Reverse Brayton Cryocooler for NICMOS

Nellis, Gregory; Dolan, F. X.; McCormick, John; Swift, W. L.; Sixsmith, H.; Gibbon, Judith A.; Castles, S.

doi:10.1007/0-306-47090-x_51

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Centrifugal compressors providing a pressure ratio of about 1.6 with a low-side pressure of 0.1 MPa are used with these systems. A similar system was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope in 2002 that provides 7.1 W of cooling at 70 K with 315 W of input power, for an efficiency of 7% of Carnot [18,19]. The working fluid used in the turbo-Brayton cryocoolers is usually neon when operating above 35 K, with helium required for lower temperatures.…”

Section: Brayton Cryocoolersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryocoolers: the state of the art and recent developments

Radebaugh

2009

J. Phys.: Condens. Matter

281

116

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Cryocooler performance and reliability are continually improving. Consequently, they are more and more frequently implemented by physicists in their laboratory experiments or for commercial and space applications. The five kinds of cryocoolers most commonly used to provide cryogenic temperatures for various applications are the Joule-Thomson, Brayton, Stirling, Gifford-McMahon, and pulse tube cryocoolers. Many advances in all types have occurred in the past 20 years that have allowed all of them to be used for a wide variety of applications. The present state of the art and on-going developments of these cryocoolers are reviewed in this paper. In the past five years new research on these cryocoolers has offered the potential to significantly improve them and make them suitable for even more applications. The general trend of this new cryocooler research is also presented.

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Section: Brayton Cryocoolersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryocoolers: the state of the art and recent developments

Radebaugh

2009

J. Phys.: Condens. Matter

281

116

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“…A potentially more reliable solution than the gas-gap/getter system is shown in Figure 9. Latching solenoid valves similar to those used on the HST Nicmos Cooling System, Nellis 3 , would be baselined for such a system. Further details on this system, the Swales gas-gap CTSW design, and Swales gas-gap CTSW test data may be found in Marland 4 .…”

Section: Gas-gap Cryogenic Thermal Switch Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Testing of a High Performance Cryogenic Thermal Switch

Marland¹,

Bugby²,

Stouffer³

et al. 2002

Cryocoolers 11

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This paper presents development details and performance test results of a high performance cryogenic thermal switch (CTSW) for coupling redundant cryocoolers to cryogenic components with minimal off-cooler parasitics. Because gas-gap, hydride-pumped CTSW designs have not reliably met performance goals of an "on" resistance less than 2 K/W and an "off" resistance greater than 1000 K/W, a simpler, more reliable device was sought. The device that was developed is based on the reversible and highly reliable physical process of differential thermal contraction/expansion of stainless steel relative to beryllium. The 250 gram Swales differential coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) CTSW (or SDCC) has just 3 machined parts: two cylindrical beryllium discs (same diameter, different lengths) and a thin-walled stainless steel tube. In ground testing, the SDCC demonstrated an "off" resistance of 1400 K/W and an "on" resistance of 1.2-2.0 K/W over a cold end temperature range of 25-50 K and a warm end temperature range of 230-300 K. Other issues addressed in the paper include alternative gas-gap (non hydride-pumped) designs, the option of "cross-strapping" and CTSW reliability. Finally, an advanced SDCC design is also briefly described that can reduce CTSW mass to just 50 grams with virtually no (surface area-induced) parasitic heat input into the cryogenic system.

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“…Performance degradation resulting from wear, or the accumulation of debris is thus almost inexistent. These systems have been demonstrated to be capable of maintenance free operation for 5 to 20 years [2] [3]. In addition, In-Situ Resource Utilization systems are developing a growing need in cooling requirements for cryogen liquefaction and storage that match the capabilities of low to medium power reverse Turbo-Brayton, similar or slightly larger than the one of interest here [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vibration-Free 40-80K Turbo-Brayton Cryocooler and its Very High Efficiency Recuperator for Earth Observation Instruments

Dalban-Canassy,

Rehayem,

Ungureanu

et al. 2024

IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng.

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Several studies have demonstrated that Reverse Turbo-Brayton cryocoolers could be the next space cryogenic revolution, thanks to their capability to provide vibration-free remote cooling in the temperature range of 4 to 150K and for medium to high cooling powers. With this motivation, Absolut System developed a very low vibration 40-80K Reversed Turbo-Brayton cooler, work performed under the ESA Technical Program Technical Research Program - 4000113495/15/NL/KML. The cooler is based on two turbo-compressor stages, a high efficiency recuperator and a cryogenic turbo-expander, for operation between 300 and 40K. Following the fabrication of the cooler, we performed tests on both individual components, compressors, expander and recuperator as well as on the complete cooler. The turbomachines use aerodynamic bearings, i.e. contactless bearings, generate very little vibrations and exhibit no wear over time. The characterizations performed during the project concern exported micro-vibration behaviors of the compressors and the expander, operating respectively up to 250,000RPM and 150,000RPM, and thermodynamic performance of the different elements. The cooler was tested down to its minimum temperature and required the development of specific operating procedures for the conditioning of the circuit. We report here in a first part the main results and observations stemming from the test campaigns carried out during the project. This work showed the necessity of putting additional effort into the recuperator, one of the most critical components of the cooler. Absolut System is thus also working in parallel on developing a very high efficiency and compact heat exchanger, which we report in a second part, for the specific needs of Turbo-Brayton Coolers in response to the ESA Proposal ESA-TDE-TECMTT-SOW-023649. The technology selected for this is based on the common tube and shell but using very thin tubes of small diameters (<1mm). The challenge of this exchanger is not only the manufacturing, but also the very stringent requirements. Obtaining an efficiency higher than 97.5% in a very small mass while maintaining very low pressure drops, makes for a very challenging project. We have performed the design phase, tested, and validated different aspects of the assembly. The design for the first breadboard model has been validated numerically and is in the fabrication process. Testing the exchanger will then take place to characterize the performances of the recuperator and allow for a comparison between experimental results and analytical and CFD models. This effort participates in placing the Turbo-Brayton cryocoolers at the forefront of space coolers and pushing Europe even further in State of Art advancements for space to bring us closer to fulfill future Space Explorations and Earth Observation missions.

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Reverse Brayton Cryocooler for NICMOS

Cited by 17 publications

References 5 publications

Cryocoolers: the state of the art and recent developments

Cryocoolers: the state of the art and recent developments

Development and Testing of a High Performance Cryogenic Thermal Switch

Vibration-Free 40-80K Turbo-Brayton Cryocooler and its Very High Efficiency Recuperator for Earth Observation Instruments

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