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CFD study of a simple orifice pulse tube cooler.

Author(s) : ZHANG X. B., QIU L. M., GAN Z. H., et al.

Type of article: Article

Summary

A pulse tube cooler (PTC) has the advantages of long-life and low vibration over the conventional cryocoolers, such as G-M and Stirling coolers because of the absence of moving parts in low temperature. This paper performs a two-dimensional axis-symmetric computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of a GM-type simple orifice PTC (OPTC). The detailed modelling process and the general results such as the phase difference between velocity and pressure at cold end, the temperature profiles along the wall as well as the temperature oscillations at cold end with different heat loads are presented. Emphases are put on analyzing the complicated phenomena of multidimensional flow and heat transfer in the pulse tube under conditions of oscillating pressure. Swirling flow pattern in the pulse tube is observed and the mechanism of formation is analyzed in details, which is further validated by modelling a basic PTC. The swirl causes undesirable mixing in the thermally stratified fluid and is partially responsible for the poor overall performance of the cooler, such as unsteady cold-end temperature. [Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. Copyright, 2007].

Details

  • Original title: CFD study of a simple orifice pulse tube cooler.
  • Record ID : 2008-0464
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Cryogenics - vol. 47 - n. 5-6
  • Publication date: 2007/05

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