The invention discloses a heat pipe air preheater which resolves the problems that the exhaust gas temperature of a heat pipe air preheater of a tube heating furnace in the existing petrochemical engineering and coal chemical industries cannot be regulated, and noncondensable gas produced in use of a heat pipe cannot be effectively exhausted. The heat pipe air preheater comprises a smoke pipe box, an air pipe box, assembled heat pipe sets, a condenser, a medium distributor and a control regulating valve system, wherein the assembled heat pipe sets are arranged in the smoke pipe box and the air pipe box, the condenser is arranged in the air pipe box, the control regulating valve system comprises a blowoff valve, a steam regulating valve, thermoelectric couples and a medium regulating valve, the blowoff valve is communicated with upper portions of the assembled heat pipe sets through a blowoff pipe, the steam regulating valve is communicated with the upper portion of the condenser through a blowoff pipe, the medium regulating valve is communicated with lower portions of the assembled heat pipe sets and the lower portion of the condenser, the steam regulating valve and the medium regulating valve are connected with the thermoelectric couples respectively, and the thermoelectric couples are arranged in the smoke pipe box.