L型脉管制冷机的试验研究

介绍了文中提出的L型脉管制冷机的特点：一是采用L型脉管结构而不是通常的直型（文中称为Ⅰ型）脉管结构,降低了冷端死容积,且降低了冷头加工难度;二是在脉管热端采用双小孔阀结构取代了通常的单小孔阀结构,用来分别控制脉管热端进排气的质量流率;以四阀型脉管制冷机作为实验样机,给出了此种新型结构在有阀氦压缩机驱动下的初步性能试验,初步试验结果表明本文中的L型脉管制冷机在频率为2．5Hz,采用200目青铜丝网作为蓄冷器填料下能够达到的最低温度为67．5K。     

Enthalpy flow rate of a pulse tube in pulse tube refrigerator

An integration formula of enthalpy flow rate along a pulse tube in pulse tube refrigerators is described on the assumption of sinusoidal mass flow rate and sinusoidal pressure fluctuation. For ideal double inlet and ideal orifice pulse tube with helium as working medium, it is simplified to a polynomial formula. Polynomial formulas for roughly evaluating the volume of the pulse tube in ideal double inlet and ideal orifice pulse tube refrigerators are also given.     

On cycle-averaged pressure in a G-M type pulse tube refrigerator

An experimental investigation has been carried out on dynamical pressures of the viscous compressible flow oscillating at different locations in a Gifford-McMahon (G-M) type pulse tube refrigerator operating at cycle-steady states. Measurements show that the oscillating amplitude of the pressure was largest at the hot end of the regenerator while the cycle-averaged pressure was the largest in the reservoir. The latter characteristics can be explained based on a cycle-averaged and cross-sectional averaged of the governing equations for a compressible viscous oscillating flow. The reason why the cycle-averaged pressure of the compressible flow oscillating at low frequencies in a tube increases from the wave generator toward the reservoir is analyzed. In addition, the effect of the cycle-averaged pressure on the refrigeration performance is discussed, which can be used to explain why the system with proper asymmetric charging and discharging periods has a better performance than a symmetric one in a G-M type pulse tube refrigerator.     

低于4K温度工作的二级脉管制冷机研制

介绍最近研制的一台双向进气带第二小孔阀型二极脉管制冷机实验情况。该机采用计算机时序控制，脉管热端均处于室温。文中给出了二级脉管制冷机的基本结构尺寸以及试验结果；一级脉管达到４５Ｋ；二级脉管无负荷最低制冷温度达到３．１Ｋ。能稳定，长期工作，讨论了制冷机性能的主要因素。     

Effect of pulse tube volume on dynamics of linear compressor and cooling performance in Stirling-type pulse tube refrigerator

In a Stirling-type pulse tube refrigerator (PTR), the pulse tube volume affects the dynamic behavior of a linear compressor as well as the cooling performance of PTR. In this study, PTRs which have different pulse tube volume are tested and simulated. The simulation code is verified with the experimental measurement of piston displacement, pressure wave, input power and cooling capacity. And then, the power transfer from the electric power input to the cooling capacity is explained with the simulation results. The smaller pulse tube increases the resonant frequency of a linear compressor and suppresses the piston motion because it imposes larger gas spring effect and also larger gas damping effect to the piston. The smaller one allows larger power transfer from electric power to expansion PV work despite the smaller piston displacement, but shows less cooling capacity due to larger thermal losses.     

Comparison of two models of a double inlet miniature pulse tube refrigerator: Part A thermodynamics

The cooling of electronic components is of great interest to improve their capabilities, especially for CMOS components or infrared sensors. The purpose of this paper is to present the design and the optimization of a miniature double inlet pulse tube refrigerator (DIPTR) dedicated to such applications. Special precautions have to be considered in modeling the global functioning of small scale DIPTR systems and also in estimating the net cooling power. In fact, thermal gradients are greater than those observed in normal scale systems, and moreover, because of the small dimensions of ducts (diameter), the pulse tube cannot be assumed to be adiabatic. Hence thermal heat conduction phenomena must be considered. Besides dead volumes introduced by junctions and capillaries cannot be neglected any more in front of the volume of the gas tube itself. The hydrodynamic and thermal behaviors of the cooler are predicted by means of two different approaches: a classical thermodynamic model and a model based on an electrical analogy. The results of these analysis are tested and criticized by comparing them with experimental data obtained on a small commercial pulse tube refrigerator.     

主动调相型脉管制冷机数值模拟与实验研究

设计了一台主动调相型斯特林脉管制冷机,采用线性压缩机作为脉管制冷机主动调相控制器(APC),连接于冷指热端出口。通过控制调相压缩机与驱动压缩机(PWG)间的位移相位角实现主动调相,从而调节质量流和压力波之间的相位关系,优化制冷性能。利用模拟软件进行数值模拟并进行实验研究。研究结果表明,定输入功下APC与PWG位移相位角为-110°及扫气容积比(PWG扫气容积/APC扫气容积)2.98时,无负载制冷温度最低,同时比卡诺效率最高,能够达到原惯性管型脉管制冷机同样的效率。     

空间用3 W@80 K脉冲管制冷机实验研究

为冷却某空间用红外探测器,研制了一台斯特林型脉冲管制冷机。该制冷机为单级同轴型结构,整机重量4.5 kg,设计寿命5年。系统介绍了脉冲管制冷机系统结构及实验装置,测试了制冷机性能及其与杜瓦耦合后的降温特性曲线,实验结果表明,脉冲管制冷机在80 K可提供0—3 W制冷量,比卡诺效率11%,其制冷量可充分满足杜瓦组件的低温和长寿命的工程需求。     

Optimal design of the pulse tube refrigerator with slit-type heat exchangers

A single-stage inline pulse tube refrigerator (PTR) with tapered slit-type heat exchangers utilized as the aftercooler and the cold end heat exchanger has been designed, fabricated and investigated. Simple energy conservation equation is applied for the design of the tapered slit-type heat exchangers with which the PTR is optimized. The air-cooled aftercoolers with different slit configurations have been compared in this paper with regard to its cooling capacity. The optimized PTRs driven by a single-piston linear compressor achieve the lowest temperature of 53.1 K and 53.5 K, and the cooling capacity of 3.0 W at 60 K and 3.5 W at 60 K, respectively. The result shows that the tapered slit-type heat exchangers can replace the mesh-type heat exchanger, but the geometric configuration of slits and the compressible volume should be carefully considered for optimum performance of the cooler.     

Experimental research of Stirling type pulse tube refrigerator with an active phase control

A Stirling type pulse tube refrigerator with an active phase control has been experimentally investigated. A phase shifter, which controls the phase angle between the mass flow and the pressure inside a pulse tube, plays a key roll in the performance of pulse tube refrigerators. In this study, an electrically driven and mechanically damped linear compressor, which is directly connected at the warm end of the pulse tube using a connecting tube, is used as the active phase controller (APC). Therefore, this active phase control pulse tube refrigerator (APCPTR) has no reservoir. Amplified electric signals of a function generator are supplied to both the main linear compressor, which is used as the pressure wave generator (PWG), and the APC. The type of these two linear compressors is a dual-opposed piston. The advantage of this phase sifter is easy to control the electric input power and the phase angle between the PWG and the APC. In order to clarify the characteristics of the APCPTR, the cold end temperature and the gas pressure have been measured.     

Comparison of two models of a double inlet miniature pulse tube refrigerator: Part B electrical analogy

The design of a double inlet pulse tube refrigerator is investigated by means of an analogy with an electric circuit. The results obtained are compared with both those of the thermodynamic model (Part A) and experiments. The basic formulation of equivalent electronic components is discussed and a few improvements are proposed for adjusting the theoretical expressions of the electric impedance concerning the capillaries and the regenerator. Then additional effects such as pressure drops due to geometrical singularities are taken into account considering the different internal flow regimes that may occur. Besides a simplified formulation for the regenerator efficiency is deduced from considerations on its harmonic functioning. In this analysis, the emphasis concerns principally the design of miniature cryocoolers dedicated to electronic applications. Those models are applied to a commercial miniature refrigerator. A discussion of their relevance is achieved and a few suggestions on the refrigerator design are proposed in order to improve the cooling production.     

Computational fluid dynamics simulations of an orifice type pulse tube refrigerator: Effects of operating frequency

A numerical study is reported here for the investigation of the fundamental flow and heat transfer processes found in an orifice type pulse tube refrigerator (OPTR). The OPTR is driven by a cyclically moving piston at one end of the system with helium as the working fluid. The regenerator and the various heat exchangers are modeled as porous media and a thermal non-equilibrium model is applied in these regions. The system is studied for different operating frequencies of the driver piston. The simulations reveal interesting steady-periodic flow patterns that develop in the pulse tube due to the fluctuations caused by the piston and the presence of the inertance tube. The predicted secondary-flow recirculation patterns in the pulse tube are found to affect the OPTR performance. When the secondary-flow patterns are well-developed, they help isolate the cold and hot ends of the pulse tube and create a thermal buffer zone at the center of the pulse tube, enhancing the performance of the OPTR.     

Experimental study on the design of orifice pulse tube refrigerator

An experimental study on the design of a single-stage orifice pulse tube refrigerator (OPTR) was carried out. It was shown experimentally that there exists an optimum operating frequency which increases with decreasing pulse tube volume. For a fixed pulse tube volume, increasing the pulse tube diameter will improve the performance. The experimental results are used to derive a correlation for the performance of OPTR which correlates the net cooling capacity with the operating conditions and the dimensions of the OPTR.     

CFD simulation and experimental validation of a GM type double inlet pulse tube refrigerator

Pulse tube refrigerator has the advantages of long life and low vibration over the conventional cryocoolers, such as GM and stirling coolers because of the absence of moving parts in low temperature. This paper performs a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of a GM type double inlet pulse tube refrigerator (DIPTR) vertically aligned, operating under a variety of thermal boundary conditions. A commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package, Fluent 6.1 is used to model the oscillating flow inside a pulse tube refrigerator. The simulation represents fully coupled systems operating in steady-periodic mode. The externally imposed boundary conditions are sinusoidal pressure inlet by user defined function at one end of the tube and constant temperature or heat flux boundaries at the external walls of the cold-end heat exchangers. The experimental method to evaluate the optimum parameters of DIPTR is difficult. On the other hand, developing a computer code for CFD analysis is equally complex. The objectives of the present investigations are to ascertain the suitability of CFD based commercial package, Fluent for study of energy and fluid flow in DIPTR and to validate the CFD simulation results with available experimental data. The general results, such as the cool down behaviours of the system, phase relation between mass flow rate and pressure at cold end, the temperature profile along the wall of the cooler and refrigeration load are presented for different boundary conditions of the system. The results confirm that CFD based Fluent simulations are capable of elucidating complex periodic processes in DIPTR. The results also show that there is an excellent agreement between CFD simulation results and experimental results.     

丙纶填充式回热器单级脉管制冷机性能研究

采用丙纶纤维作为回热器新型填充介质,对单级脉管制冷机进行了试验研究。对丙纶微尺度空间结构及物理性能进行了分析,基于充气压力分别为3.5、3.0、2.8、2.5、2.0、1.5 MPa的工况下,进行了降温性能、频率性能、制冷性能试验,获取了最低制冷温度,最佳工作频率及最大比卡诺效率。研究结果表明,充气压力对丙纶填充回热器的制冷机整体性能影响较大,工作频率的影响不是很明显。最终获得了最大比卡诺效率9.46%@170 K/10.06 W/77 W,最大制冷量为5.47 W@120 K/2.5 MPa,12.02 W@150 K/3.0 MPa,16.49 W@170 K/3.0 MPa,并获得了96.4 K的最低制冷温度。     

Refrigeration performance enhancement of pulse tube refrigerators with He-H2 mixtures and Er3NiHx regenerative material

The computation with heat transfer, fluid flow and thermodynamics indicates that higher pulse tube refrigeration performance can be achieved with He-H₂ mixtures as working fluids than that with pure He in the cooling temperature region of 30 K. In addition, it is found that Er₃Ni, a regenerative material, is able to absorb H₂ and forms Er₃NiH_x. The hydrogen absorption capacity of Er₃Ni is about 3.5 H/Er₃Ni in the H₂ pressure region of 0.1-2.0 MPa at 30 °C. The calculation shows that the regenerative performance of Er₃NiH_3.5 is better than that of Er₃Ni due to its higher volume specific heat. Experimental results show that the pulse tube refrigeration performance in 30 K cooling temperature region is obviously enhanced with He-H₂ mixtures and Er₃NiH_x regenerative material.     

两级同轴型脉管制冷机回热器与脉管壁换热影响的模拟与实验

针对同轴型结构的两级脉管制冷机,采用热力学方法分析了回热器与脉管壁间换热作用对制冷机性能的影响。发现当脉管内热量通过壁面传向回热器时,脉管冷端焓流将增大,进而提升脉管冷指的制冷量。对设计的一台两级同轴型高频脉管冷指进行了数值模拟。模拟结果表明相同结构参数及输入下,引入回热器与脉管壁间的径向换热作用,低温级制冷量由原先的0.55 W@30 K提升至1.39 W@30 K,而对高温级的影响却小到可以忽略。     

氦氢混合工质G-M单级脉管制冷机性能研究

对G-M型单级脉管制冷机采用氦氢混合工质在30 K温区进行实验研究,从制冷量、COP、压降特性、压缩机耗功、制冷温度的稳定性等方面进行了讨论和分析,同时给出了在最优状态下加载热负荷的温度变化情况.实验结果表明,采用适当配比的氦氢混合工质有助于提高脉管制冷性能.     

Experimental discovery and verification of the third type of DC gas flow in pulse tube cryocooler

DC gas flow in pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) is a crucial problem both in theory and application which considerably affects the refrigeration performance. We have experimentally discovered and verified the third type of DC gas flow in PTC which is formed due to hydrodynamic and thermodynamic asymmetry of the regenerator and other flow channels. This new type of DC gas flow is possible to be identified in other regenerative engines or refrigerators. We also introduced a highlighting method which can suppress this kind of DC gas flow effectively in most cases, with the best result of 30 K temperature drop at the cold end of the PTC.     

Theoretical and experimental study of a gas-coupled two-stage pulse tube cooler with stepped warm displacer as the phase shifter

A compact and high efficiency cooler working at liquid hydrogen temperature has many important applications such as cooling superconductors and mid-infrared sensors. This paper presents a two-stage gas-coupled pulse tube cooler system with a completely co-axial configuration. A stepped warm displacer, working as the phase shifter for both stages, has been studied theoretically and experimentally in this paper. Comparisons with the traditional phase shifter (double inlet) are also made. Compared with the double inlet type, the stepped warm displacer has the advantages of recovering the expansion work from the pulse tube hot end (especially from the first stage) and easily realizing an appropriate phase relationship between the pressure wave and volume flow rate at the pulse tube hot end. Experiments are then carried out to investigate the performance. The pressure ratio at the compression space is maintained at 1.37, for the double inlet type, the system obtains 1.1 W cooling power at 20 K with 390 W acoustic power input and the relative Carnot efficiency is only 3.85%; while for the stepped warm displacer type, the system obtains 1.06 W cooling power at 20 K with only 224 W acoustic power input and the relative Carnot efficiency can reach 6.5%.