Abstract
Pulse tube or thermoacoustic refrigerators require only one moving part—an oscillating piston or diaphragm at room temperature. Refrigeration occurs within a tube connected to the pressure wave generator when the thermal relaxation time between gas and tube is comparable to a half period. Three types have been discussed in the literature recently by Gifford, by Mikulin, and by Wheatley. A record low temperature of 60 K was achieved in our work using a single stage pulse tube similar to that of Mikulin. Previously 105 K was the lowest temperature achieved. Because of only one moving part, all three types have the potential for long life, but their efficiency and intrinsic limitations have never been investigated. This paper compares the three types with each other and with common refrigerators such as Joule-Thomson and Stirling refrigerators. An apparatus is described which can measure the intrinsic behavior of the different types from temperatures of about 30 K to 300 K. Overall cycle efficiency as well as sources of loss such as conduction and regenerator ineffectiveness are discussed and the advantages of various phase shifting techniques to increase refrigeration capacity are compared.
Research sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center, under Contract No. A14746C(TRK). Contribution of NBS, not subject to copyright.
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References
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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
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Radebaugh, R., Zimmerman, J., Smith, D.R., Louie, B. (1986). A Comparison of Three Types of Pulse Tube Refrigerators: New Methods for Reaching 60K. In: Fast, R.W. (eds) Advances in Cryogenic Engineering. Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, vol 31. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2213-9_88
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2213-9_88
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