Heater head and regenerator assemblies for thermal regenerative machines

摘要

A heater head for use with a thermal regenerative machine has a heater shell formed from a single piece of material. The shell has a tubular body with a cap-shaped end portion provided at a distal end and an open mouth portion provided at a proximal end. The heater head also has a mounting flange with a receiving portion configured to mate in fixed assembly with the open mouth portion of the heater shell. The mounting flange is constructed and arranged to mount the shell assembly to a housing of the thermal regenerative machine. The shell assembly and housing are hermetically sealed there between. Furthermore, a heater head for use with a thermal regenerative machine typically has a heater shell and a heat exchanger portion. The heat exchanger portion is formed substantially from a corrugated piece of sheet metal. The heat exchanger portion is affixed to an inner portion of the heater shell. The heater shell and heat exchanger portion cooperate to form a plurality of working gas flow paths having a large thermally conductive surface area.