Helium liquefaction with a commercial 4 K Gifford-McMahon cryocooler

This paper describes helium liquefaction using a commercial cryocooler with 1.5 W cooling power at 4.2 K (Sumitomo model RDK415D with compressor CSW-71D, consuming 6.5 kW electrical power), equipped with heat exchangers for precooling the incoming gas. No additional cooling power of cryoliquids or additional Joule–Thomson stages were utilized. Measurements of the pressure dependence of the liquefaction rate were performed. A maximum value of 83.9 g/h was obtained for 2.25 bar stabilized input pressure. Including the time needed to cool the liquefied helium to 4.2 K at 1 bar after filling the bottle connected to the cold head, and correcting for heat screen influences, this results in a net liquefaction rate of 67.7 g/h. Maintaining a pressure close to 1 bar above the bath during liquefaction, a rate of 55.7 g/h was obtained. The simple design enables many applications of the apparatus.