Operating characteristics of a three-stage Stirling pulse tube cryocooler operating around 5 K

A Stirling pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) operating at the liquid-helium temperatures represents an excellent prospect for satisfying the requirements of space applications because of its compactness, high efficiency and reliability. However, the working mechanism of a 4 K SPTC is more complicated than that of the Gifford McMahon (GM) PTC that operates at the relatively low frequency of 1-2 Hz, and has not yet been well understood. In this study, the primary operating parameters, including frequency, charge pressure, input power and precooling temperature, are systematically investigated in a home-developed separate three-stage SPTC. The investigation demonstrates that the frequency and precooling temperature are closely coupled via phase shift. In order to improve the cooling capacity it is important to lower the frequency and the precooling temperature simultaneously. In contrast to the behavior predicted by previous studies, the pressure dependence of the gas properties results in an optimized pressure that decreases significantly as the temperature is lowered. The third stage reaches a lowest temperature of 4.97 K at 29.9 Hz and 0.91 MPa. A cooling power of 25 mW is measured at 6.0 K. The precooling temperature is 23.7 K and the input power is 100 W. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.