Patent ID: 7849913

Claim:
A rotating regenerative heat exchanger comprising: a heat-exchange rotor rotatable about an axis and having axially oppositely directed front and rear end faces and an outer periphery; a housing surrounding the rotor and defining a first flow sector for axial front-to-rear flow through the rotor of air from the exterior and, angularly offset from the first sector a second flow sector for axial rear-to-front flow through the rotor of air to the exterior; means for pressurizing the housing around the periphery of the rotor with housing air; front and rear separators fixed in the housing, juxtaposed with the respective end faces of the rotor, and extending diametrically of the rotor between the sectors; means for projecting sealing air from the separators and thereby preventing mixing of air between the sectors; and a purging wedge-like device connected to the housing and able to be supplied with a purging airflow from the means for pressurizing at the end face of the rotor in the region of the first flow sector and immediately upstream in a rotation direction of the rotor of the second flow sector.