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Effect of expander shape on cooling characteristics by using a model pulse tube refrigerator
Author(s) -
Mori Yuta,
Hiratsuka Yoshikatsu,
Hamaguchi Kazuhiro
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.5282
Subject(s) - inertance , pulse tube refrigerator , refrigerator car , stirling engine , regenerative heat exchanger , coaxial , tube (container) , cooling capacity , gas compressor , materials science , refrigeration , mechanics , dilution refrigerator , mechanical engineering , condenser (optics) , heat exchanger , engineering , optics , physics , light source
Summary Pulse tube refrigerators do not have moving parts in the cold section, and they have low vibration, high reliability, and long life. The expander in refrigerators typically has an inverted U or coaxial shape because this attains a wider absorber area, lower height, and compactness. However, the performance of a Stirling‐type pulse tube refrigerator is inferior to that of a Stirling refrigerator. Cooling characteristics of the pulse tube refrigerator greatly depend on the shape of the expander. In this study, an inertance‐type refrigerator, which uses ambient air for the working gas, was developed to examine the effect of expander shape. This refrigerator model with changeable expander operated with a Stirling cycle, and it was composed of a reciprocating compressor, after‐cooler, regenerator, absorber, pulse tube, hot‐end, and inertance tube with reservoir. The following expander shapes were tested: in‐line, L shape, L‐L shape, and coaxial shape. The effect of expander shape on cooling capacity was examined experimentally and numerically using the model pulse tube refrigerator. The results of experiments showed that the L shape expander had the highest performance and the coaxial expander had the lowest performance. In addition, the characteristics of the gas flow in each expander were confirmed by fluid dynamics analysis.