A study to improve the safety of the ceramic heat exchanger in the high temperature heat recovery system was performed in terms of air flow passes. The numerical and finite element analyses on the heat transfer and thermal stresses in the ceramic core related with air passes were carried out. The results showed that the stresses in the ceramic core induced by the thermal expansion are large enough to cause failure of the brittle ceramic core. The imployment of triple-pass air flow for the same ceramic core could increase the efficiency and effectively release approximately 20% of the maximum thermal stressess, thus improving the safety of the ceramic heat exchanger. The use of triple-pass, however, is limited by the amount of air flow due to the increase of pressure drop.