Heat exchanger versus regenerator: A fundamental comparison

Irreversible processes in regenerators and heat exchangers limit the performance of cryocoolers. In this paper we compare the performance of cryocoolers, operating with regenerators and heat exchangers from a fundamental point of view. The losses in the two systems are calculated from the entropy productions due to the various irreversible processes. Whether an optimized regenerator or heat exchanger performs better depends on the system parameters (molar flux, temperature, and pressure). At temperatures below 200 K the losses due to heat conduction in the axial direction are dominant.