Remote cooling systems with mesh-based heat exchangers for cryogenic applications

Abstract

In the refrigeration technologies available for the 2 W - 5 W cooling power range at 4.5 K, innovative designs for intermediate cooling options are proposed between the large-scale cryogenic plants and small-scale commercially available cryocoolers. This paper presents a number of remote cooling solutions, which use high-effectiveness mesh-based counterflow heat exchangers (CFHEX) to support the aforementioned refrigeration domain. Additionally, the cooling power is aimed to be provided in a remote, distributed and non-disturbing manner (i.e. reduced mechanical vibrations and magnetic disturbances) for high-technology cryogenic applications that require very low background noise levels. The proposed remote cooling options are analysed in terms of their cooling power performance. Designs and sizing of individual system components, i.e. CFHEXs and cooling interface options, for superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavity cooling application are also proposed. CFHEX compactness and influence of their individual effectiveness values on the performance of the remote cooling systems are assessed, and capillary cooling interface performance is analysed.