Cryo Cooling X-Ray Optics with ProPoly50

X-ray optics must be cooled to 125K. The Axilon Chillax provides liquid nitrogen (LN) at 77- 100K but costs over $300,000. This creates capital investment problems for users when multiple units are needed. The Axilon Chillax requires heavy plumbing and expensive components as it runs around 500psi. The successful Phase I program demonstrated a cryogenic chiller design that can be used to cool X-ray optics with low cost and low operating pressure. This system is based on an open loop feed of facility liquid nitrogen (LN) and a controlled loop of blended light hydrocarbons. The calculated system performance showed the ability to reach the desired temperatures and exceed cooling requirements by more than 100x of the required 250 watts. The estimated system cost is ~$80k in volume production which puts the unit at approximately four times cheaper than what is currently on the market. Additionally, the system pressure is near 1psig when the coolant is below 200 Kelvin and this allows the system to have greatly reduced vibration over using just LN. The Phase II program will further refine both the design and assembly steps propelling the initial concept into a working prototype for a cryogenic chiller. The team expects to have a working and tested prototype at the end of the second phase. The ability to procure cryocoolers at 3x lower costs and significantly lower support costs will allow more institutions to engage in cryo and high energy research. The new unit will offer a wider range of temperatures that can be provided compared to LN continuous flow (CF) cryocoolers, and it will operate at lower pressure yielding reduced vibration. That will allow a broader variety of experiments to be conducted than with current state of the art CF cryocoolers.