EP0706632B1 - Procede d'obtention de tres basses temperatures - Google Patents

Procede d'obtention de tres basses temperatures Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0706632B1
EP0706632B1 EP94921676A EP94921676A EP0706632B1 EP 0706632 B1 EP0706632 B1 EP 0706632B1 EP 94921676 A EP94921676 A EP 94921676A EP 94921676 A EP94921676 A EP 94921676A EP 0706632 B1 EP0706632 B1 EP 0706632B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
mixture
temperature
enclosure
pct
point
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP94921676A
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German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0706632A1 (fr
Inventor
Alain Daniel Benoit
Serge Pujol
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Centre National dEtudes Spatiales CNES
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Centre National dEtudes Spatiales CNES
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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B9/00—Compression machines, plants or systems, in which the refrigerant is air or other gas of low boiling point
    • F25B9/12—Compression machines, plants or systems, in which the refrigerant is air or other gas of low boiling point using 3He-4He dilution

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and a device for obtaining very low temperatures, less than about 1 ° K, and in particular 0.1 ° K.
  • the two fluids by mixing create a two-phase system comprising a phase rich in 3He and a diluted phase, the energy of dilution or dissolution being used for cooling, the succession of the two phases in the mixture outlet tube prevents the diffusion of the 3He dissolved against the current in the part system cold, while at higher temperature (above 0.5 K), the solubility of 3He in 4He increases, the mixture has only one phase and the speed must be sufficient so that the 3He does not cannot diffuse against the current.
  • This cryostat has the advantage of being able operate in the absence of gravity because it does not understand still, which makes it particularly advantageous for space uses. In such uses, the cryostat can operate in rejecting into space the small quantities of mixture of 4He and 3He it produces. In case the vehicle must return to earth, we can also store this mixture in a tank, with a view to distilling it on the ground. If the cryostat is used on the ground, it can, of course, be coupled with a distillation plant, the whole then operating in a closed circuit.
  • the object of the present invention is to provide a cryostat operating according to the method described in EP-A-0327.457 and which presents a simple construction, that is to say little bulky, and consumes little energy, and more specially be freed from the necessity of producing and / or store superfluid helium to cool the enclosure at 2 ° K or less.
  • the invention provides a process for obtaining very low temperatures according to which we continuously introduce 4He and 3He which we cools using temperature heat exchangers of the order of 0.2 ° K or less, at the point where mixes them to absorb heat by diluting the 3He in 4He, thereby cooling the two-phase mixture formed, which mixture is extracted at through a conduit designed so that the 3He cannot diffuse against the current and reduce the dissolution of 3He, process in which an adjacent heat exchanger at the mixing point is used for cooling fluids going to the coldest point through the extracted mixture circulating in the opposite direction, the main feature of this process being that 4He and the 3He intended to be mixed are cooled supply temperature at a temperature below 2.5 ° K by exchange with the extracted mixture, the power being absorbed by the use of a Joule-Thomson expansion of this mixture, allowing the system to operate with a supply temperature well greater than 4 ° K.
  • Cooling power during expansion Joule-Thomson only depends on the inlet pressures and out of the mixture. The best performances are obtained for pressures of the order of 2 to 15 bars in input and from 1 to 50 millibars at output.
  • the invention results from the observation that, by a judicious use of the Joule-Thomson trigger fluids used for the cooling process at very low temperature, it is possible to pre-cool the fluids entering the system from a temperature much higher, of the order of 4 to 10 ° K, allowing to get rid of auxiliary precooling installations necessary in the prior art, and in particular superfluid helium bath.
  • the temperatures from 4 to 10 ° K are easily obtained using a Stirling cryogenic machine followed by a Joule-Thomson stage classic at 4He liquid.
  • Figure 1 is a theoretical diagram of the installation of the prior art
  • FIG. 2 is a theoretical diagram of an installation according to the invention
  • Figure 3 is an enthalpy diagram of helium 4 to which the important points of the diagram of Figure 2.
  • Figure 1 shows the block diagram of a practical realization which functions in accordance with indications of document EP-A-0327.457 cited above.
  • Pure 4He gas and 3He gas are injected under pressure (around 3 bars) and at room temperature, each in a heat exchanger 1, in contact with a reserve of superfluid helium, symbolized in 2, which carries also the enclosure 3 of the cryostat, and are cooled to 2 ° K about.
  • the two fluids are then cooled in a temperature exchanger 4, then the heat absorbed by mixing them in a mixing chamber 5 allows cool a support 6 to a temperature of the order of 0.1 ° K.
  • the mixture M absorbs heat in the exchanger 4 before leaving the cryostat at an outlet pressure maintained at around 2 bars. The difference of pressure with the input pressure is due to the pressure drop in the exchangers.
  • the exchanger 4 includes two parts, the hot part (0.5 ° K to 2 ° K) of 1 meter in length consists of three 0.03 mm tubes inside diameter, welded together, while the cold part (0.1 ° K to 0.5 ° K) is formed by three tubes of 0.02 mm in diameter and 3 meters long welded together.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the device Figure 1 modified in accordance with the invention.
  • the same references designate the same elements.
  • Pure 4He and 3He gases are injected under pressure (between 2 and 20 bars) and at room temperature. They are then cooled between 4 ° K and 10 ° K by exchangers 10, themselves coupled to an annex machine precooling 11. Entering an enclosure 13, the fluids are cooled to a temperature of the order of 2 ° K by the exchangers 12, themselves coupled to an intermediate enclosure 3. The interior of this enclosure is identical to that of FIG. 1.
  • the mixture At the outlet of the exchanger 4, the mixture has undergone a pressure drop and is found at low pressure in a exchanger 14 where the liquid is evaporated, providing a great cooling power which is used to cool the screen limiting the outer enclosure 13, as well as the fluids entering through the exchangers 12.
  • the mixture 11 then leaves the cryostat at low pressure (between 1 and 50 millibars) per tube 15.
  • Figure 3 which shows an enthalpy diagram helium 4 helps to understand the physical aspect of phenomena that occur inside the device.
  • This diagram relates to pure helium 4, while uses helium 4 and helium 3 either separately, either in mixture.
  • the proportion of helium 3 compared to helium 4 is relatively small, about 20%, so the diagram in Figure 3 gives still a pretty good overall idea of what past.
  • the enthalpy is 50 J / mole. If the outlet pressure is set to 30 millibars, the fluid retains its enthalpy and is found at point B at a temperature of 2 ° K, with a mixture diphasic half vapor, half liquid.
  • the power of available cooling is given by the difference enthalpy between points B and C, about 50 J / mole. For a typical flow rate of 10 ⁇ moles / s, the power available on enclosure 3 is therefore 0.5 mW. For a inlet temperature above 7 ° K, the same reasoning leads to zero available power.
  • the quantities of gas required are 1000 liters per year of helium 3 and 4000 liters per year of helium 4. If we use standard bottles at high pressure (volume 5 liters, pressure 200 bars, weight 6.7 kg), the cryostat only needs one bottle of helium 3 and four bottles of helium 4 per year, which corresponds to 33.5 kg per year. This weight can be reduced easily using high pressure cylinders made made of more resistant materials.
  • the simplicity of the system allows very easy control simple by adjusting the flow rates of the two fluids to the entry of the cryostat. This allows to stop and do start again the dilution to optimize consumption helium gas.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Diaphragms For Electromechanical Transducers (AREA)
  • Control Of Eletrric Generators (AREA)
  • Heat-Exchange Devices With Radiators And Conduit Assemblies (AREA)
  • Glass Compositions (AREA)
EP94921676A 1993-07-05 1994-07-04 Procede d'obtention de tres basses temperatures Expired - Lifetime EP0706632B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR9308201 1993-07-05
FR9308201A FR2707375B1 (fr) 1993-07-05 1993-07-05 Procédé d'obtention de très basses températures.
PCT/FR1994/000818 WO1995002158A1 (fr) 1993-07-05 1994-07-04 Procede d'obtention de tres basses temperatures

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0706632A1 EP0706632A1 (fr) 1996-04-17
EP0706632B1 true EP0706632B1 (fr) 1998-03-25

Family

ID=9448906

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP94921676A Expired - Lifetime EP0706632B1 (fr) 1993-07-05 1994-07-04 Procede d'obtention de tres basses temperatures

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US5657635A (ja)
EP (1) EP0706632B1 (ja)
JP (1) JP3304978B2 (ja)
AT (1) ATE164441T1 (ja)
DE (1) DE69409236T2 (ja)
FR (1) FR2707375B1 (ja)
RU (1) RU2117883C1 (ja)
WO (1) WO1995002158A1 (ja)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB0421111D0 (en) * 2004-09-22 2004-10-27 Oxford Instr Superconductivity Cryogenic flow valve system
FR2934674A1 (fr) * 2008-07-31 2010-02-05 Air Liquide Refrigerateur et procede de production de froid a tres basse temperature
DE102009025544B3 (de) * 2009-06-19 2010-09-23 Institut für Luft- und Kältetechnik gGmbH Lösungskältemaschine
US8991150B2 (en) 2012-07-27 2015-03-31 Board Of Trustees Of Northern Illinois University High specific impulse superfluid and nanotube propulsion device, system and propulsion method
US10240875B2 (en) * 2014-07-09 2019-03-26 The Regents Of The University Of California Active cryogenic electronic envelope

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2322337A1 (fr) * 1975-08-26 1977-03-25 Air Liquide Dispositif d'alimentation de refrigerant d'un refrigerateur a circuit ouvert, et systeme de refrigeration comportant un tel dispositif
US4080802A (en) * 1976-07-14 1978-03-28 International Telephone And Telegraph Corporation Hybrid gas cryogenic cooler
DE3435229A1 (de) * 1984-09-26 1986-04-03 Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe Gmbh, 7500 Karlsruhe Kryostat fuer den betrieb einer (pfeil hoch)3(pfeil hoch)he-(pfeil hoch)4(pfeil hoch)he-mischeinheit
SU1229528A1 (ru) * 1984-10-15 1986-05-07 Всесоюзный научно-исследовательский институт гелиевой техники Способ пуска рефрижератора @ - @
US4697425A (en) * 1986-04-24 1987-10-06 The United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration Oxygen chemisorption cryogenic refrigerator
FR2626658B1 (fr) * 1988-02-03 1990-07-20 Centre Nat Etd Spatiales Procede et appareillage pour l'obtention de tres basses temperatures
DE3941314A1 (de) * 1989-12-14 1991-06-20 Bodenseewerk Geraetetech Kuehlvorrichtung
US5063747A (en) * 1990-06-28 1991-11-12 United States Of America As Represented By The United States National Aeronautics And Space Administration Multicomponent gas sorption Joule-Thomson refrigeration
US5119637A (en) * 1990-12-28 1992-06-09 The United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration Ultra-high temperature stability Joule-Thomson cooler with capability to accommodate pressure variations

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0706632A1 (fr) 1996-04-17
JP3304978B2 (ja) 2002-07-22
RU2117883C1 (ru) 1998-08-20
DE69409236T2 (de) 1998-11-05
FR2707375B1 (fr) 1995-09-22
US5657635A (en) 1997-08-19
ATE164441T1 (de) 1998-04-15
JPH08512398A (ja) 1996-12-24
FR2707375A1 (fr) 1995-01-13
DE69409236D1 (de) 1998-04-30
WO1995002158A1 (fr) 1995-01-19

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