Herschel flight models sorption coolers

The Herschel and Planck satellites will be jointly launched on an ARIANE 5 in 2008. The Herschel payload consists of three instruments built by international scientific consortia, heterodyne instrument for first (HIFI), photo-conductor array camera and spectrometer (PACS) and spectral and photometric imaging receiver (SPIRE). The spacecraft provides the environment for astronomical observations in the infrared and sub-millimeter wavelength range requiring cryogenic temperatures for the cold focal plane units. The spectral and photometric imaging receiver (SPIRE) will cover the 200–670 μm spectral range using bolometric detectors, as the photo-conductor array camera and spectrometer (PACS) will cover the 60–210 μm spectral range. Both instruments SPIRE and PACS feature detectors operating at 300 mK. This cooling will be effected by two helium sorption coolers developed at the Service des Basses Températures of the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA-SBT). These coolers based on an evaporative cooling cycle features no moving parts and can be recycled indefinitely pending the availability of a cold heat sink at temperature below 3 K. Several models were developed in the course of the Herschel program and this paper deals with the design, manufacturing and qualification of the flight model coolers.     

Investigation on phase shifting for a 4 K Stirling pulse tube cryocooler with He-3 as working fluid

He-3 is generally recognized for its ability to provide more excellent thermophysical performance than He-4, especially in the 4 K temperature range. However, this was not always the case in our preliminary experiments on a three-stage Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC). Our ongoing studies, as reported in this paper, demonstrate that the different working fluids also affect the performance through their phase shifting capability. This feature has been passed over in large part by researchers considering refrigerant substitution. Unlike previous theoretical analyses that focus primarily on regenerator losses, this report investigates the effects of the working fluid on the phase angle at the cold end in order to quantitatively reveal the relationship between the lowest attainable temperature and the cooling capacity. The analysis agrees well with our experimental results on a three-stage SPTC. While running with the operating parameters optimized for He-3, the lowest temperature of the SPTC decreased from 5.4 K down to 4.03 K. This is the lowest refrigeration temperature ever achieved with a three-stage SPTC.     

Experimental investigation of low-pressure refrigerant mixtures for micro cryogenic coolers

Micro Cryogenic Coolers (MCCs) can achieve very small sizes and high efficiencies when operating with a refrigerant mixture, but micro-scale compressors have a limited pressure output. Four refrigerant mixtures were designed to operate between 0.4 MPa and 0.1 MPa, and tested in a MCC system both with and without pre-cooling. For comparison, two pure refrigerants were tested as well. Without pre-cooling, each mixture exhibited considerably lower cooling power than the design value. With pre-cooling, the mixtures exhibited unsteady cooling temperatures accompanied by flow pulsations after a period of time. The low cooling power, unsteady temperatures, and time required for the pulsations to occur are analyzed in terms of composition change due to liquid hold-up in the annular and intermittent flow regimes.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations on the cooling capacity distributions at the stages in the thermally-coupled two-stage Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler without external precooling

The two-stage Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) has advantages in simultaneously providing the cooling powers at two different temperatures, and the capacity in distributing these cooling capacities between the stages is significant to its practical applications. In this paper, a theoretical model of the thermally-coupled two-stage SPTC without external precooling is established based on the electric circuit analogy with considering real gas effects, and the simulations of both the cooling performances and PV power distribution between stages are conducted. The results indicate that the PV power is inversely proportional to the acoustic impedance of each stage, and the cooling capacity distribution is determined by the cold finger cooling efficiency and the PV power into each stage together. The design methods of the cold fingers to achieve both the desired PV power and the cooling capacity distribution between the stages are summarized. The two-stage SPTC is developed and tested based on the above theoretical investigations, and the experimental results show that it can simultaneously achieve 0.69 W at 30 K and 3.1 W at 85 K with an electric input power of 330 W and a reject temperature of 300 K. The consistency between the simulated and the experimental results is observed and the theoretical investigations are experimentally verified.     

Forced flow He vapor cooled critical current testing facility for measurements of superconductors in a wide temperature and magnetic field range

As superconducting materials find their way into applications, there is increasing need to verify their performance at operating conditions. Testing of critical current with respect to temperature and magnetic field is of particular importance. However, testing facilities covering a range of temperatures and magnetic fields can be costly, especially when considering the cooling power required in the cryogenic system in the temperature range below 65 K (inaccessible for LN₂). Critical currents in excess of 500 A are common for commercial samples, making the testing of such samples difficult in setups cooled via a cryocooler, moreover it often does not represent the actual cooling conditions that the sample will experience in service. This work reports the design and operation of a low-cost critical current testing facility, capable of testing samples in a temperature range of 10–65 K, with magnetic field up to 1.6 T and measuring critical currents up to 900 A with variable cooling power.     

High-capacity turbo-Brayton cryocoolers for space applications

Long-life, high-capacity cryocoolers may be needed for future space systems utilizing stored cryogens. The cooling requirements for planetary and extraterrestrial exploration missions, extended-life orbital transfer vehicles, and space depots may range from 10 W to 50 W at temperatures between 20 K and 120 K. Turbo-Brayton cryocoolers are ideal for these systems because they are lightweight, compact and very efficient at high cooling loads due to the high power density of rotary machines. These benefits are in addition to their inherent attributes of high reliability; negligible vibration; long, maintenance-free lifetimes; flexibility in integrating with spacecraft systems; and ability to directly cool remote and distributed loads. To date, space-borne turbo-Brayton technology has been developed for low cooling loads. The first space implementation of a turbo-Brayton cryocooler was in the NICMOS Cooling System (NCS). The NCS has been operational on the Hubble Space Telescope for over 3.5 years without any degradation. It provides 7 W of cooling at 70 K. The scaling of the technology to higher capacities is the subject of this paper.     

Design and experimental investigation of a cryogenic system for environmental test applications

This paper is concerned with the design, development and performance testing of a cryogenic system for use in high cooling power instruments for ground-based environmental testing. The system provides a powerful tool for a combined environmental test that consists of high pressure and cryogenic temperatures. Typical cryogenic conditions are liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LO2), which are used in many fields. The cooling energy of liquid nitrogen (LN2) and liquid helium (LHe) is transferred to the specimen by a closed loop of helium cycle. In order to minimize the consumption of the LHe, the optimal design of heat recovery exchangers has been used in the system. The behavior of the system is discussed based on experimental data of temperature and pressure. The results show that the temperature range from room temperature to LN2 temperature can be achieved by using LN2, the pressurization process is stable and the high test pressure is maintained. Lower temperatures, below 77 K, can also be obtained with LHe cooling, the typical cooling time is 40 min from 90 K to 22 K. Stable temperatures of 22 K at the inlet of the specimen have been observed, and the system in this work can deliver to the load a cooling power of several hundred watts at a pressure of 0.58 MPa.     

Study on a 10 W/90 K in-line pulse tube cryocooler

A Stirling-type in-line pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) has been designed, built and tested at Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (SITP), Chinese Academy of Sciences. This PTC prototype can obtain a low-noise cooling capacity of more than 10 W at around 90 K cold head temperature and is used for cooling a space-borne infrared photo detector. In order to achieve a highly efficient PTC, a simplified numerical simulation model has been established for design and optimization. The simulation results of the regenerator, pulse tube and inertance tube are analyzed in detail. Besides, some key parameters of the PTC are listed in the paper. The PTC’s performances are tested at different operating frequencies from 42 Hz to 55 Hz and its reject temperature dependence is observed in the range of 290 K to 320 K. Furthermore, the map of the PTC’s performance characteristics is presented.     

SPICA sub-Kelvin cryogenic chains

SPICA, a Japanese led mission, is part of the JAXA future science program and is planned for launch in 2018. SPICA will perform imaging and spectroscopic observations in the mid- and far-IR waveband, and is developing instrumentation spanning the 5–400 μm range. The SPICA payload features several candidate instruments, some of them requiring temperature down to 50 mK. This is currently the case for SAFARI, a core instrument developed by a European-based consortium, and BLISS proposed by CALTECH/JPL in the US.SPICA’s distinctive feature is to actively cool its telescope to below 6 K. In addition, SPICA is a liquid cryogen free satellite and all the cooling will be provided by radiative cooling (L2 orbit) down to 30 K and by mechanical coolers for lower temperatures. The satellite will launch warm and slowly equilibrate to its operating temperatures once in orbit. This warm launch approach makes it possible to eliminate a large liquid cryogen tank and to use the mass saved to launch a large diameter telescope (3.2 m). This 4 K cooled telescope significantly reduces its own thermal radiation, offering superior sensitivity in the infrared region.The cryogenic system that enables this warm launch/cooled telescope concept is a key issue of the mission. This cryogenic chain features a number of cooling stages comprising passive radiators, Stirling coolers and several Joule Thomson loops, offering cooling powers at typically 20, 4.5, 2.5 and 1.7 K. The SAFARI and BLISS detectors require cooling to temperatures as low as 50 mK. The instrument coolers will be operated from these heat sinks. They are composed of a small demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) pre cooled by either a single or a double sorption cooler, respectively for SAFARI and BLISS. The BLISS cooler maintains continuous cooling at 300 mK and thus suppresses the thermal equilibrium time constant of the large focal plane.These hybrid architectures allow designing low weight coolers able to reach 50 mK. Because the sorption cooler has extremely low mass for a sub-Kelvin cooler, it allows the stringent mass budget to be met. These concepts are discussed in this paper.     

Ultra-low-vibration pulse-tube cryocooler system – cooling capacity and vibration

This report describes the development of low-vibration cooling systems with pulse-tube (PT) cryocoolers. Generally, PT cryocoolers have the advantage of lower vibrations in comparison to those of GM cryocoolers. However, cooling systems for the cryogenic laser interferometer observatory (CLIO), which is a gravitational wave detector, require an operational vibration that is sufficiently lower than that of a commercial PT cryocooler. The required specification for the vibration amplitude in cold stages is less than ±1 μm. Therefore, during the development of low-vibration cooling systems for the CLIO, we introduced advanced countermeasures for commercial PT cryocoolers. The cooling performance and the vibration amplitude were evaluated. The results revealed that 4 K and 80 K PT cooling systems with a vibration amplitude of less than ±1 μm and cooling performance of 4.5 K and 70 K at heat loads of 0.5 W and 50 W, respectively, were developed successfully.     

Influence of molybdenum content on transformation behavior of high performance bridge steel during continuous cooling

The continuous-cooling-transformation (CCT) diagrams of high performance bridge steel with different molybdenum content were plotted by means of a combined method of dilatometry and metallography. The results show that the molybdenum addition of 0.17 wt% does not noticeably alter the transformation behavior, whereas 0.38 wt% significantly. In addition, the molybdenum addition of 0.38 wt% completely eliminates the formation of polygonal ferrite (PF) and significantly lower the granular ferrite (GF) transformation starting temperatures throughout the range of cooling rates studied. At lower cooling rates, with the increase of the molybdenum content, the martensite/austenite (M/A) constituents are noticeably refined, whereas the effects are not obvious at higher cooling rates. Moreover, the molybdenum addition of 0.38 wt% can significantly increase the Vickers hardness, but the Vickers hardness increments (by comparison of Mo-0.17wt% steel and Mo-0.38wt% steel) are sharply reduced at the cooling rate of 30 °C/s, indicating that at higher cooling rate, the molybdenum usage can be saved and the higher strengthen can be also gained. It could be found the GF transformation starting temperature is linear with the cooling rate. The empirical equation was established to calculate GF transformation starting temperatures, and the calculated values are in good agreement with measured ones.     

Mechanical properties of aluminium–copper–lithium alloy AA2195 at cryogenic temperatures

Tensile testing was performed on a 4 mm thick sheet of the aluminum–lithium alloy AA2195 in T87 (solution treatment + water quenching + 7% cold work + peak aging) temper which was subjected to 7% cold working by combination of cold rolling and stretching, over a temperature range from ambient to liquid hydrogen (20 K) conditions. Properties were evaluated in longitudinal as well as transverse directions to characterize anisotropy with respect to strength and ductility. Strength and ductility were compared to the conventional aluminum alloy AA2219-T87, developed for similar cryogenic applications. Decreases in test temperature led to higher strengths with little or no change in ductility. As the temperature decreases, the differences between ultimate tensile strength as well as yield strength for two different combinations of cold roll and stretch studied in the present work, narrows down and become equal at 20 K.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations on the partial scaling method for the Oxford-type moving-coil linear compressor

This paper puts forward the partial scaling method of the Oxford-type moving-coil linear compressor for pulse tube cryocoolers and analyzes the related principles. The systematic experimental investigations are further made to verify the analyses. One of the typical compressors developed in the authors’ laboratory is chosen to be scaled, and then coupled with the original pulse tube cold finger. At the typical operating temperature of 80 K for the pulse tube cold finger, the scaled compressor’s maximum input electric power increases from 236.7 W to 370.0 W, and the cooling power is enhanced from 10.0 W to 15.0 W. The motor efficiency decreases from 78% to 73%, but the average cooling efficiency slightly increases from 11% to 12% of Carnot efficiency due to a better match between scaled compressor and original cold finger. The rationality and feasibility of the partial scaling method have been verified by the theoretical analyses and experimental investigations.     

Texture evolution in Fe–3% Si steel treated under unconventional annealing conditions

The present work investigates texture evolution stages in grain-oriented steel heat-treated using unconventional conditions. The Fe–3%Si steel taken after final cold rolling reduction from an industrial line was subjected to a laboratory isothermal annealing at different temperatures. The annealing temperatures were varied in a range of 850–1150 °C. During the annealing each specimen was heated at 10 °C/s and kept at the stated temperature for 5 min. Development of microstructure and texture in the annealed specimens were followed by the DC measurements of magnetic properties. The grain oriented steel, taken from the same industrial line after final box annealing was also analyzed and compared with the laboratory annealed specimens. It was shown that there is an optimal temperature region that, with combination of a fast heating rate, led to the best conditions of a drastically reduced development time of the {110} < 001 > crystallographic texture in the cold rolled grain-oriented steel. Materials heat treated below the optimum temperature region account for a primary recrystallization, while applying heat above this region leads to a secondary recrystallization without abnormal grain growth. Moreover, in the optimum temperature range, there was a particular temperature leading to the most optimal microstructure and texture. The magnetic properties, measured after the optimal heat treatment, were close to that measured on specimens taken after the final box annealing. The electron back scattered diffraction measurement technique revealed that sharpness of the {110} < 001 > crystallographic texture, developed at the optimum temperature is comparable to the steel taken after the industrial final box annealing. This fact is evidence that there is a temperature where the abnormal grain growth proceeds optimally.     

A study of cooling rate of the supercooled water inside of cylindrical capsules

An experimental apparatus was developed to investigate the supercooling phenomenon of pure water inside cylindrical capsules used for cold storage process. The Phase Change Material (PCM) used was distilled water. The external coolant material was a water–alcohol mixture (50% vol.), controlled by a constant temperature bath (CTB) in four fixed values (?4 °C, ?6 °C, ?8 °C, and ?10 °C). Temperatures varying with time were measured inside and outside the capsule. Cylindrical capsules with internal diameter of 30 mm, 45 mm, and 80 mm, with 1.5 mm wall thickness were made in aluminum, bronze or acrylic materials. The Cooling Rate (CR) was investigated for different positions on the internal wall of the capsule, for different external coolant temperatures (T_c), different capsules diameters and different materials. The results showed that the cooling rate is a strong function of the angular position on the internal wall, the coolant temperature, the capsule material, and the capsule's diameter.     

Liquid nitrogen energy storage unit

An energy storage unit is a device able to store thermal energy with a limited temperature drift. After precooling such unit with a cryocooler it can be used as a temporary cold source if the cryocooler is stopped or as a thermal buffer to attenuate temperature fluctuations due to heat bursts. In this article, after a brief study of the possible solutions for such devices, we show that a low temperature cell filled with liquid nitrogen and coupled to a room temperature expansion volume offers the most compact and light solution in the temperature range 60–80 K. For instance, a low temperature cell as small as 23 cm³ allows the storage of 3.7 kJ between 76 K and 81 K. Experimental results were obtained varying the expansion volume size, the filling pressure and the temperature range. These results agree with our simple model based on thermodynamical properties of nitrogen. A cell filled with porous material was tested to confine the liquid in the cell independently of the gravity. This material enhances the thermal exchange for high liquid filling ratio whereas below ≈16% a solution must be found to improve the heat exchange coefficient between the fluid and the cell walls. Our calculations are extended to the 80–120 K temperature range for nitrogen and argon in order to clarify the various parameters to take into account for an energy storage unit dimensioning.     

Design and optimization of a two-stage 28 K Joule–Thomson microcooler

Micro Joule–Thomson (JT) coolers made from glass wafers have been investigated for many years at the University of Twente. After successful realization of a single-stage JT microcooler with a cooling capacity of about 10 mW at 100 K, a two-stage microcooler is being researched to attain a lower temperature of about 30 K. By maximizing the coefficient of performance (COP) of the two-stage microcooler, nitrogen is selected as the optimum working fluid for the first stage and hydrogen as that for the second stage. A dynamic finite-element model is developed for analyzing the cooler performance and to calculate the smallest cooler geometry. The optimized overall cooler dimensions are 20.4 × 85.8 × 0.72 mm for a net cooling power of 50 mW at 97 K at the first stage and 20 mW at 28 K at the second stage. The cool-down time to 28 K is calculated to be about 1.7 h with mass-flow rates of 14.0 mg/s for nitrogen and 0.94 mg/s for hydrogen at steady state.     

The characterization of a cascade thermoelectric cooler in a cryosurgery device

An experimental investigation using a Peltier thermoelectric cooler (TEC) to cool down a cryoprobe for cryosurgery was performed. Two prototypes of cryosurgery devices consisting of 5- and 6-stage TEC modules were analyzed using a variety of electrical voltages, circulating thermostatic bath (CTB) temperatures, and heat exchanger configurations to obtain an optimum cold side temperature and temperature differences between sides of the modules. To increase the heat exchanges at the hot side, a heat pipe system with a water block was used. Using an electric voltage of 12 V and a CTB temperature of 273.55 K, a cryogenic temperature of 177.09 K and a temperature difference of 99.87 K were achieved. These results indicate that the TEC module can be an effective cooling source for cryosurgery. The prototype has shown potential for clinical trials.     

Effect of the cooling rate in the corrosion behavior of a hot worked Ti-6Al-4V extra-low interstitial alloy

This work discusses the effect of the cooling rate during a forging process on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of a Ti–6Al–4V extra-low interstitial (ELI) alloy, which is commonly used as biomaterial. The samples were hot forged at two different temperatures, both of them within the dual phase field (α + β) and a constant strain rate of 4 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ was employed during the tests. The samples were cooled in three different cooling media (water, air and clay) and the microstructure was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The corrosion resistance was determined by cyclic polarization tests in Ringer’s solution at 37 °C. Comparison between the results obtained for forged and commercial samples allowed to establish some correlations between cooling rate, microstructure and corrosion resistance. It was found that the clay as a cooling medium is a good candidate to obtain a proper microstructure and properties for biomedical applications, eliminating the requirement of subsequent heat treatment and reducing costs.     

Low cryogen inventory,forced flow Ne cooling system with room temperature compression stage and heat recuperation

We present design and commissioning results of a forced flow cooling system utilizing neon at 30 K. The cryogen is pumped through the system by a room-temperature compression stage. To decouple the cold zone from the compression stage a recuperating counterflow tube-in-tube heat exchanger is used. Commissioning demonstrated successful condensation of neon and transfer of up to 30 W cooling power to the load at 30 K using only 30 g of the cryogen circulating in the system at pressures below 170 kPa.