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Journal of Thermal Science

热科学学报

Journal of Thermal Science >

2024 , Vol. 33 >Issue 4: 1468 - 1479

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-024-1991-3

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Thermal Performance of a 4 K High-Frequency Pulse Tube Cryocooler with Different Working Fluids

  • GAO Zhaozhao ,
  • YANG Biao ,
  • FAN Xiaoyu ,
  • CHEN Liubiao ,
  • WANG Junjie
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  • 1. Key Laboratory of Cryogenic Science and Technology, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Online published: 2024-07-15

Supported by

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.12073058), the China National Space Administration (No. D050104, D040305), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 2019030).

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Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024
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Abstract

The high-frequency pulse tube cryocooler (HPTC) represents a promising miniature cryocooling technology due to its compact structure and the absence of low-temperature moving components. However, limited to the non-ideal gas effect of 4He, the HPTC is hard to obtain high cooling performance in the liquid helium temperature range. 3He as the working fluid can effectively improve the cooling performance of the HPTC, but the high cost hinders its wide application. In consideration of both cooling performance and cost-effectiveness, this paper explores the feasibility of utilizing 3He-4He mixtures as the working fluid for HPTCs. Firstly, the experimental results of a developed HPTC based 4He are reported. With a total power consumption of 575 W, the lowest temperature of 3.26 K was observed. And the measured cooling power at 4.2 K was 20.8 mW. Then the theoretical utmost efficiency of the cryocooler was calculated in terms of the thermophysical properties of the working fluids, using 3He-4He mixtures with different compositions as the working fluids. The whole machine modeling of the HPTC was further carried out, and the influence of the working fluids with different components on the structural parameters such as double-inlet and inertance tube, and operating parameters such as pressure and frequency were analyzed. The calculated results show that the cooling power is expected to be increased to 36 mW and 53 mW if the equimolar 3He-4He mixture and pure 3He are used, respectively.

Key words： high-frequency pulse tube cryocooler; 3He-4He mixture; liquid helium temperature; thermally coupled

Cite this article

GAO Zhaozhao , YANG Biao , FAN Xiaoyu , CHEN Liubiao , WANG Junjie . Thermal Performance of a 4 K High-Frequency Pulse Tube Cryocooler with Different Working Fluids[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2024 , 33(4) : 1468 -1479 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-024-1991-3

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Sponsored by: Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences　Publisher: Science Press

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