Abstract
Commercial and defense-related demand for reliable, low cost cryocoolers continues to drive the development of pulse tube cryogenic refrigerators. While related to the Stirling cryocooler, the Pulse Tube Refrigerator (PTR) has the distinct advantage over the Stirling of having no moving parts in the expander, yielding the potential for great improvement in the areas of reliability, cost, and vibration minimization. Though the fundamental science of pulse tube refrigeration is well understood, more accurate analytic and numerical modeling tools are needed to facilitate the development of different and higher efficiency PTRs. At the present time, one of the primary areas of uncertainty in pulse tube cryocooler modeling is the calculation of the refrigeration losses due to dissipative mechanisms occurring within the pulse tube itself. The purpose of the experiments described herein is to provide insight into how the volume and aspect ratio of the pulse tube influence both the performance of the PTR and the magnitude of the pulse tube losses. To accomplish that task, a modular PTR was designed such that the pulse tube component could be changed independently of the other components in the system (compressor, heat exchangers, etc.). This facilitated a series of parametric tests on distinct PTRs where the only design variables were those related to the geometry of the pulse tube component. The PTR performance was shown to be relatively insensitive to aspect ratio and sensitive to volume over the range of pulse tubes tested.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Radebaugh, R. C., “A Review of Pulse Tube Refrigeration”, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, vol. 35, Plenum Press, New York (1990), pp. 1191–1205.
Kirkconnell, C. S., Numerical Analysis of the Mass Flow and Thermal Behavior in High-Frequency Pulse Tubes, Doctoral Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technolog, Atlanta, (1995).
Zhu, S., P. Wu, and Z. Chen, “A Single Stage Double Inlet Pulse Tube Refrigerator Capable of Reaching 42 K”, Cryogenics, vol. 30 (supplement), (1990), pp. 257–261.
Wang, P. Wu, and Z. Chen, “Theoretical and Experimental Studies of a Double-Inlet Reversible Pulse Tube Refrigerator”, Cryogenics, vol. 33, (1993), p. 648.
Burt, W. W. and C. K Chan, “Demonstration of a High Performance 35 K Pulse Tube Cryocooler”, Cryocoolers 8, Plenum Press, New York, (1995), pp. 313–319.
Price, K. D., Hughes PSC Performance Data, Personal Communication, (1996).
Storch, P. J. and R. C. Radebaugh, “Development and Experimental Test of an Analytical Model of the Orifice Pulse Tube Refrigerator”, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, vol. 33, Plenum Press, New York, (1987), p. 851.
Storch, P. J., R. C. Radebaugh, and J. E. Zimmerman, “Analytical Model for the Refrigeration Power of the Orifice Pulse Tube Refrigerator”, NIST Technical Note 1343, Boulde, CO, (1991).
Wu, P. and S. Zhu, “Mechanism and Numerical Analysis of Orifice Pulse Tube Refrigerator With a Valvless Compressor”, Cryogenics and Refrigeration — Proceedings of International Conference, May 22–26, 1989, International Academic Publishers, (1989), pp. 85–90.
Baks, M. J. A. et al., “Experimental Verification of an Analytical Model for Orifice Pulse Tube Refrigeration”, Cryogenics, vol. 30, (1990), pp. 947–951.
Lee, J. M. et al., “Steady Secondary Momentum and Enthalpy Streaming in the Pulse Tube Refrigerator”, Cryocoolers 8, Plenum Press, New York, (1995), pp. 359–369.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kirkconnell, C.S., Soloski, S.C., Price, K.D. (1997). Experiments on the Effects of Pulse Tube Geometry on PTR Performance. In: Ross, R.G. (eds) Cryocoolers 9. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5869-9_34
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5869-9_34
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7691-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-5869-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive