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Oil-lubricated compressors for regenerative cryocoolers using an elastic membrane.

Author(s) : LUO E. C., WU Z. H., YU G. Y., et al.

Summary

Lubricated oil for moving parts is not allowed to go into thermodynamic components such as heat exchangers and regenerators because the lubricated oil will deteriorate the heat transfer performance and block flowing passages. To date, there has not been a easy, cost-effective and reliable solution to solve the problem of lubricated-oil separation in the oscillating systems. The authors propose an innovative way to attack this difficult problem. The proposed solution is based on the fact that the oscillating flow never flows through every thermodynamic component. The mechanical work for the cold box is transported in the form of an acoustical wave, and the flow particles only oscillate nearby their counterbalanced positions. Accordingly, an elastic rubber membrane can be used to fulfil two important functions: acoustical power transportation and lubricated oil separation. Some important rules and considerations for designing such a device are given. The operating schematics of two types of oil-lubricated compressors are proposed; corresponding valveless oil-lubricated compressors and valved oil-lubricated compressors. In addition, three compressors are modified to drive a two-staged pulse tube refrigerator, a moving-plug pulse tube refrigerator and a four-valve pulse tube refrigerator. The preliminary experiments show that the solution could provide a realizable pressure wave generator by using a readily available commercial oil-lubricated compressors and a simple elastic membrane.

Details

  • Original title: Oil-lubricated compressors for regenerative cryocoolers using an elastic membrane.
  • Record ID : 2008-1070
  • Languages: English
  • Publication date: 2006/06/14
  • Source: Source: Proc. 14th int. Cryocooler Conf., Annapolis, MD
    361-366; fig.; phot.; 2 ref.

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