Advances in a 300 Hz thermoacoustic cooler system working within liquid nitrogen temperature range

With the combined advantages of high reliability, compact size and low electromagnetic interference, a high frequency operating thermoacoustic cooler system, i.e. a pulse tube cooler driven by a thermoacoustic heat engine, is quite promising for space applications. This article introduced a high frequency standing-wave thermoacoustic heat engine-driven pulse tube cooler system working around 300 Hz with axial length being 1.2 m. To improve the thermal efficiency of such system, an optimization has been carried out, both analytically and experimentally, by observing the influence of the dimensions of the stack, the hot buffer length and the acoustic pressure amplifier tube length. So far, a no-load temperature of 68.3 K has been obtained with 4.0 MPa helium and 750 W heating power. With 500 W heating power, a no-load temperature of 76.9 K and 0.2 W cooling power at 80 K have been achieved. Compared with former reports, the performance has been improved.     

20-50 K and 40-80 K pulse tube coolers: Two candidates for a low temperature cooling chain

Following its important cryogenics heritage for the European Space industry for both Ariane launcher and Orbital programs, Air Liquide - Advanced Technology Division (AL/DTA) is proposing different pulse tube cryocoolers all over the temperature range to answer the needs of earth observation and scientific missions.This paper presents recent performance improvement of the large heat lift 40-80 K pulse tube cooler (LPTC). Four units have been manufactured and tested. Three units are dedicated to lifetime testing in the framework of French Military Space Program (under CNES contract) and Meteosat Third Generation program (ESA contract). The batch performances are described and the product maturity is discussed in this paper.To lower the temperature range and to complete our cryogenic chain, we developed in partnership with CEA/INAC/SBT, a heat intercepted 20-50 K pulse tube cryocooler. This cooler has been developed in the framework of an ESA contract (ESA/ESTEC No 20497/0/NL/PA-20-50 K pulse tube cooler). A development phase has been performed to test and optimize different cold head architectures to reach the 300 mW@20 K specification. A no-load temperature of 12.5 K has been demonstrated on breadboard model. The outputs of the trade-off, the resulting design and the performances are described.In complement to the dilution cooler similar to the one developed for the PLANCK mission, those two pulse tube coolers are potential candidates for a very low temperature cooling chain. By optimizing the capabilities of the 20 K stage for low temperature operation (no-load in the range of 8 K) the coupling of the three independent stages becomes possible.     

Performance of Stirling-type non-magnetic and non-metallic co-axial pulse tube cryocoolers for high-Tc SQUIDs operation

A set of Stirling-type non-magnetic and non-metallic co-axial pulse tube cryocoolers, intended to achieve portable cryogen-free systems with very low interference for high-T_c SQUIDs operation, have been designed and tested in TIPC/CAS. The key feature is that all cooler components in the vicinity of SQUIDs pick-up loops are made of non-magnetic and non-metallic materials, in order to eliminate complicated interference and realize direct couple with SQUIDs. The cooling options, cooler interference and corresponding solutions are reviewed briefly, and then we focus our attention on the cryogenic design and selection of the materials. Over 30 cooler samples have been fabricated and tested systematically. A typical cooling power of over 100 mW at 80 K with 70 W input electrical power has been achieved. Detailed cooling performance and elementary interference characteristics of the coolers are also analyzed and evaluated.     

An innovative configuration for thermoacoustically-driven pulse tube coolers

Obtainable lowest temperature of a thermoacoustically-driven pulse tube cooler is generally limited by the pressure ratio provided by the thermoacoustic engine with helium as working gas. It is also known that a thermoacoustic engine filled with nitrogen can generally provide much larger pressure ratio and lower frequency than the same engine filled with helium. Here we introduce an innovative system configuration which uses an elastic membrane as the interface between the thermoacoustic engine subsystem and the pulse tube cooler subsystem. The membrane can transport acoustic work from the engine to the cooler, and meanwhile separate the working gases used in respective subsystems. Through this way, it is possible for the engine to operate with nitrogen to provide larger pressure ratio and more suitable frequency for the pulse tube cooler which can still use helium as the working gas. To test this idea, a thermoacoustically-driven pulse tube cooler was built. With the innovative configuration, the pulse tube cooler reached a lowest temperature of 139 K. On the other hand, without the membrane, the PTC only achieved a lowest temperature of 186 K when using nitrogen and 145 K with helium for both the PTC and the engine.     

High frequency two-stage pulse tube cryocooler with base temperature below 20 K

High frequency (30-50 Hz) multi-stage pulse tube coolers that are capable of reaching temperatures close to 20 K or even lower are a subject of recent research and development activities. This paper reports on the design and test of a two-stage pulse tube cooler which is driven by a linear compressor with nominal input power of 200 W at an operating frequency of 30-45 Hz. A parallel configuration of the two pulse tubes is used with the warm ends of the pulse tubes located at ambient temperature. For both stages, the regenerator matrix consists of a stack of stainless steel screen. At an operating frequency of 35 Hz and with the first stage at 73 K a lowest stationary temperature of 19.6 K has been achieved at the second stage. The effects of input power, frequency, average pressure, and cold head orientation on the cooling performance are also reported. An even lower no-load temperature can be expected from the use of lead or other regenerator materials of high heat capacity in the second stage.     

4 K以下温区脉管制冷性能的改进

最新研究表明，采用陶瓷磁性回热材料GdAlO3（GAP）可以大大提高4K以下温区脉管制冷机的制冷量和制冷系数（COP）。在压缩机输入功率约为4.8kW的条件下，采用GAP的二级双向进气型脉管制冷机在2.8K，3.13K,3.70K分别获得了200mW，300mW和400mW制冷量，与采用HoCu2及ErNi的二级脉管制冷机相比，该制冷机在3.0K附近的制冷量增幅高达150%。     

Regenerator performance improvement of a single-stage pulse tube cooler reached 11.1 K

In order to improve the cooling performance of pulse tube cooler (PTC) at 20-40 K, hybrid regenerators are often employed. In this paper a three-layer regenerator, which consists of woven wire screen, lead sphere and Er₃Ni is optimized to enhance the cooling performance and explore the lowest attainable refrigeration temperature for a single-stage PTC. The efforts focus on the temperature range of 80-300 K, where woven wire screens are used. Theoretical and experimental studies are carried out to study the metal material and the mesh size effect of woven wire screens on the performance of the single-stage G-M type PTC. A lowest no-load refrigeration temperature of 11.1 K was obtained with an input power of 6 kW. The PTC can supply 17.8 W at 20 K and 39.4 W at 30 K, respectively.     

Optimal design of the pulse tube refrigerator with slit-type heat exchangers

A single-stage inline pulse tube refrigerator (PTR) with tapered slit-type heat exchangers utilized as the aftercooler and the cold end heat exchanger has been designed, fabricated and investigated. Simple energy conservation equation is applied for the design of the tapered slit-type heat exchangers with which the PTR is optimized. The air-cooled aftercoolers with different slit configurations have been compared in this paper with regard to its cooling capacity. The optimized PTRs driven by a single-piston linear compressor achieve the lowest temperature of 53.1 K and 53.5 K, and the cooling capacity of 3.0 W at 60 K and 3.5 W at 60 K, respectively. The result shows that the tapered slit-type heat exchangers can replace the mesh-type heat exchanger, but the geometric configuration of slits and the compressible volume should be carefully considered for optimum performance of the cooler.     

A 300 Hz two-stage pulse tube cryocooler that attains 58 K

We present a two-stage pulse tube cryocooler working at 300 Hz driven by a thermoacoustic engine. Compared to the previous experimental results, the combined inertance tube with different diameters that is used in the second stage is found to play the key role in phase shifting and to lead to superior cooling. Two different wall thickness tubes are tested in the experiments. After the optimization, the second-stage cold end achieves a no-load temperature of 57.9 K with an average pressure of 3.8 MPa, and a cooling capacity of 0.5 W at 81.88 K.     

High-power Stirling-type pulse tube cooler working below 30 K

High-power Stirling-type pulse tube coolers (PTCs) are promising candidates for cooling HTS devices and gas liquefaction or separation applications. Nevertheless, till now most high-power Stirling-type PTCs are not able to reach a refrigeration temperature below 35 K. Here, a high-power two-stage Stirling-type PTC was designed, manufactured and experimentally investigated. In order to realize a convenient coupling with a thermal load, U-shape configuration is adopted in both stages, which makes it more challenging to distribute the gas flow and reduce dead volume in the cold end heat exchanger. By optimizing operating conditions, flow straightener, and double-inlet opening, the cooler has reached no-load refrigeration temperatures of 29.6 K and 27.1 K at 55 Hz and 40 Hz, respectively. Furthermore, the cooler is able to provide cooling powers of 50 W at 45.6 K and 100 W at 59.3 K when input pV powers are 4.77 kW and 4.59 kW, respectively.     

A single-stage pulse tube cooler reached 12.6 K

A single-stage G-M type pulse tube cooler (PTC) was designed and tested to explore the lowest attainable refrigeration temperature and to further improve the cooling performance in the temperature range of 15-40 K. The magnetic material Er₃Ni was used as part of the regenerative material besides the phosphor-bronze and the lead so as to improve the efficiency of the regenerator. With an input power of 6 kW, a lowest no-load refrigeration temperature of 12.6 K was obtained, which is a new record for the single-stage PTC. The cooling capacity at 15-40 K was also significantly improved, which may extend the application of the single-stage PTC for the cooling of superconductors and cryopumps.     

Development of mechanical cryocoolers for Astro-H/SXS

The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) is a high-resolution spectrometer with an X-ray micro-calorimeter array onboard the Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite Astro-H, planned for launch in 2013. The micro-calorimeter is operated at cryogenic temperature of 50 mK provided by the Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator (ADR) with a heat sink of 1.3 K liquid helium stored in the SXS Dewar. To extend the liquid helium lifetime to over 3 years in orbit, two types of mechanical cryocoolers are installed: 20 K-class double-staged Stirling (2ST) coolers and a 1 K-class Joule-Thomson (JT) cooler. Improvement of mechanical cryocoolers has been investigated and verified for higher reliability and cooling performance. The engineering model (EM) of upgraded mechanical cryocoolers was fabricated for a long lifetime test. The required cooling power of 200 mW at 20 K for the 2ST cooler and 10 mW at 1.7 K for the JT cooler are achieved by EM test.     

Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems cryocooler overview

Mechanical long life cryocoolers are an enabling technology used to cool a wide variety of detectors in space applications. These coolers provide cooling over a range of temperatures from 2 K to 200 K, cooling powers from tens of mW to tens of watts. Typical applications are missile warning, Earth and climate sciences, astronomy and cryogenic propellant management. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) has delivered many of the US flight cooler systems and has 12 long life pulse tube and Stirling coolers on orbit with two having over 11 years of continuous operation. This paper will provide an overview of the NGAS cryocooler capabilities.     

Influence of resonance tube length on performance of thermoacoustically driven pulse tube refrigerator

A resonance tube is an important component of a thermoacoustic engine, which has great influence on the performance of the thermoacoustically driven pulse tube refrigerator. A standing wave thermoacoustic engine is simulated with linear thermoacoustics. Computed results show that an appropriate accretion of the resonance tube length may lead to a decrease of the working frequency and an increase of the pressure amplitude, which will improve the match between the thermoacoustic engine and the pulse tube refrigerator. The theoretical prediction is verified by experiments. A refrigeration temperature as low as 88.6 K has been achieved with an optimized length of the resonance tube, helium as working gas, and 2200 W of heating power.     

Two-stage high frequency pulse tube cooler for refrigeration at 25 K

A two-stage Stirling-type U-shape pulse tube cryocooler driven by a 10 kW-class linear compressor was designed, built and tested. A special feature of the cold head is the absence of a heat exchanger at the cold end of the first-stage, since the intended application requires no cooling power at this intermediate temperature. Simulations where done using Sage-software to find optimum operating conditions and cold head geometry. Flow-impedance matching was required to connect the compressor designed for 60 Hz operation to the 40 Hz cold head. A cooling power of 12.9 W at 25 K with an electrical input power of 4.6 kW has been achieved up to now. The lowest temperature reached is 13.7 K.     

Investigation on a thermoacoustically driven pulse tube cooler working at 80 K

The pulse tube cooler (PTC) driven by a thermoacoustic engine can completely eliminate mechanical moving parts, and then achieves a simpler and more reliable device. A Stirling thermoacoustic heat engine has been constructed and tested. The heat engine can generate a maximal pressure ratio of 1.19, which makes it possible to drive a PTC and get good performance. Frequency is one of the key operating parameters, not only for the heat engine but also for the PTC. In order to adapt to the relatively low design frequency of the PTC, the operating frequency of the thermoacoustic heat engine was regulated by varying the length of the resonance tube. Driven by the thermoacoustic engine, a single stage double-inlet PTC obtained the lowest refrigeration temperature of 80.9 K with an operating frequency of 45 Hz, which is regarded as a new record for the reported thermoacoustically driven refrigerators.     

行波热声发动机加热器改进及其驱动脉管制冷机系统实验研究

对自行研制的行波型热声发动机中的核心部件加热器进行了改进.采用改进的热声发动机驱动单级小孔型脉管制冷机,以氦气为工质,在充气压力为2.2 MPa的条件下,获得了110 K的最低制冷温度.通过对实验结果的分析,着重阐明了热声发动机和脉管制冷机之间的频率匹配问题及其改进途径,为进一步深入研究指明了方向.     

A vibration free cryostat using pulse tube cryocooler

This paper introduces a new vibration free cryostat cooled by liquid helium and a 4 K pulse tube cryocooler. The cryogenic device mounts on the sample cooling station which is cooled by liquid helium. The boil off helium is recondensed by the pulse tube cryocooler, thus the cryostat maintains zero boil off. There is no mechanical contact between the cryogenic part of the cryocooler and the sample cooling station. A bellows is used to isolate the vibration which could transfer from the cryocooler flange to the cryostat flange at the room temperature. Any vibrations generated by the operation of the cryocooler are almost entirely isolated from the cryogenic device. The cryostat provides a cooling capacity of 0.65 W at 4.21 K on the sample cooling station while maintaining a vapor pressure of 102 kPa. The sample cooling station has a very stable temperature with oscillations of less than ±3 mK during all the operations. A cryogenic microwave oscillator has been successfully cooled and operated with the cryostat.     

分离型二级脉管制冷机的实验研究第一部分20～40 K温区单级大功率脉管制冷机

为了满足液氦温区分离型二级脉管制冷机第二级预冷的需要,设计制作了1台20～40K温区单级大功率脉管制冷机.采用额定功率为6 kW的压缩机驱动该制冷机,最低制冷温度达13.8K,刷新了单级脉管制冷机最低制冷温度纪录.该制冷机在40 K可获得高达55.9 W的制冷量,基本可以满足15～40 K温区超导磁体等冷却的需要.着重分析了频率、充气压力和不同压缩机对系统制冷性能的影响,测试了长时间运行中系统性能的变化情况.     

Innovative phase shifter for pulse tube operating below 10 K

Stirling type pulse tubes are classically based on the use of an inertance phase shifter to optimize their cooling power. The limitations of the phase shifting capabilities of these inertances have been pointed out in various studies. These limitations are particularly critical for low temperature operation, typically below about 50 K. An innovative phase shifter using an inertance tube filled with liquid, or fluid with high density or low viscosity, and separated by a sealed metallic diaphragm has been conceived and tested. This device has been characterized and validated on a dedicated test bench. Operation on a 50–80 K pulse tube cooler and on a low temperature (below 8 K) pulse tube cooler have been demonstrated and have validated the device in operation. These developments open the door for efficient and compact low temperature Stirling type pulse tube coolers. The possibility of long life operation has been experimentally verified and a design for space applications is proposed.