xkcd Cryogenics Tyler Brewer Overview History of cryogenics
xkcd
Cryogenics Tyler Brewer
Overview • History of cryogenics • Uses • Methods of Cooling • Materials Considerations • Vibration Issues
History • “Cryogenics” is for approximately < ~150 C • Greek – “Kryos” = frost – “-genic” = to produce • 1887: Liquid oxygen produced (-183 C, 90 K) • 1892: Dewar invents the vacuum flask • 1908: Liquid helium produced (4. 2 K) – Superconductivity discovered in 1911 thanks to this • 1960: 1*10^-6 K attainable Photo: The Worlds of David Darling
Industrial Uses • Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) • Liquid Hydrogen / Oxygen rocket fuel • Medicine – Cryosurgery – Medical gases like O 2 • Superconductivity – LHC at CERN • Food preservation • Manufacturing – Tight-tolerance part fitting • Electronics – Detectors – Reduced thermal noise Photo: CIMS Gas Products, LLC
Mechanics of Cooling • Recuperative cycles – Gas is passed through heat exchanger to transfer energy – Continuous heat transfer • Regenerative cycles – Cyclic process with low temperature stored in “Regenerator” – Requires large heat capacity due to alternating flow Photo: European Space Agency
Joule-Thompson Liquifier • Requires gas to be < 40 K • AKA Linde-Hampson Effect 1. Gas compressed 2. Gas precooled 3. Gas passed through J-T valve (cools down even more) 4. Gas liquid at lowest pressure and temp, removes heat from cold head 5. “Exhaust” gas recycled to precool incoming gas, sent back to reservoir
Hybrid Cascade JT cooler P ~ 3 k. Pa ~ 0. 01 atm
Other Regenerative Methods • Claude Liquefier – 3 heat exchangers with expansion engine • Collins Cycle – Commonly used for mass production of cryo-liquids – Complicated version of Claude liquifier
Stirling Cycle Refrigerator • Evolved from Stirling heat engine working in reverse 1. He compressed in upper chamber, hot 2. Displacer moves up, forcing He through Regenerator 3. Displacer and Compressor move up, isothermal expansion in lower chamber (extracts heat from R) 4. D and C move down, forcing He through R (removes more heat from R)
Gifford-Mc. Mahon Cycle • Similar to Stirling cycle, but with cycling valves 1. 2. 3. 4. Outlet valve closed, inlet valve opens, high pressure He fills R and space above D Displacer moves up, gas passes through R, cooled isobarically Inlet closes, outlet opens, gas expands, removes heat D returns to initial position, gas warms isobarically
Considerations • Temporary or long-term use • Owning and operating cost • Overall size • Purchase liquid He, vent exhaust vapors – Small scale • Purchase gaseous He, liquefy it, vent the exhaust – Depends on care and efficiency of system • Purchase gaseous He, liquefy it, recover exhaust for reuse – Depends on care and efficiency of system • Purchase gaseous He, run in closed-cycle refrigerator – More expensive startup
Magnetocaloric Effect • When removed from a magnetic field, molecules become disorderly • If isolated, energy to shift orientation comes from phonon collisions • Results in reduced temperature • Can attain < 1 K using this technique in small scales • Gadolinium Photo: Wikipedia
Properties of Materials • Heat capacity changes as T → 0 K • Phonons contribute to heat capacity at low T • Electron flow contributes to energy, besides classical resistance, < 10 K • Thermal contraction, ~1% of dimension – Thermal stress, tolerance considerations, coupling • Electrical Resistivity – Lowest resistivity depends on lattice structure, purity
Properties of Materials • Thermal conductivity – Nonlinearly dependent on T • Lattice structures shift • Mechanical properties: – Stress – Strain – Elasticity • Superconductivity
Common Issues • Vibrational travel up to 60 μm depending on hardware – Active vibration damping – System isolation – Montana Instruments: <5 μm • Frost buildup – Design cold head so sample is warmest object in the chamber Photo: Montana Istruments
Questions
Sources • • • Brittanica: http: //www. britannica. com/science/cryogenics CIMS Gas Products, http: //www. cimsgas. com/cryogenics. html Comic: http: //xkcd. com/989/ Cooltech Applications, http: //www. cooltech-applications. com/magnetic-refrigerationprinciple. html David Darling: http: //www. daviddarling. info/encyclopedia/D/dewar_flask. html ESA: http: //sci. esa. int/jwst/46831 -cryocooler-for-miri/ Montana Instruments: http: //resources. montanainstruments. com/help/article/link/vibrations Van Sciver, Steven W. , Helium Cryogenics, 2 nd Ed. , Springer (2012) Wikipedia: https: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Magnetic_refrigeration
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