The Flight Model Stirling Cryocooler System for the INTEGRAL Spectrometer

Gibson, Andrew S.; Ashman, Colin; Akhtar, Saleem

doi:10.4271/2001-01-2380

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The appearance of small Stirling electric coolers on the market has opened up the possibility of the development of a wide range of nuclear physics equipment based on HPGe detectors [32]- [34]. The capacity to create increasingly autonomous and miniaturized cooling systems for HPGe detectors has expanded use of HPGe spectrometers even in space applications [35]- [42]. However, we did not find any reports of previous works of HPGe spectrometers for UAVs.…”

Section: Jinst 13 T06006mentioning

confidence: 82%

Development of miniaturized HPGe spectrometers for unmanned aerial vehicles

et al. 2018

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We have developed two miniaturized HPGe gamma spectrometers for airborne environmental monitoring with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The spectrometers have been optimised for UAVs with a load capacity of up to 10 kg, a control radius of up to 3 km and a flight endurance without recharging of up to 30 min at a loading of 6 kg. The weights of the spectrometers with Stirling electrical cooling and cooling by liquid nitrogen were 5.8 and 2.6 kg, respectively. Both spectrometers were tested at two photon energy levels -122 keV and 1332 keV. Energy resolution with electrical cooling was 2.1 keV and 2.6 keV while the spectrometer with liquid nitrogen cooling had energy resolution of 1.2 keV and 2.2 keV when tested at the same energy levels.

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Section: Jinst 13 T06006mentioning

confidence: 82%

Development of miniaturized HPGe spectrometers for unmanned aerial vehicles

et al. 2018

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“…The 20K Stirling cooler is currently nearing completion of qualification, to start life-testing before the end of 2007. An Improved EM 10K cooler is also under development, as a direct evolution of the 10K DM cooler developed for AFRL [15].…”

Section: Other Flight and Qualification Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritage Overview: 20 Years of Commercial Production of Cryocoolers for Space

Gibson¹,

Reed²,

Bradshaw³

et al. 2008

AIP Conference Proceedings

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The paper presents an overview of the results of industrialization of the ISAMS Stirling cooler technology, achieved through cooperation with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Seven batches of coolers have been produced and delivered to international customers for various space applications. A summary of in-orbit flight heritage is presented showing flight telemetry data for detector and mounting interface temperatures, vibration and other drive parameters. Thirteen of the 50-80K cooler models have been launched, with many of the coolers having already exceeded their required lifetimes. Highlights of cooler commissioning and performance in orbit are presented, with discussion of lessons learned, focusing on the last three production batches of the 50-80K Stirling cooler.

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“…For example, assuming the ideal case and a sink temperature of 300 K, 2.75 W of input power is required for each watt of cooling to maintain a cold temperature of 80 K. In reality, however, power inputs in practical refrigerators are at least a factor of ten times higher because of various inefficiencies. Until recently, power consumption limited their use to Earth orbit applications where demands on power systems are less problematic compared to planetary spacecraft (for example the ∼ 140 W cryocooler system [5] flown on INTEGRAL). However, recently a number of compact, efficient, powerful electric coolers have appeared on the market that can now potentially provide an elegant solution to the cooling issue for large volume HPGe detectors for space applications where power is limited [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A miniature compact HPGe gamma-spectrometer for space applications

et al. 2017

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We describe the development of a miniaturized HPGe gamma-spectrometer for space applications. The spectrometer is designed around a 170 cm3 intrinsically pure n-type Ge crystal in the closed-end coaxial configuration cooled by a miniature Sterling cycle electric cooler. The complete assembly has a mass of 2.9 kg and consumes 6.6 W under normal operation. The spectrometer was tested in a specially designed chamber which simulates the space environment. FWHM energy resolutions of 2.9 keV and 4.0 keV were achieved at 122 keV and 1332 keV, respectively. With the cooler switched-off, these improved to 2.0 keV and 3.0 keV, respectively, indicating that induced noise from the mechanical vibrations of the cooler accounts for about half the resolution.

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The Flight Model Stirling Cryocooler System for the INTEGRAL Spectrometer

Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

Development of miniaturized HPGe spectrometers for unmanned aerial vehicles

Development of miniaturized HPGe spectrometers for unmanned aerial vehicles

Heritage Overview: 20 Years of Commercial Production of Cryocoolers for Space

A miniature compact HPGe gamma-spectrometer for space applications

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