A pulse tube refrigerator below 2K

M.Y. Xu, A.T.A.M. Waele, de, Y.L. Ju

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    59 Citations (Scopus)
    2 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Up to now, all pulse tube refrigerators operating at the liquid helium temperature range use 4He as the working fluid. However, the lambda transition of 4He is a barrier for reaching temperatures below 2 K. Theoretical analysis in this paper shows that, using 3He, the temperature limit is below 2 K, and the efficiency of a 4 K pulse tube refrigerator can be improved significantly. A three-stage pulse tube refrigerator is constructed. A compressor with input power of 4 kW and a rotary valve are used to generate the pressure oscillations. With 4He, a minimum average temperature of 2.19 K was reached. Replacing 4He by 3He, at the same valve settings and operating parameters, the minimum average temperature goes down to 1.87 K and the cooling power at 4.2 K is enhanced about 60%. After fine tuning of the valves, a minimum average temperature of 1.78 K was obtained. This is the lowest temperature achieved by mechanical refrigerators.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)865-869
    JournalCryogenics
    Volume39
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1999

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'A pulse tube refrigerator below 2K'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this