Demonstration of a Compact Cryocooler

Mainstream developed an innovative cryocooler design that uses a multi-cascaded single-compressor vapor-compression system. We are now fabricating and demonstrating a full-scale cryocooler for use by Army Forward Medical Applications (as a critical component of a unique, high-purity oxygen production and liquefaction system). After a full-scale pre-production demonstration of the cryocooler for oxygen liquefaction, thecryocooler will be integrated with a high-purity oxygen generation system.

Prior experimental work demonstrated that the technology is superior to alternative cycles for this compact cryocooling application. In addition the unique multi-level cooling of this configuration further minimizes the cooling load at the coldest temperature, which further reduces the size of the system. The results of our experiments demonstrate that this unique cryocooler is significantly more efficient than alternative configurations.