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The efficient management of liquid helium at the South Pole Station during the austral winter.

Author(s) : BAKER R. A., SULLIVAN P.

Summary

Liquid helium (LHe) is critical for the operation of various astrophysical projects at the South Pole. Getting large quantities of liquid helium to the South Pole is logistically very difficult and costly. In order to supply these experiments with a combined 40 liters per day of liquid helium South Pole Station has historically had to begin the austral winter viewing season with 34,000 litres. Of this amount 34% is supplied to the projects while 66% is boiled away. By capturing the boiled off gas and using pulse tube technology 65% of the liquid helium can now be delivered to the projects and only 35% is unrecoverable. Now, 34,000 litres can supply projects with more than 80 liters per day combined total. More projects that require liquid helium can be funded, or the logistical load on the South Pole can be reduced. South Pole Station has recently procured three Cryomech PT410 pulse tube cryorefrigeration systems custom fitted to three 4,000 liter Wessington liquid helium storage dewars. These units are tuned to re-liquefy the boil-off inherent in the Wessington dewars. This technology does not come without cost. It takes power to operate the pulse tubes and at the South Pole that translates into fuel supplied by flights. The net trade-off was beneficial to the NSF, RPSC, and science projects.

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Pages: 2008-1

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Details

  • Original title: The efficient management of liquid helium at the South Pole Station during the austral winter.
  • Record ID : 2008-1462
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Cryogenics 2008. Proceedings of the 10th IIR International Conference
  • Publication date: 2008/04/21

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