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A Superfluid Pulse Tube Refrigerator Without Moving Parts for Sub-Kelvin CoolingA report describes a pulse tube refrigerator that uses a mixture of He-3 and superfluid He-4 to cool to temperatures below 300 mK, while rejecting heat at temperatures up to 1.7 K. The refrigerator is driven by a novel thermodynamically reversible pump that is capable of pumping the He-3 He-4 mixture without the need for moving parts. The refrigerator consists of a reversible thermal magnetic pump module, two warm heat exchangers, a recuperative heat exchanger, two cold heat exchangers, two pulse tubes, and an orifice. It is two superfluid pulse tubes that run 180 out of phase. All components of this machine except the reversible thermal pump have been demonstrated at least as proof-of-concept physical models in previous superfluid Stirling cycle machines. The pump consists of two canisters packed with pieces of gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG). The canisters are connected by a superleak (a porous piece of VYCOR glass). A superconducting magnetic coil surrounds each of the canisters.
Document ID
20120016284
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Other - NASA Tech Brief
Authors
Miller, Franklin K.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 2012
Publication Information
Publication: NASA Tech Briefs, October 2012
Subject Category
Mechanical Engineering
Report/Patent Number
GSC-15580-1
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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