A particle separator for the separation of particles from the exhaust gas stream of an internal combustion engine. The particle separator includes different heat transfer zones arranged at least in the main flow direction of an exhaust gas stream through the particle separator, different, that is, with respect to heat storage capacity and/or thermal conductivity and/or the heat-transfer properties from the exhaust gas stream to the particle separator. Each of these different zones makes it possible for a precisely defined amount of heat to be transferred from the exhaust gas stream to the individually assigned sections of the particle separator.