DIAPHRAGM PRESSURE WAVE GENERATOR DEVELOPMENTS AT INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH LTD

Abstract

Industrial Research Ltd (IRL) have been developing a unique diaphragm based pressure wave generator technology for pulse tube and Stirling cryocoolers. Our system uses a metal diaphragm to separate the clean cryocooler gas circuit from a conventionally lubricated mechanical driver, thus producing a clean pressure wave with a long life drive that does not require the precision manufacture and associated costs of large linear motors. The first successful diaphragm pressure wave generator produced 3.2 kW of acoustic power at an electro‐acoustic efficiency of 72% with a swept volume of 200 ml and a prototype has now accumulated over 2500 hours running. This paper describes recent developments in the technology. To explore scaling, a small diaphragm pressure wave generator with a swept volume of 20 ml has been constructed and has delivered 454 W of acoustic power at an electro‐acoustic efficiency of 60%. Improvements have been made to the hydraulic force amplifier mechanism for driving the diaphragms resulting in a cheaper and lighter mechanism than the mechanical linkage originally used. To meet a customer’s specific requirements, the 200 ml pressure wave generator’s stroke was extended to achieve 240 ml of swept volume thereby increasing its acoustic power delivery to 4.1 kW without compromising efficiency.