Abstract A single stage reverse Brayton cryocooler being developed for the cooling of spaceborne surveillance sensors will provide 1 W of cooling at 35 K with less than 100 W of input power. This application is an extension to lower power levels of the technology of the 5 W, 65 K reverse Brayton cryocooler presently under life test at the Air Force Research Laboratory. The reverse Brayton technology features miniature high performance turbomachines running on self-acting gas bearings. These machines provide high reliability, long life, and negligible vibration. The critical components of the reverse Brayton cooler are a centrifugal compressor, high effectiveness recuperator, and cryogenic expansion turbine. The 35 K cooler uses advanced designs for the compressor and turbine in which high energy permanent magnets in the rotating elements provide electromechanical energy conversion. A turboalternator operating at cryogenic temperature converts the turbine power from the expansion of the gas to electric power that is dissipated through a resistive load at room temperature. The miniature centrifugal compressor is driven by a high efficiency three-phase AC motor using features that are similar to those of the turboalternator. The recuperator will use either the slotted plate heat exchanger of the 5 W, 65 K SSRB cooler, or an advanced lighter weight parallel plate heat exchanger. This paper presents the component and system designs and performance predictions for the 35 K cooler. Results of recent system tests with brassboard components are also presented.
Design and Test of Low Capacity Reverse Brayton Cryocooler for Refrigeration at 35K and 60K
Cryocoolers 10 ; 421-429
2002-01-01
9 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
Design and Test of Low Capacity Reverse Brayton Cryocooler for Refrigeration at 35 K and 60 K
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