Patent ID: 8069906

Claim:
An exhaust heat recovery apparatus, comprising: an evaporation unit that is disposed in an exhaust gas passage through which an exhaust gas generated from an internal combustion engine flows, and performs heat exchange between the exhaust gas and an evaporable and condensable operation fluid enclosed in the evaporation unit, thereby to evaporate the operation fluid; a condensation unit that is disposed in a coolant passage through which a coolant of the internal combustion engine flows, and performs heat exchange between the coolant and the operation fluid evaporated in the evaporation unit, thereby to condense the operation fluid, wherein the condensation unit and the evaporation unit are disposed in a closed loop passage through which the operation fluid circulates; an evaporation-side communication part that conducts the operation fluid evaporated in the evaporation unit to the condensation unit; and a condensation-side communication part that conducts the operation fluid condensed in the condensation unit to the evaporation unit, wherein the condensation-side communication part, which is located lower than an outlet of the condensation unit, includes a freezing portion, the freezing portion being defined by the portion of the condensation-side communication part in which a frozen operation fluid is located when the operation fluid is frozen, the size of said freezing portion being based on an enclosed amount of the operation fluid, only the freezing portion of the condensation-side communication part is thermally in contact with the outer surface of the exhaust passage, and an upper end of the freezing portion is located higher than the frozen operation fluid in a condition of being mounted in a vehicle that is on a horizontal plane, and a lower end of the freezing portion is connected to the evaporation unit.