History
The first regenerator was invented by Rev. Robert Stirling in 1816, and is commonly found as a component of his Stirling engine. The simplest Stirlings, and most models, use a less efficient but simpler to construct, displacer instead.
Later applications included the blast furnace process known as hot blast and the Siemens regenerative furnace for making steel, where the hot exhaust gases from combustion are passed through firebrick regenerative chambers, which are thus heated. The flow is then reversed, so that the heated bricks preheat the fuel.
Edward Alfred Cowper applied the regeneration principle to blast furnaces, in the form of the "Cowper stove", patented in 1856. This is almost invariably used with blast furnaces to this day.
Read more about this topic: Regenerative Heat Exchanger
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