Abstract: A multi-layered regenerator for adjusting temperature of gas or fluid flowing therethrough is provided. The regenerator includes a cover portion and a base portion, each of the cover portion and the base portion comprising a plurality of apertures permitting gas or fluid to flow from a top to a bottom of the multi-layered regenerator, and from the bottom to the top of the multi-layered regenerator. At least one of the cover portion and the base portion include thermal layers stacked vertically with respect to one another, each of the plurality of thermal layers having a predetermined porosity. At least a first one of the plurality of thermal layers is formed of a thermally conductive material and a second one of the plurality of thermal layers is formed of a thermally insulative material.

Abstract: A tubular reactor which acts as a combustor and heat exchanger is disclosed. Such reactor supplants a system with a combustor having a heat exchanger arranged around the combustor. The combined system includes a diffuser having an inlet for a fuel-and-air mixture and a plurality of holes defined in its surface through which the fuel-and-air mixture exits the diffuser and a plurality of tubes. First linear portions along the length of each tube are mutually parallel with a centerline of the first portions of the tubes displaced from the diffuser by a predetermined distance. Centerlines of the linear portions of adjacent tubes are displaced from each other by a predetermined gap. The fuel and air combust in the proximity of the first portion of the tubes for effective heat transfer to gases traveling through the tubes. Such a tubular reactor can be employed within a thermal-compression heat pump.