Experimental study of a gas clearance phase regulation mechanism for a pneumatically-driven split-Stirling-cycle cryocooler

A concept for a new type of pneumatically-driven split-Stirling-cycle cryocooler with clearance-phase-adjustor has recently been described, along with a theoretical model for simulating its operation and performance (Zhang, in preparation, 2003). This paper describes experiments that have been carried out to systematically validate the model, and to characterize the performance of the cryocooler in several key areas. These include: oscillatory flow within the cooler, correlation between the compression piston and the free displacer, the impact of the cold-tip temperature and phase-adjusting clearance gaps on cooler performance. The minimum cold-tip temperature is used as primary gauge of refrigeration performance. Real-time measurements of gas pressures in different chambers, displacements of the compression piston and the free displacer have been performed to reveal the internal physical processes. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the simulated ones.