Heat exchanger

Abstract

A heat exchanger for installation in a motor vehicle includes a cooling channel, a heating channel, and heat pipes to thermally couple the cooling channel with the heating channel. A thermoelectrical generator is arranged on a cold side of at least one of the heat pipes and coupled with the heat pipe by a material joint. The material joint is realized by a liquid metal.

1 . A heat exchanger for installation in a motor vehicle, said heat exchanger comprising:
 a cooling channel;   a heating channel;   heat pipes thermally coupling the cooling channel with the heating channel; and   a thermoelectrical generator coupled with at least one of the heat pipe by a material joint.   
     
     
         2 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the material joint is realized by a liquid metal. 
     
     
         3 . The heat exchanger of  claim 2 , wherein the liquid metal comprises Galinstan®. 
     
     
         4 . The heat exchanger of  claim 2 , wherein the liquid metal comprises an alloy having gallium (Ga) and indium (In) as constituents. 
     
     
         5 . The heat exchanger of  claim 4 , wherein the alloy comprises tin. 
     
     
         6 . The heat exchanger of  claim 2 , wherein the liquid metal comprises an alloy of a composition containing, in weight percent, 60 to 80% of gallium, 10 to 30% of indium, and 1 to 20% of tin. 
     
     
         7 . The heat exchanger of  claim 6 , wherein the alloy contains bismuth or antimony. 
     
     
         8 . The heat exchanger of  claim 2 , wherein the liquid metal comprises sodium. 
     
     
         9 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the thermoelectrical generator is arranged on a cold side of the heat pipe. 
     
     
         10 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the heat pipes have a circular, oval, rectangular and/or polygonal cross section. 
     
     
         11 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , further comprising heat exchanger ribs arranged on a hot side of the heat pipes and oriented in a flow direction of the heating channel. 
     
     
         12 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the heat pipes are oriented at least in one of two ways, a first way in which the heat pipes are oriented transversely to a flow direction of coolant in the cooling channel, a second way which the heat pipes are oriented transversely to a flow direction of a heating medium in the heating channel. 
     
     
         13 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of said thermoelectrical generators arranged substantially about a circumference of the heat pipe. 
     
     
         14 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the heat pipe operates in a way that is suited to an operating performance of the thermoelectrical generator. 
     
     
         15 . The heat exchanger of  claim 14 , wherein the operation of the heat pipe is constructed for closed-loop control and/or open-loop control. 
     
     
         16 . The heat exchanger of  claim 1 , wherein the heat pipe has a wall which is wetted with a metallic carrier substrate. 
     
     
         17 . The heat exchanger of  claim 16 , wherein the metallic carrier substrate comprises austenitic special steel alloy. 
     
     
         18 . A heat exchanger for installation in a motor vehicle, said heat exchanger comprising:
 a cooling channel;   a heating channel; and   a heat pipe having one part projecting into the heating channel and another part projecting into the cooling channel.   
     
     
         19 . The heat exchanger of  claim 18 , wherein the heat pipe has in longitudinal direction a total length, said one part having a length which is more than half of the total length, and said other part having a length which is less than half of the total length. 
     
     
         20 . The heat exchanger of  claim 18 , wherein the heat pipe has in longitudinal direction a total length, said one part having a length which is about ⅔ of the total length, and said other part having a length which is about ⅓ of the total length.