Design of gas-gap thermal switch for reducing cooldown time of 2-stage cryocooler

2단 냉동기의 냉각시간 단축을 위한 기체-간극 열스위치 설계

A preliminary design of gas-gp thermal switch is presented to reduce the cooldown time of superconducting system conduction-cooled by a two-stage refrigerator without liquid cryogens. The switch connects thermally the first and the second stages (ON) to take advantage of the larger refrigeration capacity at the first stage during the beginning period. After the cryogenic temperature is reached, the switch should isolate thermally the two stages (OFF) in order to reduce the heat leak to the cold end. In this paper, a new concept for the performance index is introduced to evaluate the reduction of the cooldown time and the increase of the cooling load at the same time. In addition, the design of a gas-gap switch is discussed as a closed container of several staggered concentric tubes filled with gas, which is frozen at low temperatures for the shut-off of heat without any mechanical actuation. Some of the detailed features in the design is quantitative investigated by the gas convection model in the continuum or the rarefied gas region.