Liquid helium free mechanical property test system with G-M cryocoolers

In the present work, a cryogenic mechanical property testing system conduction-cooled by two G-M cryocoolers was developed. The testing sample can be cooled from room temperature to 2.7 K within 7.5 h. The sample was first cooled down to 11.1 K directly by the two G-M cryocoolers and then cooled down to 2.7 K by decompressing the chamber. Instead of liquid helium, the cooling process is characterized by cooling with recycled helium gas as heat transfer medium. The heat load of the system was analyzed and optimizations were adopted in terms of material selections and design. The static load capacity of the system reaches 200 kN and the fatigue load capacity can reach 50 kN. This system can be installed onto an electronic universal testing machine or a fatigue testing machine to characterize static tension, fracture mechanics or fatigue properties at tunable low temperatures. Tensile properties of 316L austenitic stainless steels at 4.2 K were tested with the system and the results were compared with those obtained by cooled using liquid helium, which demonstrates high reliability.     

Experimental study of the influence of cold heat exchanger geometry on the performance of a co-axial pulse tube cooler

Improving the performance of the pulse tube cooler is one of the important objectives of the current studies. Besides the phase shifters and regenerators, heat exchangers also play an important role in determining the system efficiency and cooling capacity. A series of experiments on a 10 W @ 77 K class co-axial type pulse tube cooler with different cold heat exchanger geometries are presented in this paper. The cold heat exchangers are made from a copper block with radial slots, cut through using electrical discharge machining. Different slot widths varying from 0.12 mm to 0.4 mm and different slot numbers varying from around 20–60 are investigated, while the length of cold heat exchangers are kept the same. The cold heat exchanger geometry is classified into three groups, namely, constant heat transfer area, constant porosity and constant slot width. The study reveals that a large channel width of 0.4 mm (about ten times the thermal penetration depth of helium gas at 77 K, 100 Hz and 3.5 MPa) shows poor performance, the other results show complicated interaction effects between slot width and slot number. These systematic comparison experiments provide a useful reference for selecting a cold heat exchanger geometry in a practical cooler.     

Cryogenic flat-panel gas-gap heat switch

A compact additive manufactured flat-panel gas-gap heat switch operating at cryogenic temperature is reported in this paper. A guarded-hot-plate apparatus has been developed to measure the thermal conductance of the heat switch with the heat sink temperature in the range of 100–180 K. The apparatus is cooled by a two-stage GM cooler and the temperature is controlled with a heater and a braided copper wire connection. A thermal guard is mounted on the hot side of the device to confine the heat flow axially through the sample. A gas handling system allows testing the device with different gas pressures in the heat switch. Experiments are performed at various heat sink temperatures, by varying gas pressure in the gas-gap and with helium, hydrogen and nitrogen gas. The measured off-conductance with a heat sink temperature of 115 K and the hot plate at 120 K is 0.134 W/K, the on-conductance with helium and hydrogen gases at the same temperatures is 4.80 W/K and 4.71 W/K, respectively. This results in an on/off conductance ratio of 37 ± 7 and 35 ± 6 for helium and hydrogen respectively. The experimental results matches fairly well with the predicted heat conductance at cryogenic temperatures.     

Performance of a helium circulation system for a MEG

We report the performance of a helium circulation system (HCS) for a magnetoencephalography (MEG) that re-liquefies all the evaporating helium gas using two 1.5 W GM cryocoolers operating at 4.2 K. The MEG with the HCS was used to measure human brain responses for over one and a half years without any noise problems. The noise level is below 10 fT/Hz^1/2 for 2–40 Hz, below 30 fT/Hz^1/2 at 1 Hz, and 200 fT/Hz^1/2 at 50 Hz, which is the power supply frequency. As the amount of liquid helium used decreases less than one percent, the maintenance cost of the MEG becomes less than one-tenth of the previous cost.     

Cryogenic infrared mission “JAXA/SPICA” with advanced cryocoolers

Since the next cryogenic infrared mission “JAXA/SPICA” employs advanced mechanical cryocoolers with effective radiant cooling in place of cryogen, the primary mirror, 3.5 m in diameter, and the optical bench can be maintained at 4.5 K for at least 5 years. First, the feasibility of the thermal design of the cryogenic system is presented. A 20 K-class Stirling cryocooler was then improved in cooling capacity and reliability for the mission, and the effects of contaminated working gas or new regenerator materials on cooling performance were investigated. Development of a new ³He-JT (Joule–Thomson) cryocooler for use at 1.7 K is also described, along with the successful results of a cooling capacity higher than the required 10 mW. A 4 K-class cryocooler was modified and developed for higher reliability over a five-year operational life and a higher cooling capacity exceeding the current 30 mW. Finally, we discuss a system for heat rejection from cryocoolers using thermal control devices.     

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.     

Operating modes and cooling capabilities of the 3-stage ADR developed for the Soft-X-ray Spectrometer instrument on Astro-H

A 3-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) (Shirron et al., 2012) is used on the Soft X-ray Spectrometer instrument (Mitsuda et al., 2010) on Astro-H (Takahashi et al., 2010) [3] to cool a 6 × 6 array of X-ray microcalorimeters to 50 mK. The ADR is supported by a cryogenic system (Fujimoto et al., 2010) consisting of a superfluid helium tank, a 4.5 K Joule–Thomson (JT) cryocooler, and additional 2-stage Stirling cryocoolers that pre-cool the JT cooler and cool radiation shields within the cryostat. The ADR is configured so that it can use either the liquid helium or the JT cryocooler as its heat sink, giving the instrument an unusual degree of tolerance for component failures or degradation in the cryogenic system. The flight detector assembly, ADR and dewar were integrated into the flight dewar in early 2014, and have since been extensively characterized and calibrated. This paper summarizes the operation and performance of the ADR in all of its operating modes.     

Influence of the connecting tube at the cold end in a U-shaped pulse tube cryocooler

In some special applications, the pulse tube cryocooler must be designed as U-shape; however, the connecting tube at the cold end will influence the cooling performance. Although lots of U-shape pulse tubes have been developed, the mechanism of the influence of the connecting tube on the performance has not been well demonstrated. Based on thermoacoustic theory, this paper discusses the influence of the length and diameter of the connecting tube, transition structure, flow straightener, impedance of the inertance tube, etc. on the cooling performance. Primary experiments were carried out in two in-line shape pulse tube cryocoolers to verify the analysis. The two cryocoolers shared the same regenerator, heat exchangers, inertance tube and straightener, and the pulse tube, so the influence of these components could be eliminated. With the same electric power, the pulse tube cryocooler without connecting parts obtained 31 W cooling power at 77 K; meanwhile, the other pulse tube cryocooler with the connecting parts only obtained 27 W, so the connecting tube induced more than a 12.9% decrease on the cooling performance, which agrees with the calculation quite well.     

A closed-cycle 1 K refrigeration cryostat

A 1 K closed-cycle cryostat has been developed to provide continuous cooling to a photon detector below 2 K. A two-stage 4 K pulse tube cryocooler is used to liquefy evacuated vapor from a 1 K pumping port to form a closed-cycle refrigeration loop. A 1 K instrumentation chamber, attached to the 1 K cooling station, is designed to operate with helium inside and provide more uniform cooling. The design of the cryostat has no direct mechanical contact between the pulse tube cryocooler heat exchangers and the 1 K cooling station resulting in almost no vibration transfer to instrumentation chamber. The cryostat can reach a no-load temperature of 1.62 K and provide 250 mW cooling power at 1.84 K.     

Development of mechanical cryocoolers for the cooling system of the Soft X-ray Spectrometer onboard Astro-H

Astro-H is the Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite planned for launch in 2014. The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) onboard Astro-H, is a high energy resolution spectrometer utilizing an X-ray micro-calorimeter array, which is operated at 50 mK by the ADR with the 30-L superfluid liquid helium (LHe). The mechanical cryocoolers, 4 K-class Joule Thomson (JT) cooler and 20 K-class double-staged Stirling (2ST) cooler are key components to achieve a LHe lifetime for over 3 years in orbit (5 years as a goal). Based on the existing cryocoolers onboard Akari (2006) and JEM/SMILES (2009), modifications for higher cooling power and reliability had been investigated. In the present development phase, the Engineering Models (EMs) of these upgraded cryocoolers are fabricated to carry out verification tests for cooling performance, mechanical performance and lifetime. Nominal cooling power of 200 mW at 20 K for the 2ST cooler and 40 mW at 4.5 K for the JT cooler were demonstrated with temperature and power margin. Mechanical performance test for the 2ST cooler units proves tolerability for pyro shock and vibration environment of the Astro-H criteria. Continuous running of the 4 K-class JT cooler combined with the 2ST precooler for lifetime test has achieved over 5000 h without any degradation of cooling performance.     

New application of plate–fin heat exchanger with regenerative cryocoolers

A design idea is newly proposed and investigated for the application of plate–fin heat exchanger (PFHX) with regenerative cryocoolers. The role of this heat exchanger is to effectively absorb heat from the stream of coolant and deliver it to the cold-head of a cryocooler. While various types of tubular HX’s have been developed so far, a small PFHX could be more useful for this purpose by taking advantage of compactness and design flexibility. In order to confirm the feasibility and effectiveness, a prototype of aluminum-brazed PFHX is designed, fabricated, and tested with a single-stage GM cryocooler in experiments for subcooling liquid nitrogen from 78 K to 65–70 K. The results show that the PFHX is 30–50% more effective in cooling rate than the tubular HX’s. Several potential applications of PFHX are presented and discussed with specific design concepts.     

Intermediate cooling from pulse tube and regenerator in a 4 K pulse tube cryocooler

This paper introduces intermediate cooling by thermally attaching heat exchangers on the second stage pulse tube and regenerator in a commercial 4 K pulse tube cryocooler. Due to the large enthalpy flow in the 2nd stage pulse tube and regenerator, both intermediate heat exchangers on the pulse tube and regenerator can provide cooling capacities in the temperature range of 5–15 K without or with minor effect on the performance of the 4 K stage. Extracting cooling capacity from the pulse tube or regenerator reduces the 1st stage cooling performance in the present study. The joint intermediate heat exchanger on the pulse tube and regenerator has demonstrated promising results for applications.     

Validation of an EcosimPro® model for the assessment of two heat load smoothing strategies in the HELIOS experiment

HELIOS experiment, installed at CEA Grenoble, is a scaled down helium loop for investigating high pulsed loads on superconducting magnet cooling circuits of Tokamak. Heat loads have to be smoothed down in order to ensure refrigerator stability. A real time simulation is of interest for reproducing the thermohydraulic phenomenon observed experimentally. The modelling work has been carried out with EcosimPro simulation software combined with a specific cryogenic library. Existing components were modified with additional features, particularly for taking into account 1D fluid transport. The model comprises a closed loop with forced flow supercritical helium at 4.4 K and 5 bar connected through heat exchangers to a saturated helium bath at 1.1 bar. The new heat load mitigation strategies presented in this paper are based on two kinds of regulations in order to smooth the helium mass flow retuning to the refrigerator. First strategy uses the bath as a thermal buffer by acting on bath outlet control valve. Second one uses the variation of the circulator speed to induce a delay in the arrival of the heat loads into the helium bath. The model with the two controls is validated against comparisons with experimental data.     

Development and parametric study of the convection-type stationary adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) for hydrogen re-condensation

The adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) system in this paper is composed of a conduction-cooled current cycling high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet system, a magnetic bed assembly, its heat exchange parts and an auxiliary precooling stage (a commercial GM cryocooler and a liquid nitrogen vessel). The whole magnetic refrigeration system including the conduction-cooled HTS magnet is cooled by the precooling stage to absorb the rejection heat of the ADR cycle. The packed bed type magnetic bed consists of tiny irregular powders of Dy_0.9Gd_0.1Ni₂ enclosed in a thin walled stainless steel container (22.2 mm in O.D., 0.3 mm in thickness and 40.0 mm in height). The precooled heat transfer fluid (helium) travels through the magnetic material when heat rejection is required; otherwise the helium stagnates within its pores (pseudo-adiabatic process). Flow of the heat transfer fluid substitutes for the function of a traditional heat switch, creating, essentially, a forced-convection type heat switch. The magnetic bed assembly is periodically magnetized and demagnetized at the center of the conduction-cooled HTS magnet which can stably generate both strong and alternating magnetic field from 0 T to 3.0 T (0–130 A) with an average ramp rate of 0.24 T s⁻¹. The cooling capacities of the ADR system at 20 K which is the normal boiling point (NBP) of hydrogen, are 11.1 J cycle⁻¹, 6.3 J cycle⁻¹ and 1.9 J cycle⁻¹ when the temperature spans are 1 K, 2 K and 3 K, respectively. We describe the detailed construction of the ADR system and discuss the test results with the operational parameters (the entrained helium pressure, the mass flow rate of helium and the operating temperature span) in the 20 K region.     

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.     

Design and performance of a 4He-evaporator at <1.0 K

A helium evaporator for obtaining 1 K temperature has been built and tested in laboratory. This will function primarily as the precooling stage for the circulating helium isotopic gas mixture. This works on evaporative cooling by way of pumping out the vapour from the top of the pot. A precision needle valve is used initially to fill up the pot and subsequently a permanent flow impedance maintains the helium flow from the bath into the pot to replenish the evaporative loss of helium. Considering the cooling power of 10 mW @1.0 K, a 99.0 cm³ helium evaporator was designed, fabricated from OFE copper and tested in the laboratory. A pumping station comprising of a roots pump backed by a dry pump was used for evacuation. The calibrated RuO thermometer and kapton film heater were used for measuring the temperature and cooling power of the system respectively. The continuously filled 1 K bath is tested in the laboratory and found to offer a temperature less than 1.0 K by withdrawing vapour from the evaporator. In order to minimize the heat load and to prevent film creep across the pumping tube, size optimization of the pumping line and pump-out port has been performed. The results of test run along with relevant analysis, mechanical fabrication of flow impedance are presented here.     

Development of mechanical cryocoolers for the Japanese IR space telescope SPICA

The next Japanese infrared space telescope SPICA features a large 3.5-m-diameter primary mirror and an optical bench cooled to 4.5 K with advanced mechanical cryocoolers and effective radiant cooling instead of using a massive and short-lived cryogen system. To obtain a sufficient thermal design margin for the cryogenic system, cryocoolers for 20 K, 4 K, and 1 K have been modified for higher reliability and higher cooling power. The latest results show that all mechanical cryocoolers achieve sufficient cooling capacity for the cooling requirement of the telescope and detectors on the optical bench at the beginning of life. Consequently, the feasibility of the SPICA cryogenic system concept was validated, while attempts to achieve higher reliability, higher cooling capacity and less vibration have continued for stable operations at the end of life.     

Design and predicted performance of the 3-stage ADR for the Soft-X-ray Spectrometer instrument on Astro-H

The Japanese Astro-H mission will include the Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) instrument provided by NASA/GSFC. The SXS will perform imaging spectroscopy in the soft X-ray band using a 6 × 6 array of silicon microcalorimeters operated at 50 mK. The detectors will be cooled by a 3-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR). The configuration allows the ADR to operate with both a 1.3 K superfluid helium bath and a 4.5 K cryocooler as its heat sink. Initially, when liquid helium is present, the two coldest stages of the ADR will operate in a single-shot mode to cool the detectors from 1.3 K. During this phase of the mission, the 3rd stage may be used to reduce the net heat load on the liquid helium and extend its lifetime. When the liquid is depleted, the 2nd and 3rd stages will operate in a continuous mode to maintain the helium tank at about 1.3 K, allowing continued operation of the 1st stage (in a single-shot mode) and hence the SXS instrument. This paper describes the design and operating modes of the ADR, as well as details of critical components.     

Thermodynamic performance of the 3-stage ADR for the Astro-H Soft-X-ray Spectrometer instrument

The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) instrument (Mitsuda et al., 2010) [1] on Astro-H (Takahashi et al., 2010) [2] will use a 3-stage ADR (Shirron et al., 2012) to cool the microcalorimeter array to 50 mK. In the primary operating mode, two stages of the ADR cool the detectors using superfluid helium at ⩽1.20 K as the heat sink (Fujimoto et al., 2010). In the secondary mode, which is activated when the liquid helium is depleted, the ADR uses a 4.5 K Joule–Thomson cooler as its heat sink. In this mode, all three stages operate together to continuously cool the (empty) helium tank and single-shot cool the detectors. The flight instrument – dewar, ADR, detectors and electronics – were integrated in 2014 and have since undergone extensive performance testing. This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of the ADR’s operation, including cooling capacity, heat rejection to the heat sinks, and various measures of efficiency.     

Flight model performance test results of a helium dewar for the soft X-ray spectrometer onboard ASTRO-H

ASTRO-H is a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite, scheduled to be launched in fiscal year 2015. The mission includes a soft X-ray spectrometer instrument (SXS), which contains an X-ray micro calorimeter operating at 50 mK by using an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR). The heat sink of the ADR is superfluid liquid helium below 1.3 K. The required lifetime of the superfluid helium is 3 years or more. In order to realize this lifetime, we have improved the thermal performance from the engineering model (EM) while maintaining the mechanical performance. Then, we have performed a thermal test of the flight model (FM). The results were that the heat load to the helium tank was reduced to below 0.8 mW in the FM from 1.2 mW in the EM. Therefore, the lifetime of the superfluid helium is more than 3 years with 30 L of liquid helium.In this paper, the thermal design and thermal test results are described.