• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.457-463
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• 1999

The Joule-Thomson cryocooler with $H_2$gas has been developed. Cool-down characteristics and the cooling performance of a JT cryocooler have been investigated in detail. The JT cryocooler consists of JT expansion valve, heat exchanger, expansion chamber, compressed $H_2$gas storage tank, $LN_2$precooler, heater and a cryostat. The precooling process using both $GN_2$and $LN_2$was peformed to cool down the inside components of cryocooler under the maximum inversion temperature of $H_2$. The $H_2$expansion experiments have been peformed for 2-5MPa of H$_2$pressure to evaluate steady state temperatures of the cryocooler. It is found that the steady state temperatures are decreased as the H$_2$pressures are increased. The effects of cooling temperatures on the performance have been evaluated for various $H_2$and $N_2$pressures. It is seen that the cooling loads are increased, as the cooling temperature and operating pressure are increased.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.12 no.10
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• pp.901-907
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• 2000

The conceptual determination of mixed-refrigerant (MR) for a closed Joule-Thomson cryocooler is described in this paper. The thermodynamic cycle design was mainly considered to develop a cryocooler by using a compressor of domestic air-conditioning unit. The target cooling performance of the designed cryocooler is 10 W around 70 K with less than 5 kJ/kg enthalpy rise. The systematic approach of choosing a proper refrigerant among 20 different kinds of mixture for such cryogenic temperature was introduced in detail. The main components of the cryocooler are compressor, evaporator, oil separator, after-cooler, counterflow heat exchanger, and J-T expansion device. Due to the limitation of the compressor operation range, the temperature after the compression was limited below $117^{\circ}C$ (390 K) and the temperature before compression was restricted above $5^{\circ}C$ (278 K). 20 atm of discharging pressure (high pressure) and less than 3 atm suction pressure (low pressure) were the design conditions. The inlet temperature of a counterflow heat exchanger in the high Pressure side was about 300 K. The proper composition of the mixed refrigerant for the designed J-T cryocooler is 15% mol of$ N_2, 30% mol of $CH_4,\; 30% mol\; of C^2H^ 6,\; 10%\; mol\; of\; C_3H_8\; and \;15%\; mol\; of\; i-C_4H_10$.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2160-2164
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• 2008

Miniature Joule-Thomson cryocoolers have been widely used for rapid cooling of infrared detectors, probes of cryosurgery, thermal cameras, missile homing head and guidance system, due to their special features of simple configuration, compact structure and rapid cool-down characteristics. The cool-down time, the temperature at the cold end, the running time and the gas consumption are the important indicators of the performance of the J-T cryocooler. In this study, the initial cool-down stages of the J-T cryocooler were investigated by numerical simulations. The results show the effects of the initial charging pressures of gas on the cool-down time and the temperature at the cold end and the gas consumptions.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.95-102
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• 2008

A miniature metal bellows is used to minimize the excessive flow of the cryogenic gas in Joule-Thomson micro cryocooler. It is made of metal alloy and its geometry is axisymmetric. The bellows is filled with high pressure gas. It contracts or expands in the axial direction for a wide change of temperature, because the pressure and volume inside the bellows must be satisfied with state equation of the gas. Therefore, in order to design the bellows in Joule-Thomson micro-cryocooler, it is important to evaluate deformation of the bellows under internal pressure exactly. Considering geometric nonlinearity, deformations analysis of the bellows were obtained by a commercial finite element code ANSYS, The bellows was modeled by 3-node axisymmetric shell elements with reduced integration. Experiments were also performed to prove the validity of proposed numerical analysis. The results by numerical analysis and experiments were shown in good agreements.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.100-107
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• 2008

Bellows is an important component in Joule-Thomson cryocooler, which minimize the excessive flow of the cryogenic gas. The bellows is made of Monel 400 and its geometry is an axial symmetric shell. During cool-down process, the pressure and volume within bellows must be satisfied with Benedict-Webb-Rubin state equation. Moreover, Poisson's ratio of Monel 400 is nearly constants, but its Young's modulus varies for a drop in temperature. Under these conditions, bellows contracts in the axial direction like a spring. To evaluate deformation of bellows at cryogenic temperature, the numerical calculation of the volume within bellows and finite element analysis are iteratively used in this research. the numerical results show that deformation of the bellows is approximately linear for change of temperature.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 2015

A bellows is an important temperature control component in a Joule-Thomson micro-cryocooler. It is designed using a very thin shell, and the inside of the bellows is filled with nitrogen gas. The bellows is made of a nickel-cobalt alloy that maintains its strength and elastic properties in a wide range of temperatures from cryogenic to $300^{\circ}C$. The pressure of the gas and the volume within the bellows vary according to the temperature of the gas. As a result, the bellows contracts or expands in the axial direction like a spring. To explore this phenomenon, the deformation of the bellows and its internal volume must be calculated iteratively under a modified pressure until the state equation of the gas is satisfied at a given temperature. In this paper, the modified Benedict-Webb-Rubin state equation is adopted to describe the temperature-volume-pressure relations of the gas. Experiments were performed to validate the proposed method. The results of a numerical analysis and the experiments showed good agreement.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.39-50
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• 2000

Thermodynamic cycle analysis is presented to estimate the maximum liquefaction rate of hydrogen for various systems using a Gifford-McMahon(GM) cryocooler. Since the present authors` previous experiments showed that the gaseous hydrogen was liquefied approximately at the rate of 5.1 mg/s from the direct contact with a commercial two-stage GM refrigerator, this study has been proposed to predict how much the liquefaction rate can be increased in different configurations using the GM cooler and with improved heat exchangers. The optimal operating conditions have been analytically sought with real properties of normal hydrogen for the Linde-Hampson(L-H) system precooled by single-stage GM, the direct-contact system with two-stage GM, the L-H system precooled by two-stage GM, and the direct-contact system with helium GM-JT (Joule-Thomson). The maximum liquefaction rate has been predicted to be only about 7 times greater than the previous experiment, even though the highly effective heat exchangers may be employed. It is concluded that the liquefaction rate is limited mainly because of the cooling capacity of the commercially available GM cryocoolers and a practical scale of hydrogen liquefaction is possible only if the GM cooler has a greater capacity at 70-100 K.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2006

A closed-loop cryogenic cooling system for high field magnets is presented. This design is motivated by our recent development of cooling system for 21 tesla Fourier Transform ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) superconducting magnets without any replenishment of cryogen. The low temperature superconducting magnets are immersed in a subcooled 1.8 K bath, which is connected hydraulically to the 4.2 K reservoir through a narrow channel. Saturated liquid helium is cooled by Joule-Thomson heat exchanger and flows through the JT valve, isenthalpically dropping its pressure to approximately 1 6 kPa, corresponding saturation temperature of 1.8 K. Helium gas exhausted from pump is now recondensed by two-stage cryocooler located after vapor purify system. The amount of cryogenic Heat loads and required mass flow rate through closed-loop are estimated by a relevant heat transfer analysis, from which dimensions of JT heat exchanger and He II heat exchanger are determined. The detailed design of cryocooler heat exchanger for helium recondensing is performed. The effect of cryogenic loads, especially superfluid heat leak through the gap of weight load relief valve, on the dimensions of cryogenic system is also investigated.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.64-68
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• 2001

An experimental study on the Joule-Thomson cryocooler with the mixed refrigerant (MR) is described in this paper, J-T refrigeration experiment was performed with a single stage regular air-conditioning compressor The mixed refrigerant in the experiment was composed of 75% mol fraction of $N_2$. 30% moi fraction of CH$_4$. 30% moi fraction of $C_2$H$_{6}$. 10% mot fraction of $C_3$H$_{8}$ and 15% mot fraction of iso-C$_4$H$_{10}$. Oil mist in the MR stream could be eliminated completely by the glass microfiber filter. Since a single stage compressor that had been designed thor R22 is not appropriate for high Pressure ratio of the mixed refrigerant especially during the transient period. two modifications were incorporated to regular J-T refrigeration cycle. First. a Portion of the MR was by-passed at the inlet of the heat exchanger and transferred directly to 7he suction of the compressor in the modified system. Second, a buffer volume was Prepared to change the mass flow rate of refrigerant. The pressure ratio in J-T expansion device was relieved at the beginning of the operation due to the by-Pass scheme. but it gradually decreased during the transient Process as some of the MR component condensed at low temperature. The buffer volume at the suction side was used to increase the MR gas density in the system after the transient cool-down period. Form the experiment with the modified system, the refrigerator could reach the lowest temperature of -152$^{\circ}C$ without cooling load. and about -15$0^{\circ}C$ with 5 W of cooling load . . . .

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.81-88
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• 2009

Bellows is used to control temperature of a Joule-Thomson micro cryocooler. It is made of Nickelcobalt alloy that retains mechanical properties from cryogenic temperature to temperature of 570K. The geometry of bellows is an axisymmetric shell and Nitrogen with high pressure was charged at temperature of 293K. During cool-down process, the pressure and volume of Nitrogen are changed and must be satisfied with state equation. At cryogenic temperature, Nitrogen can exist as a part liquid and part vapor. Pressure-density-temperature behavior under this vaporliquid phase equilibrium is closely given by the Modified-Benedict-Webb-Rubin(MBWR) state equation. To evaluate deformation of bellows for temperature change, the numerical calculation of the volume within bellows and finite element analysis of bellows under internal pressure were iteratively performed until MBWR state equation is satisfied. The numerical results show that deformation of the bellows can be analyzed by the present method in a wide range of temperature including cryogenic temperature.