A major international pharmaceutical company manufactures prescription medications and specializes in cancer care products. Their production process is sensitive to moisture because in several phases, the drugs are in hydroscopic form, meaning they absorb moisture. This can lead to problems such as difficulty in forming drugs into tablets.

To maintain proper humidity levels in its manufacturing environment, the company installed an air handling unit several years ago with a dessicant wheel for dehumidification. When the dessicant becomes saturated with moisture, they run hot air through it to regenerate the medium.

To save energy, they placed a Des Champs model S7506 Z-Duct air-to-air heat exchanger downstream of the desiccant wheel to recover heat from the discharge during the regeneration cycle. The captured heat is then used to heat outside air coming into the air handler. This reduces the amount of steam required for heating space in winter and the fuel needed at the plant's gas-fired boiler. As a result, the heat exchanger paid for itself shortly after the air handling unit went into operation.

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