Patent Grant
9976780
Certain embodiments of the invention relate to a pulse tube refrigerator, and particularly relate to a Stirling pulse tube refrigerator.
In order to cool superconductive magnets or detectors, a cryogenic refrigerator is used for a cryopump. This cryogenic refrigerator generally uses helium gas as working gas. Several methods are adopted for the cryogenic refrigerator, but among them, a pulse tube refrigerator is used with low vibration and highly expected reliability, since the pulse tube refrigerator has no movable component in an expander for expanding the working gas. Furthermore, a Stirling pulse tube refrigerator employs a refrigeration cycle which is based on a reversible process. Therefore, it is possible to expect high efficiency. For example, the pulse tube refrigerator described above is disclosed in the related art.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a Stirling pulse tube refrigerator which includes a regenerator that has a low temperature end and high temperature end; a pulse tube that is arranged coaxially with the regenerator, and that is connected to the regenerator so as to enable working gas to circulate therebetween; a low temperature heat exchanger that is disposed in the low temperature end of the regenerator, and that has a gas flow passage for the working gas; and a flow straightener that is disposed in an end portion on a side close to the low temperature heat exchanger, within an end portion of the pulse tube. The gas flow passage and the flow straightener are spaced away from each other, and a length of a connecting passage connecting the gas flow passage and the flow straightener is equal to or shorter than 10% of a length of the pulse tube.
It is desirable to provide a technique for improving the refrigerating capacity of a Stirling pulse tube refrigerator.
As an aspect of certain embodiments of the present invention, the above-described configuration elements may be arbitrarily combined with one another, and the configuration elements or expressions described herein may be replaced with one another between methods, devices, and systems.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to improve the refrigerating capacity of a Stirling pulse tube refrigerator.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are given to the same elements in the description, and repeated description thereof will be appropriately omitted. In addition, a configuration described herein is an example, and is not intended to limit the scope of certain embodiments of the present invention.
The compressor 200 collects working gas returning from the expander 300 via the flow passage 400. After compressing the collected working gas, the compressor 200 supplies high pressure working gas to the expander 300 via the flow passage 400. The compressor 200 repeatedly collects, compresses, and supplies the working gas, thereby generating sinusoidal wave pressure vibrations in the working gas. An operation frequency of the compressor 200 may be approximately 50 Hz to 60 Hz which is equivalent to that of a commercial power supply. In addition, an upper limit value of the pressure amplitude of the working gas may be approximately 3 MPa, and a lower limit value thereof may be approximately 1 MPa. The compression heat generated by compressing the working gas may heat the compressor 200. Accordingly, the compressor 200 may be cooled by a water cooling-type cooling mechanism (not illustrated).
In an example illustrated in
The first flexure bearing 206a and the second flexure bearing 206b are connected to the first piston 202a, and support the first piston 202a so as to reciprocate freely. Similarly, the third flexure bearing 206c and the fourth flexure bearing 206d are connected to the second piston 202b, and support the second piston 202b so as to reciprocate.
The flexure bearings have properties in which the flexure bearing has high stiffness in an axial direction of the connected piston and has low stiffness in a radial direction thereof. Accordingly, when reciprocating in the axial direction inside the cylinder 204, the first piston 202a and the second piston 202b can be prevented from coming into contact with an inner wall of the cylinder 204. The compressor 200 is configured so as to be airtight except for the flow passage 400 serving as an inlet and an outlet of the working gas.
The expander 300 includes an aftercooler 302, a regenerator 304, a low temperature heat exchanger 306, a flow straightener 308, a pulse tube 310, a high temperature heat exchanger 312, an inertance-tube 314, and a buffer tank 316. These elements are connected sequentially in the above-described order.
An end of the aftercooler 302 is connected to an end portion of the flow passage 400. The aftercooler 302 may be a water cooling-type heat exchanger, for example. The aftercooler 302 cools the working gas supplied from the compressor 200, and realizes heat exchange for radiating the heat outward from the expander 300. The other end of the aftercooler 302 is connected to a high temperature end of the regenerator 304.
The regenerator 304 has the high temperature end and a low temperature end. The regenerator 304 has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface. A cold storage material (not illustrated) in which several types of metal mesh are stacked on one another is accommodated inside the regenerator 304. The cold storage material cools the working gas supplied by the compressor 200. In addition, the cold storage material stores cold of the working gas returning from the pulse tube 310. The low temperature heat exchanger 306 is disposed in the low temperature end of the regenerator 304.
The low temperature heat exchanger 306 may be made of a material having high heat conductivity, for example, such as copper, and has a gas flow passage serving as a flow passage of the working gas. The low temperature heat exchanger 306 is cooled by the working gas, when the expanded working gas whose temperature is lowered passes through the gas flow passage. The gas flow passage included in the low temperature heat exchanger 306 will be described in detail later. A cooling stage (not illustrated) which is thermally connected to a cooling object is arranged in the low temperature heat exchanger 306. Although there is no limit, the low temperature heat exchanger 306 comes to have a temperature of approximately 77 K during the operation of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100.
The flow straightener 308 is disposed in a low temperature end which is an end portion, on aside close to the low temperature heat exchanger 306, out of end portions of the pulse tube 310. The flow straightener 308 is configured so that multiple meshes are stacked in multiple layers. The flow straightener 308 is also called a strainer, and reduces vortex flow, swirling flow, or turbulence in the flow velocity distribution of the working gas which flows out from the pulse tube 310 and flows into the low temperature heat exchanger 306. The flow straightener 308 allows the uniform flow of the working gas flowing into the low temperature heat exchanger 306. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the heat exchange efficiency of the low temperature heat exchanger 306.
In the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the flow straightener 308 and an outlet of the gas flow passage disposed in the low temperature heat exchanger 306 are separated from each other so as to circulate the working gas therebetween. A distance between the gas flow passage and the flow straightener 308 will described in detail later.
The pulse tube 310 is connected to the regenerator 304 so as to enable the working gas to circulate therebetween. The pulse tube 310 also has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface, similarly to the regenerator 304, and includes a low temperature end and a high temperature end. In an example illustrated in
As an example, the diameter of the cross section of the regenerator 304 according to the embodiment may be 90 mm, and the diameter of the cross section of the pulse tube 310 may be 40 mm. In addition, in order to prevent radiant heat from being transferred from the outside of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100, or in order to prevent heat from being transferred due to the convection flow of the working gas, a section from the regenerator 304 to the pulse tube 310 is accommodated in a vacuum vessel (not illustrated).
The high temperature heat exchanger 312 is arranged to the high temperature end of the pulse tube 310. Although not illustrated, the high temperature heat exchanger 312 cools the working gas by using cooling water having a constant temperature, similarly to the compressor 200 and the aftercooler 302. As an example, the high temperature heat exchanger 312 comes to have a temperature of approximately 300 K during the operation of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100.
The inertance-tube 314 connects the high temperature end of the pulse tube 310 and the buffer tank 316 to each other. The inertance-tube 314 is an elongated tube, and functions as a phase adjusting mechanism of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment. For example, an inner diameter of the inertance-tube 314 may be 11 mm, and a length thereof may be 1,800 mm.
The buffer tank 316 is a container for storing the working gas. The buffer tank 316 stores the working gas to such an extent as to absorb pressure vibrations of the working gas flowing into and flowing out from the buffer tank 316 via the inertance-tube 314. For example, an internal volume of the buffer tank 316 may be 3.5 liters.
Pressure of the working gas stored in the buffer tank 316 is maintained to be a substantially average pressure of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100. Here, the “average pressure of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100” means an average value of pressure vibrations of the working gas which are generated by the compressor 200, and may be set to approximately 2 MPa, for example.
An operation principle in which the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 according to the above-described configuration generates the cold is as follows. The compressor 200 supplies the working gas accompanied by sinusoidal pressure vibrations to an internal space formed from the regenerator 304 to the inertance-tube 314. The working gas supplied from the compressor 200 is cooled by the aftercooler 302, and thereafter is further cooled by a cold storage material inside the regenerator 304. When the working gas which reaches the inertance-tube 314 via the pulse tube 310 flows into the inertance-tube 314 and the buffer tank 316, a phase difference occurs between a pressure change and a flow rate change.
For this reason, a phase difference also occurs between pressure and a flow rate of the working gas inside the pulse tube 310. As a result, the working gas expands inside the pulse tube 310. Expansion of the working gas causes PV work in the low temperature end of the pulse tube 310, thereby generating the cold in the low temperature end. The cooled working gas is straightened by the flow straightener 308, and thereafter passes through the low temperature heat exchanger 306 so as to cool the low temperature heat exchanger 306. After passing through the low temperature heat exchanger 306, the working gas cools the cold storage material inside the regenerator 304, and returns to the compressor 200.
The above-described operation is repeatedly performed, thereby enabling the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment to generate the cold having a temperature of approximately 77 K.
Next, a distance between the gas flow passage disposed in the low temperature heat exchanger 306 and the flow straightener 308 will be described.
As illustrated in
For example, the length L2 of the pulse tube 310 according to the embodiment may be 250 mm. In addition, the length L1 of the channel 318 may be 1 mm. In this case, the length L1 of the flow passage 318 with respect to the length L2 of the pulse tube 310 may be expressed by 1/250×100=0.4%.
The present inventors measured refrigerating capacity of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 through experiments in a case of L1=0 mm, that is, in a case where the connecting passage 318 disposed in the low temperature heat exchanger 306 is brought into contact with the flow straightener 308, and in a case of L1=1 mm, that is, in a case where both of these are spaced away from each other. According to the experiments, when input power of the compressor 200 is set to 2.5 kW, it was observed that the refrigerating capacity which was 27 W in the temperature of 77 K in the case of L1=0 mm is changed to 43.5 W by setting L1=1 mm. These experiments enable the present inventors to confirm that if the connecting passage 318 and the flow straightener 308 are spaced away from each other by 1 mm, the refrigerating capacity of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 increased approximately 1.6 times (43.5 W/27 W) as compared to a case where both of these are not spaced away from each other.
The convex portion 320 comes into contact with the flow straightener 308 inside the pulse tube 310 so as to support the flow straightener 308. This generates a space between the low temperature heat exchanger 306 and the flow straightener 308, thereby causing the space to serve as the connecting passage 318.
Subsequently, a shape of the flow passage of refrigerant gas which is also received by the low temperature heat exchanger 306 will be described.
In an example of the low temperature heat exchanger 306 illustrated in
As described above, the gas flow passage 322 disposed in the low temperature heat exchanger 306 may adopt any configuration as long as the working gas uniformly flows inside the low temperature heat exchanger 306. Accordingly, the configuration is not limited to the shape of the multiple radially formed slits or the shape of the multiple through-holes formed in a grid shape.
As described above, the opening portions serving as the inlet and the outlet of the gas flow passage 322 are disposed on the surface of the low temperature heat exchanger 306. Therefore, if the low temperature heat exchanger 306 and the flow straightener 308 are brought into contact with each other, there is a possibility that meshes configuring the flow straightener 308 may close some opening portions among the multiple opening portions of the gas flow pas sage 322. If the flow straightener 308 closes some opening portions, the working gas does not flow uniformly inside the low temperature heat exchanger 306, thereby causing a possibility that the heat exchange efficiency may decrease. Therefore, it is preferable to separate the inlet and the outlet of the gas flow passage 322 and the flow straightener 308 from each other. As described above, in the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment, the distance between the inlet and the outlet of the gas flow passage 322 and the flow straightener 308 (that is, the length L1 of the connecting passage 318) is far from each other by 0.4% of the length L2 of the pulse tube 310.
On the other hand, if the length L1 of the connecting passage 318 is lengthened, the connecting passage 318 is caused to have a so-called dead volume, thereby causing a possibility of decreasing the refrigerating capacity of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100. Therefore, it is not necessarily preferable to significantly increase the length L1 of the connecting passage 318.
The present inventors consider that setting the length L1 of the connecting passage 318 to at least approximately 10% of the length L2 of the pulse tube 310 (approximately 20 mm to 30 mm) contributes to improved refrigerating capacity of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100. In view of the above-described circumstance, it is preferable to set the length L1 of the connecting passage 318 to approximately 10% or smaller of the length L2 of the pulse tube 310, and more preferably 5% or smaller.
As described above, it is possible to improve the refrigerating capacity of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 by separating the gas flow passage 322 and the flow straightener 308 from each other.
Hitherto, the embodiment of the present invention has been described. Without being limited to the above-described embodiment, certain embodiments of the present invention can be changed in design in various ways, and can adopt various modification examples. In addition, those skilled in the art may understand the adopted modification examples are included in the scope of the present invention.
Hitherto, a case has been described where the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 is a so-called in-line type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator in which the pulse tube 310 is disposed linearly side by side with the regenerator 304, outside the regenerator 304. However, the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100 is not limited to a case of the in-line type.
An example illustrated in
The working gas output from the compressor 200 reaches the aftercooler 302 via the flow passage 400, and is cooled in the aftercooler 302. The working gas passing through the aftercooler 302 flows into the high temperature end of the regenerator 304.
In the coaxial return type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 102, the regenerator 304 also has a cylindrical outer peripheral portion, and internally stores a cold storage material. However, the regenerator 304 in the coaxial return type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 102 is different from the regenerator 304 in the in-line type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100, and also internally stores the pulse tube 310.
Here, the pulse tube 310 is arranged coaxially with the regenerator 304 or so as to become substantially coaxial with the regenerator 304. If the working gas flowing from the high temperature end of the regenerator 304 passes through the low temperature heat exchanger 306 connected to the low temperature end of the regenerator 304, the working gas returns to and reaches the flow straightener 308 disposed in the low temperature end of the pulse tube 310.
As illustrated in
The low temperature heat exchanger 306 in the coaxial return type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 102 is different from the low temperature heat exchanger 306 in the in-line type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 100, and has a through-hole 324 disposed in a center portion thereof. The through-hole 324 serves as a flow passage for the working gas returning after passing through the low temperature heat exchanger 306 to reach the flow straightener 308. In addition, in the low temperature heat exchanger 306 in the coaxial return type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 102, an opening serving as an inlet and an outlet of the gas flow passage 322 is formed outside the convex portion 320 formed in an annular shape.
Referring back to the description of
The coaxial return type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 102 cools the low temperature heat exchanger 306, not only when the working gas passes through the gas flow passage 322 disposed in the low temperature heat exchanger but also when the working gas passes through the through-hole 324. Therefore, if the flow straightener 308 and the low temperature heat exchanger 306 are in contact with each other, there is a possibility that the meshes configuring the flow straightener 308 may close a portion of the through-hole 324 and may hinder the working gas from flowing. In this case, flow passage resistance of the working gas increases in the through-hole 324, thereby causing a pressure drop. Therefore, the coaxial return type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 102 according to the modification example adopts a configuration in which the flow straightener 308 and the low temperature heat exchanger 306 are spaced away from each other. In this manner, as compared to a case where the flow straightener 308 and the low temperature heat exchanger 306 are in contact with each other, it is possible to improve refrigerating capacity of the coaxial return type of the Stirling pulse tube refrigerator 102.
In an example illustrated in
Hitherto, a case has been described where the low temperature heat exchanger 306 has the convex portion 320. Instead of this case, a spacer made of metal such as copper may be arranged between the low temperature heat exchanger 306 and the flow straightener 308. That is, the low temperature heat exchanger 306 may exclude the convex portion 320, and the spacer equivalent to the convex portion 320 may be inserted into the low temperature heat exchanger 306. In this manner, a configuration may be realized by separating the low temperature heat exchanger 306 and the flow straightener 308 from each other. This enables the existing low temperature heat exchanger 306 to be utilized. Accordingly, it is possible to minimize manufacturing costs of a refrigerator. In addition, it is possible to change a distance between the low temperature heat exchanger 306 and the flow straightener 308 by preparing spacers having different sizes.
Hitherto, a case has been described where the compressor 200 and the expander 300 are integrated with each other or at least both of these are arranged close to each other. The compressor 200 and the expander 300 are not necessarily arranged close to each other, and both of these may be respectively installed at spaced away locations. For example, this installation can be realized by lengthening the flow passage 400 connecting the compressor 200 and the expander 300 to each other. In this manner, a cooling object can be cooled, even when there is no space for simultaneously installing the compressor 200 and the expander 300 in a location where the cooling object is placed, if only the expander 300 can be installed therein. The reason is that the cooling object is sufficiently cooled as long as the compressor 200 is installed at a position spaced away from the cooling object.
It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be modified into various forms on the basis of the spirit of the invention. Additionally, the modifications are included in the scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-116446 | Jun 2014 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20060144054 | Xu | Jul 2006 | A1 |
| 20080256958 | Xu | Oct 2008 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2004-333054 | Nov 2004 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20150354861 A1 | Dec 2015 | US |
