Large-area cryocooling for far-infrared telescopes

Triem T. Hoang; Tamara A. O'Connell; Jentung Ku; C. Dan Butler; Theodore D. Swanson

doi:10.1117/12.508569

15 October 2003 Large-area cryocooling for far-infrared telescopes

Triem T. Hoang, Tamara A. O'Connell, Jentung Ku, C. Dan Butler, Theodore D. Swanson

Proceedings Volume 5172, Cryogenic Optical Systems and Instruments X; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.508569
Event: Optical Science and Technology, SPIE's 48th Annual Meeting, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Requirements for cryocooling of large-area heat sources begin to appear in studies of future space missions. Examples are the cooling of (i) the entire structure/mirror of large Far Infrared space telescopes to 4-40K and (ii) cryogenic thermal bus to maintain High Temperature Superconductor electronics to below 75K. The cryocooling system must provide robust/reliable operation and not cause significant vibration to the optical components. But perhaps the most challenging aspect of the system design is the removal of waste heat over a very large area. A cryogenic Loop Heat Pipe (C-LHP)/ cryocooler cooling system was developed with the ultimate goal of meeting the aforementioned requirements. In the proposed cooling concept, the C-LHP collected waste heat from a large-area heat source and then transported it to the cryocooler coldfinger for rejection. A proof-of-concept C-LHP test loop was constructed and performance tested in a vacuum chamber to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed C-LHP to distribute the cryocooler cooling power over a large area. The test loop was designed to operate with any cryogenic working fluid such as Oxygen/Nitrogen (60-120K), Neon (28-40K), Hydrogen (18-30K), and Helium (2.5-4.5K). Preliminary test results indicated that the test loop had a cooling capacity of 4.2W in the 30-40K temperature range with Neon as the working fluid.

Citation Download Citation

Triem T. Hoang, Tamara A. O'Connell, Jentung Ku, C. Dan Butler, and Theodore D. Swanson "Large-area cryocooling for far-infrared telescopes", Proc. SPIE 5172, Cryogenic Optical Systems and Instruments X, (15 October 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.508569

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