Three stage pulse

tube cryocooler
Guided by:
Prof. S. M. Mehta

Prepared by:
Vivek P. Sarvaiya

cryocoolers
What is cryocoolers?

Cryocoolers are small refrigerators that can reach cryogenic

temperatures and provide refrigeration in the temperature below 120
K.

Why cryocoolers are required?

long lifetime
reliable and maintenance free operation
minimum vibration and noise
Compactness
Lightweight
adequate refrigeration at specified temperature with low power input

Applications
Liquefaction of gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen,

helium, natural gas

Cooling of super-conducting magnets
Cooling of infra-red sensors for missile guidance
Cryo vacuum pumps
SQUID magnetometers
Gamma ray sensors for monitoring nuclear activity
Cooling of high temperature superconductors and
semiconductors

Classification

Recuperative cryocoolers
Joule-Thomson
Bryton
Claude

Regenerative cryocoolers
Stirling
Pulse tube
Gifford-McMahon

Pulse tube Cryocoolers

W. E. Gifford and R. C. Longsworth, in 1960's, invented the so

called Basic Pulse Tube.

The modern PTR was invented by Mikulin by introducing
orifice in Basic pulse tube in 1984. He reached a temperature
of 105 K.

Progress of pulse tube

Single-stage Stirling-PTR
Compressor

Regenerator

Reservoir

Pulse Tube

Orifice
AC

Cold Heat Exchanger

Hot Heat Exchanger

Regenerator: A matrix as a porous media

having high heat capacity and low
conductivity to exchange the heat with the
gas (heart of the system).
Hot heat exchangers: Release the heat
created in the compression cycle to the
environment.
Cold heat exchangers: Absorbs the heat of
the environment because of cooling down in
the expansion cycle.

Compressor

Regenerator

Reservoir

Pulse Tube

Orifice
AC

Cold Heat Exchanger

Hot Heat Exchanger

After cooler (AC): Remove the heat of the compression in

the compressor.
Buffer: A reservoir having much more volume in compare
with the rest of the system.
Orifice: An inlet for the flow resistance.
Compressor: Creating a harmonic oscillation for the gas
inside the system.

Pulse tube coolers(WHY??)

Reliable and Maintenance free operation

No rubbing seals and rubbing forces due to

replacement of displacer.
Least Vibration at the cold tip due Elimination of cold
moving parts.

How to achieve lower and lower

temperature????

RESEARCH UNIT TYPE Pressure

ER
(bar)

Frequency
(Hz)

Lowest
temperature
1st
stage

2nd
stage

Powe
r
Input

Yang and
Thummes

U type
GasCoupled

20.6

35

72 K

20.02 K 200 W

Radebaugh
et al

U type
ThermallyCoupled

24.1

32.3

60 K

20 K

600 W

Chen et al

U type
ThermallyCoupled

12

32

93.3 K

14.2 K

400 W

Three-Stage Stirling -PTR

Compressor

Reservoir 1

Orifice 1
Aftercooler

Reservoir 2

Orifice 2

Reservoir 3

Orifice 3

Stage 1
Pulse-Tube 1
Reg. 1

Pulse-Tube 2
Pulse-Tube 3

Reg. 2

Reg. 3

30-100
K

15 k
4k

Three stage pulse tube cryocooler

Operating condition of three stage pulse

tube refrigerator
Y. Matsubara
and J.L. Gao ,
cryogenics 34

Three stage pulse tube cryocooler

1st stage:
37 W @ 45 K
2nd stage:
15W @ 15 K
3rd stage:
0.3 W @ 3.96
K

C.Wang,
Cryocooler 14

Three stage pulse tube cryocooler

Parameter

1st stage

2nd stage

3rd stage

Frequency (Hz)

40

30

30

1.0

1.0

170

60

37

11

4.9

15W@80K

1.4W@20K

60mW@6

Mean
(MPa)
PV Input

Pressure 2.0
Power 250

(W)
Bottom
Temperature (K)
Cooling power
Relative Carnot

16.5%

11.5%

K
4.9%

Required

None

8W@90K

4.5W@90

Precooling

K
1.2W@20

Q. Cao et al, Cryocoolers

16

Application of pulse tube cryocooler

Military Night vision Infrared Camera

Space and Satellite Infrared detector cooling
Cryopumps
Gas Cooling and Gas Liquefaction
MRI and NMR SC Magnet cooling
SC Transformer Motor and Generator

conclusion

Staging in pulse-tube reduces the cooling power in

subsequent stages.
Staging in pulse tube cryocoolers decreases the temperature
as stages increases
Cooling power keep on reducing as stages keep on increasing.

Thank you
Presented by

Vivek Sarvaiya