Tactical Cryogenic Cryocooler for HTS Applications

Tactical Navy high temperature superconducting magnet applications require compact cryocoolers that can maintain the nominal 50K magnet temperature 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 and cannot operate near the HTS magnetic fields. The proposed work focuses on developing a shipboard cryocooler that is compact and can be configured to meet a broad range of refrigeration, integration, and environmental requirements, such as operation near an HTS magnetic field. In Phase I, we will demonstrate feasibility of our proposed approach through a detailed design study that addresses the specific environment constraints of a shipboard HTS magnet system. In Phase II, we will fabricate and test a prototype system.