Numerical Analysis of Heat and Fluid Flow in Pulse Tube Refrigerator(<Special Issue>Emerging Fields in Thermal Engineering)

A numerical study has been performed to analyze the working principle of refrigeration in basic pulse tube refrigerator. There is a mechanism called "surface heat pumping" as one of the working principles of refrigeration for basic pulse tube refrigerator of the first generation. This is the mechanism that heat is pumped from the cold end to the hot end by the successive heat exchange between the pulse tube wall and the working gas. Transient axisymmetric two-dimensional equations of continuity, momentum and energy were solved by means of TVD scheme. The transient behaviors of pressure and gas temperature, and heat transfer from the working gas to the tube wall are analyzed. Also the behavior of surface heat pumping is explained by analyzing the axial movements and temperature changes of gas particles.