Development of a switchless sorption compressor for the cryogenic refrigeration within the METIS instrument: Part I. Theoretical design

Metal Hydride Compressors with Gas-Gap Heat Switches: Concept, Development, Testing, and Space Flight Operation for the Planck Sorption Cryocoolers

“…There are no currently operating or near-term planned space missions that incorporate a metal hydride sorption cryocooler. However, a hydrogen sorption cryocooler was proposed and has been investigated [39,40] to function as one stage in the cryogenic system for the METIS (Mid-infrared Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) Imager and Spectrograph), which will be the third instrument [41] on the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The ELT will have a 39-m mirror, is currently under construction at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, and is tentatively scheduled [41] to begin initial operation sometime after 2025.…”

Conceptual Design of a Sorption-Based Cryochain for the Etpathfinder

“…The sorption compression cell design used in the dynamic model calculations of this work, is based on the switchless concept proposed and experimentally tested by Y. Wu et al [20] [21]. Due to its inherit advantages of simplified manufacturing and operation, and having a compact form factor, this cell design avoids the practical complexities of a gas-gap heat switch design [20] [21]. Geometric features of the cell A. Xhahi, H.J.…”

Development of a switchless sorption compressor for the cryogenic refrigeration within the METIS instrument: Part II. Experimental demonstration

“…A one-dimensional dynamic model for the sorption compressor was developed to simulate the heat and mass transfer within the compressor cell during the operation and to evaluate the performance of the cell (Wu et al, 2017a). By using this model, an improved, switchless sorption-compressor design has been investigated and finally accepted for the METIS compressor (Wu et al, 2017b). The switchless configuration is easy to manufacture and assemble and consequently has a low cost.…”