Effects of DC flow on a cryogen-free Vuilleumier type pulse tube cryocooler

摘要

DC flow may exist in a pulse tube cryocooler if a closed loop is formed by double inlet, etc. It has been found that, given the right amount and the right direction, DC flow may be favorable to the cooling performance of a PTC working at liquid hydrogen temperature and liquid helium temperature with Stirling type or G-M type PTC. In case of Vuilleumier type PTC, which is driven by a thermal compressor, none has been studied. In this paper, the effects of DC flow on a Vuilleumier type PTC working around 10 K have been studied through numerical analysis. In the simulation, the software SAGE is utilized to study the DC flow with a double-inlet module capable of adjusting the DC flow rate. The dependence of performance for thermal compressor on DC flow was firstly investigated. Then the influence of DC flow on the cooling performance was studied, including the cold end enthalpy, cooling capacity, expansion efficiency for pulse tube, etc. Main factors affecting the pulse tube expansion efficiency was distinguished. Finally, the operating parameters effects on cooling performance with varying DC flow rate were carried out. It is found that certain amount of DC flow is beneficial to the system performance with the optimum ratio between DC flow rate and AC flow rate amplitude lying within the approximate range from 0.05% to 0.08%. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.