Study on a High-Power Stirling Cryocooler

Stirling cryocoolers are well-adapted to high temperature superconductivity application and small scale gas liquefaction, due to their high efficiency, wide operating temperature range and fast cool-down process. A high-power Stirling cryocooler driven by a crank-rod mechanism was designed by SAGE-software, built and tested systematically. The cooling performance of the cryocooler is analyzed under various operating conditions. A cooling power of 640.5 W at 77 K with an electric input power of 11 kW has been achieved. The comparison analysis between SAGE-model and experimental results has shown the direction for further design optimization of the high-power Stirling cryocooler.