Heat exchanger, particularly for heat pumps

A heat exchanger, particularly for heat pumps, comprising at least one helical pipe forming part of a secondary part for the flow of a refrigerant, a mantle-pipe surrounding said at least one helical pipe and forming a primary part for the flow of a heat carrying medium, a core pipe also forming part of said secondary part, said at least one helical pipe being coiled around said core pipe and extending substantially from one end to the other end of said mantle-pipe, both said helical pipe and said core pipe being in heat exchange relationship with the flow of the heat carrying medium in said mantle-pipe, refrigerant inlet means and outlet means both located outside said mantle-pipe, said at least one helical pipe being connected to said core pipe near said other end of said mantle-pipe and being connected near said one end to said refrigerant inlet means, said core pipe being connected near said one end to said refrigerant outlet means, said mantle-pipe having a heat carrying medium inlet at said first end and a heat carrying medium outlet at said other end, the center line of the turns of said at least one helical pipe extending horizontally or at an inclination small enough to ensure that the centrifugal force acting on a liquid refrigerant particle travelling through a turn will alternatively be added to and subtracted from the gravity of the same particle, said mantle-pipe with said helical pipe and said core pipe therein being bent to a compacted shape.