Vortex-Induced Turbulence Optimized Membrane Enthalpy Exchanger: Dynamic Humidity Modulation and Coupled Heat–Mass Transfer Enhancement

A bioinspired vortex-inducing architecture was engineered within the hydrodynamic focusing region of membrane-based enthalpy exchangers (MEEs) to generate controlled Kármán vortex shedding, strategically enhancing thermal–hygric coupling through boundary layer modulation. Computational simulations employing ANSYS Fluent 2024R1 and grid-convergence validation (GCI < 1.8%) demonstrated that at Re = 392 (2.57 m/s flow velocity), the vortex-integrated configuration achieved temperature exchange efficiency enhancements of 3.91% (summer) and 3.58% (winter), latent efficiency gains of 3.71% and 3.53%, alongside enthalpy effectiveness improvements of 3.37% and 3.36%, respectively. The interconnected momentum–heat–mass analogies culminated in peaks of performance evaluation criterion (PEC) = 1.33 (heat transfer) and 1.22 (mass transfer), substantiating vortex-induced Reynolds analogy optimization under typical HVAC operational scenarios (summer: 27 °C/50.3% RH; winter: 21 °C/39.7% RH).