线性压缩机驱动的80K单级脉管制冷机设计与实验研究

结合美国标准与技术研究院(NIST)的回热器计算软件REGEN3.2,成功设计了1台单级斯特林型脉管制冷机.采用惯性管调相,在2.5MPa充气压力和60Hz频率下,获得无负荷制冷温度59K.在压缩机输入电功率为250W时,80K获得了3.8W的制冷量,与设计计算结果吻合得较好.     

单直线压缩机驱动双脉管冷指的实验研究

为了在不同位置获得不同的制冷性能,设计了一台线性对置压缩机驱动两台同轴型脉管冷指的实验方案并搭建了试验台.通过实验研究两台脉管制冷机耦合的制冷性能.实验结果显示:两台设计相同的脉管冷指性能不同,经过耦合后制冷性能差异更大,可同时达到1.79 W@60 K和1.384 W@60 K制冷量.     

Effects of the driving voltage waveform on the performance of the Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler driven by the moving-coil linear compressor

The effects of three typical waveforms, namely, sine, trapezoid and smeared sine, on the performance of the Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) driven by the moving-coil linear compressor are analyzed and studied experimentally. The results indicate that the dynamic pressure at the inlet of the cold finger has a weak relation with the driving voltage waveform, but the latter plays an important role in affecting both the motor efficiency and the SPTC cooling performance. In the tested range, either the cooling efficiency or the motor efficiency under the smeared sine waveform is the highest, while that under the sine waveform is the lowest. Moreover, given that the input power is below 30 W, the motor efficiencies under both smeared sine and trapezoid waveforms exceed 90%, which suggests a promising approach to achieve a linear compressor with a very high motor efficiency by optimizing the voltage waveform.     

U型脉管制冷机冷端连管对压缩机输出特性影响

实验研究了U型脉冲管制冷机中冷端连管直径、长度对线性压缩机输出特性及制冷机性能的影响。结果表明,管径过小的连管导致压缩机出口压力波与速度波相位差增大,压缩机效率下降,制冷机性能下降;冷端连管长度对压缩机效率影响不大,但随着冷端连管增长,制冷机整机性能下降。     

Investigation on a three-cold-finger pulse tube cryocooler

This paper introduces a new type of pulse tube cryocooler, three-cold-finger pulse tube cryocooler (TCFPTC), which consists of one linear compressor and three cold fingers, i.e., CFA, CFB and CFC. Those three cold fingers are driven by the linear compressor simultaneously. This paper investigates two aspects. First, it studies the mass flow distribution among the three cold fingers by varying the input electrical power. The cooling powers of the three cold fingers at constant cooling temperatures and the cooling temperatures of the three cold fingers at constant cooling powers with various input electrical powers are investigated. Secondly, the interaction among the three cold fingers is investigated by varying the heating power of any one cold finger. Generally, if the heating power applied on one cold finger increases, with its cold head temperature rising up, the cold head temperatures of the others will decrease. But, when the cooling power of CFC has been 4 W, the cold head temperature of whichever cold finger increases, the cold head temperature of CFA or CFB will seldom change if its heating power keeps constant.     

Study on cold head structure of a 300 Hz thermoacoustically driven pulse tube cryocooler

High reliability, compact size and potentially high thermal efficiency make the high frequency thermoacoustically-driven pulse tube cryocooler quite promising for space use. With continuous efforts, the lowest temperature and the thermal efficiency of the coupled system have been greatly improved. So far, a cold head temperature below 60 K has been achieved on such kind of cryocooler with the operation frequency of around 300 Hz. To further improve the thermal efficiency and expedite its practical application, this work focuses on studying the influence of cold head structure on the system performance. Substantial numerical simulations were firstly carried out, which revealed that the cold head structure would greatly influence the cooling power and the thermal efficiency. To validate the predictions, a lot of experiments have been done. The experiments and calculations are in reasonable agreement. With 500 W heating power input into the engine, a no-load temperature of 63 K and a cooling power of 1.16 W at 80 K have been obtained with parallel-plate cold head, indicating encouraging improvement of the thermal efficiency.     

高频脉冲管制冷机特性分析

通过相位理论分析了提高频率可以减小制冷机体积的原理,通过脉冲管制冷机内部损失影响分析了实现微型高效脉冲管制冷机的方法.研究表明:在现有的50 Hz高频下,减小制冷机体积会导致效率降低,提高运行频率,提高充气压力并采用更小水力直径的回热器填料,可以在减小体积的同时获得高效的制冷机.     

斯特林型两级脉管制冷机的研制

介绍了斯特林型两级脉管制冷机的研发过程,设计并制造了1台采用对置的动磁式直线压缩机驱动的两级脉管制冷机.对制冷机系统进行了初步的试运行,试验表明直线压缩机可以正常工作,在充气压力1.6MPa、工作频率30Hz、输入电功率220W时,产生1.3左右的压比,由该压机驱动的二级脉管制冷机,第一级和第二级分别获得124K和45K的低温.     

Model for transient behavior of pulse tube cryocooler

This article describes an investigation of the transient behavior of a small (2.0 W at 85 K) pulse tube cryocooler operating at 120 Hz with an average pressure of 3.5 MPa, capable of relatively fast cool-down from ambient to about 60 K. In a series of experiments, the cold end temperature was measured as a function of time in a complete cool-down and subsequent warm-up cycle, with no heat load and different quantities of excess mass at the cold end. A transient heat transfer model was developed, that considers the effects of the cooling power extracted at the cold end and that of the heat gain at the warm end on the cool-down time. The heat gain factor was calculated from warm-up data, and found to be approximately the same for all experiments. Using the same model with cool-down data enables a determination of both the gross and net cooling power as functions of time, but more importantly – as functions of the cold end temperature. An expression was derived for the cold end temperature as a function of time for any amount of excess mass, including zero. The cool-down time of the “lean” cryocooler (with no excess mass) was found to be less than 50 s.This cool-down/warm-up method for evaluating the cooling power of a cryocooler seems simpler than steady-state experiments with a heater simulating load at the cold end. Use of the heat transfer model with data from one or two good experiments conducted in the above manner, can yield both the gross and net cooling powers of a cryocooler as functions of the cold end temperature, and allow the determination of cool-down time with any amount of excess thermal mass. While the net cooling power during cool-down differs somewhat from that under steady-state operation, the former can serve as a good measure for the latter.     

A vibration free cryostat using pulse tube cryocooler

This paper introduces a new vibration free cryostat cooled by liquid helium and a 4 K pulse tube cryocooler. The cryogenic device mounts on the sample cooling station which is cooled by liquid helium. The boil off helium is recondensed by the pulse tube cryocooler, thus the cryostat maintains zero boil off. There is no mechanical contact between the cryogenic part of the cryocooler and the sample cooling station. A bellows is used to isolate the vibration which could transfer from the cryocooler flange to the cryostat flange at the room temperature. Any vibrations generated by the operation of the cryocooler are almost entirely isolated from the cryogenic device. The cryostat provides a cooling capacity of 0.65 W at 4.21 K on the sample cooling station while maintaining a vapor pressure of 102 kPa. The sample cooling station has a very stable temperature with oscillations of less than ±3 mK during all the operations. A cryogenic microwave oscillator has been successfully cooled and operated with the cryostat.     

A pulse tube cryocooler with a cold reservoir

Phase difference between pressure wave and mass flow is decisive to the cooling capacity of regenerative cryocoolers. Unlike the direct phase shifting using a piston or displacer in conventional Stirling or GM cryocoolers, the pulse tube cyocooler (PTC) indirectly adjusts the cold phase due to the absence of moving parts at the cold end. The present paper proposed and validated theoretically and experimentally a novel configuration of PTC, termed cold reservoir PTC, in which a reservoir together with an adjustable orifice is connected to the cold end of the pulse tube. The impedance from the additional orifice to the cold end helps to increase the mass flow in phase with the pressure wave at the cold end. Theoretical analyses with the linear model for the orifice and double-inlet PTCs indicate that the cooling performance can be improved by introducing the cold reservoir. The preliminary experiments with a home-made single-stage GM PTC further validated the results on the premise of minor opening of the cold-end orifice.     

Numerical investigation on a 300 Hz pulse tube cryocooler driven by a three-stage traveling-wave thermoacoustic heat engine

A 300 Hz pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) driven by a three-stage traveling-wave thermoacoustic heat engine (TSTHE) has been proposed and studied in this paper. In the configuration, three identical thermoacoustic heat engine units are evenly incorporated in a closed traveling-wave loop, in which three pulse tube cryocoolers are connected to the branch of each thermoacoustic heat engine. Compared with the conventional thermoacoustic heat engine which involves a traveling-wave loop and a long resonator, it has advantages of compact size and potentially high thermal efficiency. A TSTHE–PTC system was designed, optimized and studied in detail based on the thermoacoustic theory. Firstly, numerical simulation was conducted to design the system thus the optimum structure parameters of the system were obtained. With the operating condition of 4 MPa mean pressure and high working frequency, a cooling power of 7.75 W at 77 K and an overall relative Carnot efficiency of 11.78% were achieved. In order to better understand the energy conversion characteristics of the system, distributions of key parameters such as acoustic work, phase difference, dynamic pressure, volume flow rate and exergy loss were presented and discussed. Then, the coupling mechanism of the system was investigated. In addition, influence of coupling position on the system performance was further studied.     

斯特林型两级脉管制冷机的改进

在最近研制的1台直线压缩机驱动的两极脉管制冷机的初步试验的基础上,对直线压缩机的线圈重新进行了设计和制作,解决了由于绕制圈数过多而无法输入足够电功率的问题。对冷头的热端法兰及回热器热端热交换器进行了改进,采用了微槽式水冷却器,解决了压缩热无法得到充分冷却引起的制冷机热端温度过高的问题。改进后制冷机的性能得到了显著的提高,在2.0 MPa充气压力和40 Hz频率的条件下,该制冷机获得了14.2 K的最低制冷温度。并且,第一级和第二级在97.8 K和34.9 K时,分别具有2.5 W和1 W的制冷量。     

A two-stage Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler with a cold inertance tube

A thermally coupled two-stage Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) with inertance tubes as phase shifters has been designed, manufactured and tested. In order to obtain a larger phase shift at the low acoustic power of about 2.0 W, a cold inertance tube as well as a cold reservoir for the second stage, precooled by the cold end of the first stage, was introduced into the system. The transmission line model was used to calculate the phase shift produced by the cold inertance tube. Effect of regenerator material, geometry and charging pressure on the performance of the second stage of the two-stage PTC was investigated based on the well known regenerator model REGEN. Experimental results of the two-stage PTC were carried out with an emphasis on the performance of the second stage. A lowest cooling temperature of 23.7 K and 0.50 W at 33.9 K were obtained with an input electric power of 150.0 W and an operating frequency of 40 Hz.     

40 K温区驻波型热声驱动两级脉管的制冷特性

进行了驻波型热声发动机驱动两级脉管的制冷特性实验,样机获得41.2 K的无负荷制冷温度.通过观测热声板叠热端和冷端温度、压力波的振幅、压比和频率,以及脉管制冷机制冷温度等,分析了平均工作压力和加热功率对系统性能的影响.根据实验数据,讨论了系统存在的问题,并指出了改进的方向.     

大功率斯特林型脉管制冷机的最新研究进展

介绍了国内外大功率脉管制冷机的研究现状及最新进展,探讨了大功率脉管制冷机研究面临的大尺寸回热器中温度和流动的非均匀性等困扰发展的关键科学问题,指出了大功率脉管制冷机研究的发展趋势.     

脉冲管制冷机智能测试与控制系统

开发了基于LabVIEW的脉冲管制冷机智能测试与控制系统,系统通过温度、压强、气体流速、活塞位置等传感器和电源、加热等执行器实现了自定义实验流程、机器判稳、自动扫频、3种反馈调节方式测量性能、过热保护、撞缸保护、数据集中显示并实时存储、实时运算性能参数并图形化显示指导改进等自动化智能化功能。在不同的制冷机上分别运用系统完成了自动扫频+控功率控加热测温性能测试+自动复温、自定义实验流程+控功率控加热测温性能测试、自定义实验流程+控功率控温测加热性能测试共3组实验,与手动测试对比,证明了智能系统可以为测试和实验提供方便。     

Wave-shaping of pulse tube cryocooler components for improved performance

The method of wave-shaping acoustic resonators is applied to an inertance type cryogenic pulse tube refrigerator (IPTR) to improve its performance. A detailed time-dependent axisymmetric experimentally validated computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model of the PTR is used to predict its performance. The continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved for both the refrigerant gas (helium) and the porous media regions (the regenerator and the three heat-exchangers) in the PTR. An improved representation of heat transfer in the porous media is achieved by employing a thermal non-equilibrium model to couple the gas and solid (porous media) energy equations. The wave-shaped regenerator and pulse tube studied have cone geometries and the effects of different cone angles and the orientation (nozzle v/s diffuser mode) on the system performance are investigated. The resultant spatio-temporal pressure, temperature and velocity fields in the regenerator and pulse tube components are evaluated. The performance of these wave-shaped PTRs is compared to the performance of a non wave-shaped system with cylindrical components. Better cooling is predicted for the cryocooler using wave-shaped components oriented in the diffuser mode.     

Advances on a cryogen-free Vuilleumier type pulse tube cryocooler

This paper presents experimental results and numerical evaluation of a Vuilleumier (VM) type pulse tube cryocooler. The cryocooler consists of three main subsystems: a thermal compressor, a low temperature pulse tube cryocooler, and a Stirling type precooler. The thermal compressor, similar to that in a Vuilleumier cryocooler, is used to drive the low temperature stage pulse tube cryocooler. The Stirling type precooler is used to establish a temperature difference for the thermal compressor to generate pressure wave. A lowest no-load temperature of 15.1 K is obtained with a pressure ratio of 1.18, a working frequency of 3 Hz and an average pressure of 2.45 MPa. Numerical simulations have been performed to help the understanding of the system performance. With given experimental conditions, the simulation predicts a lowest temperature in reasonable agreement with the experimental result. Analyses show that there is a large discrepancy in the pre-cooling power between experiments and calculation, which requires further investigation.