Pulse tube refrigerator

About: Pulse tube refrigerator is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1578 publications have been published within this topic receiving 12283 citations.

Low-Temperature Expansion Pulse Tubes

Abstract: Pulse tube refrigeration units using the Gifford-Longsworth cycle are remarkable among other types of low-temperature devices because of their simplicity and reliability. They are not widely used in cryogenics, however, because of their low efficiency and small refrigerating capacity, partly because of their low pulse frequency.

Development of the pulse tube refrigerator as an efficient and reliable cryocooler

Abstract: This paper presents a review of the pulse tube refrigerator from its inception in the mid-1960s up to the present. Various factors are discussed which brought it from a laboratory curiosity to the point where it is now the most efficient of all cryocoolers and reliable enough to be used on space missions. Carnot efficiencies as high as about 20% at 80 K and temperatures as low as 2 K have been achieved in pulse tube refrigerators. The operating principles for the different types of pulse tube and thermoacoustic refrigerators are described. Pulse tube refrigerators operate with oscillating pressures and mass flows and have no moving parts in the cold end. For large industrial systems the mechanical compressor can be replaced with one of two types of thermoacoustic drivers to yield a refrigerator with no moving parts. Recent advances in understanding and reducing losses in various components are described that have led to the improved efficiencies. The major problems associated with cryocoolers are listed, and it is shown that pulse tube refrigerators have begun to overcome many of these problems. As a result, they are now being used or considered for many different applications. Some of these applications as well as example pulse tube refrigerators are described.

A review of pulse tube refrigeration

Abstract: This paper reviews the development of the three types of pulse tube refrigerators: basic, resonant, and orifice types. The principles of operation are given. It is shown that the pulse tube refrigerator is a variation of the Stirling-cycle refrigerator, where the moving displacer is substituted by a heat transfer mechanism or by an orifice to bring about the proper phase shifts between pressure and mass flow rate. A harmonic analysis with phasors is described which gives reasonable results for the refrigeration power yet is simple enough to make clear the processes which give rise to the refrigeration. The efficiency and refrigeration power are compared with those of other refrigeration cycles. A brief review is given of the research being done at various laboratories on both one and two-stage pulse tubes. A preliminary assessment of the role of pulse tube refrigerators is discussed.

DC Gas Flows in Stirling and Pulse Tube Cryocoolers

Abstract: Whenever a closed-loop flow path exists in a Stirling or pulse-tube cryocooler, there is a potential for a DC gas flow — where the positive and negative flows over each half cycle do not quite cancel completely. A closed loop may be formed by a displacer seal in a Stirling cooler, which connects the compression and expansion spaces in parallel with the regenerator, or by a bypass orifice in a double-inlet pulse-tube cooler, which connects the warm end of the compliance tube (pulse tube) back to the compression space.