A heat accumulating unit includes an upstream heat accumulator and a downstream heat accumulator each accommodating a supercooling heat accumulating material. Each of the upstream heat accumulator and the downstream heat accumulator has a channel in which fluid flows. In heat accumulation of the supercooling heat accumulating material, the channel of the upstream heat accumulator and the channel of the downstream heat accumulator are set in a serial connection state by a serial connection pipe. In a temperature rise mode, fluid that has passed through the channel of the upstream heat accumulator flows in a bypass pipe.

A method and a device for operating a heat accumulator in a motor vehicle are provided. When the driver switches off the ignition, it is determined on the basis of the current coolant temperature whether there is a need for heat accumulation at this time and whether the benefit thereof depends on when the internal combustion engine is activated again. If the response to both of these is positive the driver is requested to state whether heat accumulation is to be carried out now. Heat accumulation is carried out or is not carried out depending on the driver's response.

In a vehicle cooling system, a quantity of warm coolant stored within a thermally insulated tank is used to heat engine lubricating oil in an engine warm-up phase following a cold start. A conduit feeding coolant leaving the engine is connected to an inlet of the tank via a reduced cross-section or a labyrinth pathway. The conduit is connected to an inlet of an electronically controlled distribution valve having three outlets connected to the oil cooler, a passenger compartment heater, and a radiator. In an initial part of the warm-up phase, the valve is closed, and the entire flow of coolant leaving the engine flows into the tank, moving the quantity of warm coolant previously stored in the tank to the oil cooler, where it contributes to more rapid heating of the lubricating oil. When the engine is switched-off, the tank is again filled with warm coolant from the engine.

An object is to enable a compact and high output heat storage system to perform warm-up rapidly when a vehicle is started up, and after warm-up, to recover surplus heat that is present in a heat source in the vehicle to prepare for the next warm-up event. A heat recovery-type heating device includes: an ammonia buffer configured so as to be capable of fixing and desorbing ammonia that serves as a chemical reaction medium; and a chemical heat storage reactor provided with a chemical heat storage material that generates heat through a chemical reaction with ammonia supplied from the ammonia buffer, and that desorbs ammonia using surplus heat from a heat source and returns the ammonia to the ammonia buffer.

A product is provided with a container holding a heat storage medium. A fluid is entrained in a conduit that is routed through the container and routed through a heat generating system. An initiator is operably connected to the container. The heat storage medium is responsive to the generation of a signal from the initiator. When the heat generating system is in operation, the fluid is moved through the conduit so that when the heat generating system is operating, heat generated as a by-product is entrained in the fluid, passed through the container via the conduit and transferred to the heat storage medium. When desirable to provide heat to the heat generating system, the initiator is operated to expose the heat storage medium to a signal triggering the release of heat from the heat storage medium that is transferred through the fluid to the heat generation system.

A cooling circuit comprising a liquid circulation path and arranged on the path: in series, an engine and a radiator, mounted on a first branch in parallel between the inlet and outlet of the radiator, a store-exchanger containing at least one volume: enclosing elements for storing and releasing thermal energy, involving a phase change material PCM, placed in a heat exchange relationship with said liquid, and around which are arranged at least one first layer containing a PCM and one second layer containing a porous thermally insulating material, and valves so positioned as to direct the circulation of the liquid arriving from the engine toward the radiator and/or the store-exchanger.

Provided is an installation structure of a heat accumulator for a vehicle, provided on a back surface side of a bumper beam of the vehicle in the front portion of the vehicle and accumulates heat by storing a refrigerant. The bumper beam extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle and has a height dimension A in the vertical direction orthogonal to the length direction. The heat accumulator extends along the length direction of the bumper beam in a state of being close to a back surface of the bumper beam, and has a height dimension B in the vertical direction orthogonal to the length direction. The bumper beam and the heat accumulator are arranged with centers in the vertical direction coinciding with each other in the front-rear direction, and the height dimension B is set to A≤B≤1.6A with respect to the height dimension A.

A heat storage device includes a heat storage, a first flow passage, a second flow passage and a flow rate regulator. The heat storage stores heat released from coolant. The first flow passage is placed in a circulation path that conducts the coolant. The heat storage is installed in the first flow passage. The second flow passage conducts the coolant and bypasses the heat storage. The flow rate regulator adjusts a flow rate ratio that is a ratio of a second flow rate of the coolant, which flows in the second flow passage, relative to a first flow rate of the coolant, which flows in the first flow passage. The flow rate regulator reduces the first flow rate when a temperature of the coolant is decreased.

A heat accumulating unit includes an upstream heat accumulator and a downstream heat accumulator each accommodating a supercooling heat accumulating material. Each of the upstream heat accumulator and the downstream heat accumulator has a channel in which fluid flows. In heat accumulation of the supercooling heat accumulating material, the channel of the upstream heat accumulator and the channel of the downstream heat accumulator are set in a serial connection state by a serial connection pipe. In a temperature rise mode, fluid that has passed through the channel of the upstream heat accumulator flows in a bypass pipe.

A heat accumulation and dissipation device (1) for an internal combustion engine (2) includes, in a cooling circuit (3) for circulating cooling water used to cool the internal combustion engine (2), a heat accumulator (7) for accumulating the cooling water, and an exhaust heat recovery device (9) for recovering the heat of exhaust gas through the cooling water, wherein when the internal combustion engine (2) is started, heat is dissipated by sending the cooling water of the heat accumulator (7) to the internal combustion engine (2). The cooling circuit (3) includes a heat accumulation and dissipation circuit (8) configured to perform heat accumulation and dissipation while circulating the cooling water between the internal combustion engine (2) and the heat accumulator (7), and the heat accumulator (9) is arranged upstream of the heat accumulator (7) of the heat accumulation and dissipation circuit (8).