System including a heat exchanger with different cryogenic fluids therein and method of using the same

Abstract

A system can include a heat transfer structure and a heat exchanger. The heat transfer structure is to cool an object, and the heat exchanger is to cool a portion of the heat transfer structure. The system can be cooled significantly faster than a conventional system that uses conductive cooling. The system has no or less liquid cryogen that would be vaporized as compared to a conventional system that immerses the object to be cooled within a bath of liquid cryogen or has a substantial mass of liquid cryogen within a cooling loop.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Field of the Disclosure[0002]The disclosure relates to systems, and methods, and more particularly to cooling systems including heat exchangers with different cryogenic fluids therein and methods of using the systems.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]A conventional low-temperature superconducting system can be cooled by immersion, convection, or conduction. Conventional immersion cooling of a cryogenic system can include using a liquid cryogen. FIG. 1 includes a schematic drawing of a conventional magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) system 100 that includes a superconducting coil 190 that is contained within a vessel 140. The vessel 140 has an outer wall 142, an inner wall 144, and a thermal shield 182 disposed therebetween. An interior space 160 is disposed within the inner wall 144. The vessel 120 can include another wall 172, a patient wall 174 with a space 176 in which a patient (not illustrated) may be placed when using the MRI system 110 during nor...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The patent text describes a cooling system for a superconducting system that uses a cryogen to cool down the system. The system uses a heat transfer structure and a heat exchanger to cool the object being cooled. The system is designed to cool faster and more efficiently compared to conventional systems. It also uses less liquid cryogen, which means it can withstand faults or other issues without needing to recharge with cryogen. The system is more likely to be able to withstand faults or other issues without needing to recharge with cryogen."

Problems solved by technology

Although coils can be provided to customers with the cryogen installed, it is common for routine service and expected failure modes to deplete some of that cryogen.

Many areas of the world do not have ready supply of replacement liquid cryogen or an equivalent high purity gas.

The dual-phase, convective cooling loop suffers from the same problem as the immersion cooling.

A quench can cause all liquid cryogen to become vaporized and exhausted from the system.

As compared to convective cooling, the conductive cooling is very slow.

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