts 18 in the ventilation equipment according to the present invention, which can allow the inlets and outlets to be placed on the same side, enabling any side of the ventilation equipment to have a bypass function, thus increasing the total heat exchange area per layer, and improving the energy exchange efficiency.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the fresh air-flow ducts 16 and the exhaust air-flow ducts 18 comprise inlets, outlets, and “C-shaped” or “L-shaped” bend sections, in which the “C-shaped” or “L-shaped” bend sections are used for counter-flow heat exchanging, and this allows all of the six frame rods of the fresh air-flow frame 15 and the exhaust air-flow frame 17 to be sealed properly without any movement relative to one another.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the parallel bend sections (such as “C-shaped” or “L-shaped” bend sections), unequal angles and lengths, and unequal inlets and outlets are adopted in the fresh air-flow ducts 16 and the exhaust air-flow ducts 18, enabling the energy exchange to be performed by turbulent flows, thus improving the energy exchange efficiency.

List of names of the components and reference numerals thereof
1   fresh air-flow outlet
3   fresh air-flow inlet
5   exhaust air-flow inlet
7   exhaust air-flow outlet
9   energy recovery device
11  air blower
13a first side wall
13b second side wall
13c third side wall
13d fourth side wall
14a first separation wall
14b second separation wall
14c third separation wall
14d fourth separation wall
14e fifth separation wall
15  fresh air-flow frame
15a first fresh air-flow frame rod
15b second fresh air-flow frame rod
15c third fresh air-flow frame rod
15d fourth fresh air-flow frame rod
15e fifth fresh air-flow frame rod
15f sixth fresh air-flow frame rod
16  fresh air-flow duct
16a fresh air-flow duct inlet
16b fresh air-flow duct outlet
17  exhaust air-flow frame
17a first exhaust air-flow frame rod
17b second exhaust air-flow frame rod
17c third exhaust air-flow frame rod
17d fourth exhaust air-flow frame rod
17e fifth exhaust air-flow frame rod
17f sixth exhaust air-flow frame rod
18  exhaust air-flow duct
18a exhaust air-flow duct inlet
18b exhaust air-flow duct outlet

Claims

1. An energy recovery device, comprising at least two frames which are adjacently arranged, wherein said at least two frames comprise fresh air-flow and exhaust air-flow frames, characterized in that the fresh air-flow frame comprises fresh air-flow frame rods and a plurality of fresh air-flow ducts arranged therein, with each fresh air-flow duct having a fresh air-flow duct inlet, a fresh air-flow duct outlet, and a bend section of the fresh air-flow duct for connecting them; the exhaust air-flow frame comprises exhaust air-flow frame rods and a plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts arranged therein, with each exhaust air-flow duct having an exhaust air-flow duct inlet, an exhaust air-flow duct outlet, and a bend section of the exhaust air-flow duct for connecting them, wherein the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts and the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts are in a mirror image arrangement such that the fresh air-flow duct inlets and exhaust air-flow duct outlets are located generally on the same side, and the fresh air-flow duct outlets and the exhaust air-flow duct inlets are located generally on the same side, so that the exhaust air-flow in the space to be ventilated is discharged into the atmosphere from the exhaust air-flow duct outlet after entering the exhaust air-flow duct inlet and passing through the bend section of the exhaust air-flow duct, and the fresh air-flow from the atmosphere enters into the space to be ventilated through the bend section of the fresh air-flow duct after entering the fresh air-flow duct inlet, the fresh air-flow and the exhaust air-flow have energy exchange via the fresh air-flow ducts and the exhaust air-flow ducts.

2. An energy recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fresh air-flow frame and the exhaust air-flow frame are hexagons in shape; the fresh air-flow frame comprises a first fresh air-flow frame rod, a second fresh air-flow frame rod, a third fresh air-flow frame rod, a fourth fresh air-flow frame rod, a fifth fresh air-flow frame rod and a sixth fresh air-flow frame; and the exhaust air-flow frame comprises a first exhaust air-flow frame rod, a second exhaust air-flow frame rod, a third exhaust air-flow frame rod, a fourth exhaust air-flow frame rod, a fifth exhaust air-flow frame rod and a sixth exhaust air-flow frame rod; wherein the fresh air-flow duct inlets of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts are provided on the fifth fresh air-flow frame rod of the fresh air-flow frame, the fresh air-flow duct outlets of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts are provided on the first fresh air-flow frame rod of the fresh air-flow frame, the exhaust air-flow duct inlets of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts are provided on the second exhaust air-flow frame rod of the exhaust air-flow frame, and the exhaust air-flow duct outlets of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts are provided on the fourth exhaust air-flow frame rod of the exhaust air-flow frame, so that the flowing direction of the fresh air-flow in the fresh air-flow ducts is opposite to the flowing direction of the exhaust air-flow in the exhaust air-flow ducts.

3. An energy recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts and each of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts are “C-shaped” or “L-shaped”.

4. An energy recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts has unequal lengths, and they are spaced from one another unequally.

5. An energy recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts has unequal lengths, and they are spaced from one another unequally.

6. An energy recovery device according to claim 4, characterized in that the plurality of fresh air-flow ducts have different inlets and outlets, respectively.

7. An energy recovery device according to claim 5, characterized in that the plurality of exhaust air-flow ducts have different inlets and outlets, respectively.

8. An energy recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that the energy recovery device further comprises a medium with heat transmissibility and moisture permeability, which is arranged between the at least two frames.

9. An energy recovery device according to claim 8, characterized in that the medium with heat transmissibility and moisture permeability arranged between the at least two frames is a membrane and/or paper.

10. An energy recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that a cover lid is used for installing said at least two frames.

11. An energy recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fresh air-flow frame, the exhaust air-flow frame, the fresh air-flow ducts and the exhaust air-flow ducts are all made of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene.

12. A Ventilation equipment, characterized in that said ventilation equipment comprises a housing and an energy recovery device according to claim 1, with said housing comprising a fresh air-flow inlet, a fresh air-flow outlet, an exhaust air-flow inlet and an exhaust air-flow outlet, wherein the fresh air-flow duct inlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the fresh air-flow inlet of said housing, the fresh air-flow duct outlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the fresh air-flow outlet of said housing, the exhaust air-flow duct inlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the exhaust air-flow inlet of said housing, and the exhaust air-flow duct outlets of the energy recovery device are in fluid communication with the exhaust air-flow outlet of said housing.

13. An energy recovery device, comprising:

a first fluid path extending between a fresh air inlet and a fresh air outlet, and a second fluid path extending between an exhaust inlet and an exhaust air outlet; and

wherein the first flow path and the second flow path direct flow in a direction that is substantially parallel to one another through at least part of the energy recovery device.

14. The energy recovery device of claim 13, wherein the first flow path and the second flow path direct flow in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to one another through at least part of the energy recovery device.

15. The energy recovery device of claim 13, wherein the first fluid path defines a plurality of channels lying in a plane.

16. The energy recovery device of claim 13, wherein the first fluid path defines a plurality of channels lying in two or more parallel spaced planes.

17. The energy recovery device of claim 13, wherein the first fluid path defines a plurality of C-shaped or L-shaped channels lying in a plane.

18. An energy recovery device, comprising:

a first fluid path extending between a fresh air inlet and a fresh air outlet, and a second fluid path extending between an exhaust inlet and an exhaust air outlet; and

wherein the first flow path and the second flow path each include a bend in at least part of the energy recovery device, and wherein the first flow path directs flow in a direction that is at a first angle relative to fluid flow through the second flow path for a first portion of the first flow path, and directs flow in a direction that is at a second angle relative to fluid flow through the second flow path for a second portion of the first flow path.

19. The energy recovery device of claim 18, wherein the first fluid path and the second fluid path each define a plurality of C-shaped or L-shaped channels.

20. The energy recovery device of claim 18, wherein the first fluid path defines a plurality of channels lying in a plane.