Helium Regenerator Structure for Stable Cryogenic Pressure Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional helium-cooling type regenerators experience pressure variations and temperature instability due to frequent inflow and outflow of helium gas, leading to destabilization of regeneration performance.
Innovation Solution
A helium-cooling type regenerator is designed with a first section for working gas flow and a second section for helium gas storage, connected to a regenerator material pipe that compensates for pressure decreases by introducing high-pressure helium from a helium source, maintaining stable regeneration performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If helium gas is used as regenerator material in a capsule, then heat exchange efficiency is improved at cryogenic temperatures, but manufacturing difficulty increases due to high pressure requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The regenerator is divided into multiple containers with holes inside, each container holding helium gas at lower pressure. This segmentation allows the system to achieve the desired heat exchange efficiency without requiring a single high-pressure capsule, thus resolving the manufacturing difficulty while maintaining thermal performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple containers with holes are nested inside the regenerator structure. Each container holds helium gas and allows working gas to flow through its holes. This nested configuration enables efficient heat exchange between the working gas and helium gas without requiring high-pressure containment, solving both the heat exchange efficiency and manufacturing ease contradiction.
2Temperature
If helium gas flows frequently through containers, then cooling function is maintained, but pressure variations and temperature instability increase
Solution Approach 1:
Helium gas is pre-filled into the containers before the regenerator operates. This preliminary action ensures that the containers are already filled with helium at the correct pressure and temperature conditions, so that during operation, the helium gas can immediately perform heat exchange without causing pressure variations or temperature instability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses multiple containers that can be separately filled and replaced. If helium gas is lost or pressure variations occur, individual containers can be refilled or replaced without affecting the entire system, thus maintaining cooling function while improving stability. This approach treats the helium-containing containers as replaceable units.
3Strength
If capsule thickness is increased to resist high pressure, then pressure resistance is improved, but thermal conductivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single thick-walled high-pressure capsule, the system segments the helium storage into multiple thin-walled containers. Each container operates at lower pressure, allowing thin walls that maintain high thermal conductivity. The collective arrangement of multiple containers provides the necessary pressure resistance without sacrificing thermal performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The containers use thin-walled structures that provide sufficient pressure resistance for the lower operating pressures. These thin walls maintain high thermal conductivity, enabling efficient heat exchange between the helium gas and working gas, thus resolving the contradiction between pressure resistance and thermal conductivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces pressure variations and temperature instability, enabling stable regeneration performance by continuously supplementing helium gas, thus maintaining efficient cooling in regenerative refrigerators.
Implementation Method 1
a second section configured to accommodate helium gas as a regenerator material... working gas such as helium gas compressed in a compressor is introduced into a regenerator to be pre-cooled by a regenerator material in the regenerator
Implementation Method 2
a regenerator material pipe connected to the second section and to a helium source... introducing high-pressure helium from a helium source, maintaining stable regeneration performance
Implementation Method 3
the specific heat of helium gas of a pressure of approximately 1.5 MPa is higher than the specific heat of the HoCu2 magnetic material. Accordingly, in such a temperature range, using helium gas in place of the HoCu2 magnetic material makes it possible to perform heat exchange more efficiently
Data Source
AI summary
A helium-cooling type regenerator configured to retain cold temperatures of working gas includes a first section through which the working gas flows, a second section configured to accommodate helium gas as a regenerator material, and a regenerator material pipe connected to the second section and to a helium source.