DESIGN OF A 0.5 WATT DUAL USE LONG-LIFE LOW-COST 

PULSE TUBE COOLER

D.T.Kuo¹, A.S.Loc¹, S.W.K.Yuan¹, and A.L. Johnson²

¹BEI Technologies, Inc.,

Sylmar, CA, 91342, USA

²Electro Thermo Associates

Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266, USA

ABSTRACT

The design of a 0.5 Watt Dual Use Pulse Tube Cooler discussed in this paper is based on the analyses of a Hybrid Refrigerator Model (HRM) which is similar in nature to a third order model that has been validated extensively against various Stirling and Pulse Tube Coolers in the literature^1-8.Together with BEIs experience with the Stirling refrigerators and the introduction of flexure bearings, the design of a long-life and low-cost cooler emerges.The cooler should have a lifetime of at least five years with high reliability and is capable of producing 0.5 Watt of cooling power at 80 Kelvin with a total input power of less than 15 Watt and with a cooler heat sink temperature of 310 Kelvin.The system should also deliver 0.3 Watt of cooling at 65 Kelvin with the same input power and heat sink temperature.The cooler is also light-weight, weighing less than 1 Kg.