Tandem-type pulse tube refrigerator without reservoir

• Configurations of tandem-type pulse tube refrigerators (PTR) are suggested.
• A tandem-type PTR with two identical PTRs doesn’t require a reservoir.
• A tandem-type PTR can reduce vibration and temperature oscillation at a cold head.
• Performance and feasibility of tandem-type PTRs are investigated from simulation.

In this paper, a tandem-type pulse tube refrigerator without a reservoir is discussed and investigated. For its practical application a tandem-type compressor is designed to generate two pulsating pressure waves with opposite phases, simultaneously. A tandem-type pulse tube refrigerator consists of a tandem-type compressor and two identical pulse tube refrigerators. The two identical pulse tube refrigerators share the same heat exchangers and one can be connected with the other by an inertance tube without a reservoir. In this proposed configuration, the mechanical vibration and temperature oscillations in the cold-end heat exchanger can be internally suppressed due to its intrinsic opposite-characteristic operation. To examine the quantitative evaluation of the tandem feature which does not require a reservoir in the pulse tube, an evolutionary approach has been attempted. A general structure of a pulse tube refrigerator is modified into tandem Stirling-type and GM-type machines and the transformed configuration has been simulated for tandem operation. The simulation results clearly demonstrate that a properly designed tandem-type pulse tube refrigerator without a reservoir can function favorably.