Tactical Cryogenic Cryocooler for HTS Applications

Tactical Navy HTS magnet applications require efficient and compact cryocoolers to maintain cryogenic temperatures for the magnet while also accommodating the physical and environmental constraints within the HTS magnet system. Currently available commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) cryocoolers fall short on achieving the cryogenic cooling requirements that are needed for future tactical HTS magnets. Because their individual cryocooler components are not physically separable, COTS cryocoolers are also very difficult to integrate into compact tactical HTS magnets. Our proposed cryocooler approach combines innovative cryocooler integration approaches with our reverse Brayton cryocooler to meet a broad range of refrigeration, integration, and environmental requirements that are not achievable by other types of cryocoolers. In Phase I, we demonstrated feasibility of our approach to meet the Navy’s cooling and integration requirements.   In Phase II, we plan to develop a prototype cryocooler leading to a thermal demonstration of the system.