Performance of the inertance pulse tube

The rate of refrigeration of the inertance pulse tube (IPTR) is found as a function of the relevant parameters. In the simplified case of infinite volume of the reservoir and zero dead volume of the regenerator, these parameters are the dimensions of the inertance tube, the volume of the pulse tube, the conductance of the regenerator, the driving pressure, and the frequency. The effective conductance of the inertance tube is determined using a simple turbulent flow model. It is found that the performance of the IPTR is superior to that of the orifice pulse tube refrigerator (OPTR) over a limited range of frequencies. The improvement is explained in terms of the pressure amplitude in the pulse tube, the flow rate between the regenerator and the pulse tube, and the phase angle between these parameters. The analysis is extended to the case of finite reservoir and regenerator volumes. It is indicated how the results obtained can be useful in experimental work. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.