Stirling Pulse Tube Cryocooler Research Articles

高温超電導用スターリング型パルス管冷凍機のエネルギフロー分析

高温超電導用スターリング型パルス管冷凍機のエネルギフロー分析

Investigation of synchronous effects of multi-mesh regenerator and double-inlet on performance of a Stirling pulse tube cryocooler

In this paper synchronous effects of multi-mesh regenerator and double-inlet on performance of a Stirling pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) have been considered. In this respect, a finite volume code was developed to simulate the SPTC. Set of governing equations were written in a general form such that all porous and non-porous sections of the system could be modeled. Results showed that synchronous application of double inlet and multi-mesh regenerator optimizes the phase shift between velocity and pressure at the warm end of the pulse tube, increases the regenerator’s outlet pressure amplitude, decreases inertial and viscous losses in the hot end of the regenerator and consequently increases the COP of the system. Furthermore, it was observed that a minimum temperature of 60.3K and COP of 0.03996 @ 80K is attainable using optimum multi-mesh regenerator and double inlet; whereas, for a simple SPTC with a uniform mesh regenerator, a minimum temperature of 71.3K and maximum COP of 0.0227 @ 80K are concluded.

Operating characteristics of a three-stage Stirling pulse tube cryocooler operating around 5 K

A Stirling pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) operating at the liquid-helium temperatures represents an excellent prospect for satisfying the requirements of space applications because of its compactness, high efficiency and reliability. However, the working mechanism of a 4K SPTC is more complicated than that of the Gifford McMahon (GM) PTC that operates at the relatively low frequency of 1–2Hz, and has not yet been well understood. In this study, the primary operating parameters, including frequency, charge pressure, input power and precooling temperature, are systematically investigated in a home-developed separate three-stage SPTC. The investigation demonstrates that the frequency and precooling temperature are closely coupled via phase shift. In order to improve the cooling capacity it is important to lower the frequency and the precooling temperature simultaneously. In contrast to the behavior predicted by previous studies, the pressure dependence of the gas properties results in an optimized pressure that decreases significantly as the temperature is lowered. The third stage reaches a lowest temperature of 4.97K at 29.9Hz and 0.91MPa. A cooling power of 25mW is measured at 6.0K. The precooling temperature is 23.7K and the input power is 100W.

A three-stage Stirling pulse tube cryocooler operating below the critical point of helium-4

Precooled phase shifters can significantly enhance the phase shift effect and further improve the performance of pulse tube cryocoolers. A separate three-stage Stirling pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) with a cold inertance tube was designed and fabricated. Helium-4 instead of the rare helium-3 was used as the working fluid. The cryocooler reached a bottom temperature of 4.97 K with a net cooling power of 25 mW at 6.0 K. The operating frequency was 29.9 Hz and the charging pressure was 0.91 MPa. It is the first time a refrigeration temperature below the critical point of helium-4 was obtained in a three-stage Stirling pulse tube cryocooler.

Study on a 5.0 W/80 K single stage Stirling type pulse tube cryocooler

A single stage Stirling pulse tube cryocooler was designed based on REGEN 3.2 and fabricated for testing. The experimental results show that the cooler can provide a cooling capacity of 5.0 W at 79.1 K, and produce a no-load temperature of 57.0 K, operating with an average pressure of 2.50 MPa and a frequency of 60 Hz, performance results that are very close to the calculated values. The cryocooler can be cooled from room temperature to 80 K in 8.5 min. The fast cooldown time is a result of the small regenerator.