Prediction model of 4.5 K sorption cooler for integrating with adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR)

Abstract

A sorption cooler, which utilizes helium-4 as a working fluid, was previously developed and tested in KAIST. The cooler consists of a sorption pump and a thermosyphon. The developed sorption cooler aims to pre-cool a certain amount of the magnetic refrigerant of an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) from 4.5 K to 2.5 K. To simulate the high heat capacitance of the magnetic refrigerant, liquid helium was utilized not only as a refrigerant for the sorption cooling but also as a thermal capacitor. The previous experiment, however, showed that the lowest temperature of 2.7 K which was slightly higher than the target temperature (2.5 K) was achieved due to the radiation heat leak. This excessive heat leak would not occur when the sorption cooler is completely integrated with the ADR. Thus, based on the experimentally obtained pumping speed, the prediction model for the sorption cooler is developed in this study. The presented model in this paper assumes the sorption cooler is integrated with the ADR and the heat leak is negligible. The model predicts the amount of the liquid helium and the required time for the sorption cooling process. Furthermore, it is confirmed that the performance of the sorption cooler is enhanced by reducing the volume of the thermosiphon. The detailed results and discussions are summarized.