Investigation on a micro pulse tube cryocooler operating at 152 Hz

Abstract

The high operating temperature space applications require lighter and more efficient pulse tube cryocoolers. A micro pulse tube cryocooler driven by a linear compressor with a dual-opposed piston arrangement is developed. The geometrical parameters of the regenerator are optimized using Sage software. Losses within the regenerator are analyzed to optimize the combination of different mesh screens. According to the simulation results, a cold finger was fabricated and experimentally tested. The total weight of the cryocooler is 260 g, and the filling ratio of the matrix in the regenerator has been optimized to improve the power density of the cryocooler in high-temperature zones. Additionally, the effect of charging pressure on performance is investigated through experiments. Operating at 152 Hz, this micro pulse tube cryocooler can provide a cooling capacity of 1.14 W at 150 K with an input electrical power of 10 W.