Study on a 10 W/90 K in-line pulse tube cryocooler

A Stirling-type in-line pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) has been designed, built and tested at Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (SITP), Chinese Academy of Sciences. This PTC prototype can obtain a low-noise cooling capacity of more than 10 W at around 90 K cold head temperature and is used for cooling a space-borne infrared photo detector. In order to achieve a highly efficient PTC, a simplified numerical simulation model has been established for design and optimization. The simulation results of the regenerator, pulse tube and inertance tube are analyzed in detail. Besides, some key parameters of the PTC are listed in the paper. The PTC’s performances are tested at different operating frequencies from 42 Hz to 55 Hz and its reject temperature dependence is observed in the range of 290 K to 320 K. Furthermore, the map of the PTC’s performance characteristics is presented.

► A single-stage in-line PTC has been designed and built for cooling space-borne infrared photo detectors.
► Optimizations of regenerator, pulse tube and inertance tube are presented.
► The existing experimental data indicates that the PTC has a good adaptability to the reject temperature from 290 K to 320 K.
► The cooler provides 10 W at 90 K cold end temperature and related Carnot efficiency is 15%.