Layer assembly for heat exchanger

A heat exchanger comprising a plurality of layer assemblies, each layer assembly comprising:

• at least one heat pump module, the module comprising a thermo-electric cooler (TEC) attached to an island formed from a flow-permissive material;
• a flow-permissive layer provided with an island-reciprocating recess for substantially corresponding to and accommodating the island;
• and
• a thermal storage layer comprising a heat transfer matrix material charged with a phase-change material, and provided with a TEC-reciprocating recess for substantially corresponding to and accommodating the TEC;
• wherein the TEC is attached to the thermal storage layer at a surface of the TEC-reciprocating recess, and the flow-permissive layer and the thermal storage layer are arranged such that the island of flow-permissive material extends into the island-reciprocating recess and a separation exists between the island and the flow-permissive layer.

A method of manufacturing an assembly, the method comprising:

• forming a thermal storage layer, the thermal storage layer comprising a heat transfer matrix material charged with a phase-change material, and provided with a TEC-reciprocating recess for substantially corresponding to and accommodating a thermo-electric cooler (TEC), wherein the TEC is attached to the thermal storage layer at a surface of the TEC-reciprocating recess;
• forming a heat pump modules, the heat pump module comprising the TEC attached to an island formed from a flow-permissive material;
• forming an air-flow layer, the air-flow layer provided with an island-reciprocating recess for substantially corresponding to and accommodating the island;
• fixing the heat pump modules to the thermal storage layer;
• and
• fixing the thermal storage layer to the air-flow permissive layer;
• wherein the air-flow layer and the thermal storage layer are arranged such that the island of flow-permissive material extends into the island-reciprocating recess and a separation exists between the island and the air-flow layer.