Analysis of DC gas flow in GM type double inlet pulse tube refrigerators

Abstract

In a GM type double inlet pulse tube refrigerator, a DC gas flow is an intrinsic phenomenon. It is important to understand the characteristics of the DC gas flow. In this paper, the relation between the DC gas flow, valve operating time intervals, and flow patterns in the bypass of the GM type double inlet pulse tube refrigerator is studied with a numerical simulation when a symmetric bypass is used. The governing equations of the numerical simulation based on the nodal analysis are discretized with an implicit finite volume method. The simulation result shows that the valve opening angle difference is the main parameter having influence on the DC gas flow, and the effect depends on the flow patterns in the bypass.