Modular heat exchanger having delayed heat transfer capability

A heat exchanger incorporating thermal storage for heat transfer between fluids comprising:

• (a) a plurality of fluid flow channels aligned in parallel relation to one another, wherein the fluid flow channel are defined by a plurality of modular shells, and wherein each shell has a protrusion extending therefrom, and each shell has portions defining a slot beneath the protrusion, and wherein the protrusion of one of the plurality of modular shells engages with the slot of another of the shells, so aligning the shells of the flow channels;
• and
• (b) a plurality of heat retentive reservoirs having surfaces and being spaced parallel to one another, the fluid flow channels having portions which adjoin in a heat conducting fashion the surfaces of each reservoir, wherein heat from a fluid flowing in one channel is transferred to the reservoirs and thence to a fluid flowing in a second channel at a later time.

A modular heat exchanger capable of non-simultaneous heat transfer between a plurality of fluid flows comprising a plurality of stacked modules, wherein each module has an outer shell, the shell being open at the top and bottom, and connected with another module shell in a stacked array;

• an insulating partition joined to the shell and dividing the shell into a plurality of flow channels, the partition having portions defining a hole, the hole connecting the flow channels;
• and a thermally conductive heat storage reservoir spaced within the hole and occluding the hole so that substituting all heat transferred from one flow channel to another is transferred through the heat storage reservoir, the heat exchanger being adapted to Permit heat to be transferred between a plurality of fluids, whose flow rate through the heat exchanger may vary independently with time for each fluid.