Investigation of flow nonuniformities in a large 50 K pulse tube cryocooler

Abstract

A single-stage pulse tube cryocooler was optimized to provide 50 W of net refrigeration power at 50 K when driven by a pressure oscillator that can produce up to 2.8 kW of acoustic power at 60 Hz. The cryocooler was designed with the ability to provide rapid cooldown. The rapid cooling technique makes use of a resonant phenomenon in the inertance tube and reservoir system to decrease the flow impedance and thereby increase the acoustic power and refrigeration power in the system when the cold end is near room temperature. Initial experimental data produced no-load temperatures of about 100 K and showed large azimuthal non-uniformities in temperature profiles around the center plane of both the regenerator and the pulse tube. Inadequate diffusion bonding in the initial aftercooler resulted in non-uniform temperatures in the aftercooler and regenerator warm end where temperatures were as high as 350 K. Jetting into the pulse tube through both the warm and cold heat exchangers also contributed to the poor performance. This paper discusses the performance after an improved aftercooler and pulse tube modifications are added. The steps taken to eliminate the non-uniformities and their effect on the cooler performance are discussed. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.