Investigations of a two-stage pulse tube cryocooler operating down to 2.5K

Shafi, KA and Sajid, Mohammed NK and Kasthurirengan, S and Upendra, B (2010) Investigations of a two-stage pulse tube cryocooler operating down to 2.5K. In: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 224 (C6). pp. 1255-1260.

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Abstract

A two-stage pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) which produces a no-load temperature of similar to 2.5 K in its second stage at an operating frequency of 1.6 Hz has been designed and fabricated. The second stage of the system provides a refrigeration power of similar to 250 mW at 5.0 K. The system uses stainless steel meshes (mesh size 200) along with lead (Pb) granules and combinations of Pb, Er3Ni, and HoCu2 as the first and second stage regenerator materials, respectively. Experimental studies have been carried out on different pulse tube configurations by varying the dimensions of the pulse tubes and regenerators to arrive at the best one, which leads to the lowest no-load second stage cold head temperature. Using this configuration, detailed experimental studies have been conducted by varying the volume percentage ratios of the second stage regenerator materials such as HoCu2, Er3Ni, and Pb (with an average grain size of similar to 250 mu m). This article presents the results of our experimental studies on cryocoolers with the regenerator material arranged in layered structures. Comparative studies have also been presented for specific cases where the regenerator materials are arranged as a homogeneous mixture in the second stage. The experimental results clearly indicate that the design of PTCs should use only layered structures of regenerator materials and not homogenous mixtures.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science
Publisher:	Professional Engineering Publishing
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Professional Engineering Publishing.
Keywords:	pulse tube;cryocooler;regenerator;helium;refrigeration
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Centre for Cryogenic Technology
Date Deposited:	13 Jul 2010 07:26
Last Modified:	02 Nov 2011 05:44
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/28964

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