Superfluid helium transfer flight demonstration using the thermomechanical effect

DiPirro, Michael; Castles, S.

doi:10.1016/0011-2275(86)90016-0

Cited by 20 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…PIPER's azimuth scan requires the beams to exit the dewar at an angle of 55 The thermomechanical effect in liquid helium was first described by [10] with a theoretical explanation by [11,12]. Superfluid pumps have been used to cool optical elements in previous balloon flights [13][14][15][16][17] and have been demonstrated in space missions at zero gravity [18,19].…”

Section: Vpmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superfluid Liquid Helium Control for the Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer Balloon Payload

Kogut¹,

Essinger‐Hileman²,

Fixsen³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer (PIPER) is a stratospheric balloon payload to measure polarization of the cosmic microwave background. Twin telescopes mounted within an open-aperture bucket dewar couple the sky to bolometric detector arrays. We reduce detector loading and photon noise by cooling the entire optical chain to 1.7 K or colder. A set of fountaineffect pumps sprays superfluid liquid helium onto each optical surface, producing helium flows of 50-100 cm 3 s −1 at heights up to 200 cm above the liquid level. We describe the fountain-effect pumps and the cryogenic performance of the PIPER payload during two flights in 2017 and 2019.

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Section: Vpmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superfluid Liquid Helium Control for the Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer Balloon Payload

Kogut¹,

Essinger‐Hileman²,

Fixsen³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Unlike the Superfluid Helium On-Orbit Transfer mission [4], which demonstrated superfluid LHe transfer between two vessels both maintained at near-vacuum pressure, the gradient between the high-pressure storage dewar and low-pressure ultra-light receiving dewar presents two potential complications. Liquid nitrogen is commonly used to pre-cool instrumentation prior to helium transfer.…”

Section: Bobcat Missionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The balloon-borne cryogenic telescope testbed mission: Bulk cryogen transfer at 40 km altitude

Kogut

Essinger‐Hileman

Denker

et al. 2020

Review of Scientific Instruments

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The Balloon-Borne Cryogenic Telescope Testbed (BOBCAT) is a stratospheric balloon payload to develop technology for a future cryogenic suborbital observatory. A series of flights are intended to establish ultra-light dewar performance and open-aperture observing techniques for large (3-5 meter diameter) cryogenic telescopes at infrared wavelengths. An initial flight in 2019 demonstrated bulk transfer of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium at stratospheric altitudes. An 827 kg payload carried 14 liters of liquid nitrogen (LN2) and 268 liters of liquid helium (LHe) in pressurized storage dewars to an altitude of 39.7 km. Once at float altitude, liquid nitrogen transfer cooled a separate, unpressurized bucket dewar to a temperature of 65 K, followed by the transfer of 32 liters of liquid helium from the storage dewar into the bucket dewar. Calorimetric tests measured the total heat leak to the LHe bath within bucket dewar. A subsequent flight will replace the receiving bucket dewar with an ultra-light dewar of similar size to compare the performance of the ultra-light design to conventional superinsulated dewars.

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“…These relations are the same as would be expected if only a single pump were used. Therefore, the fountain (1) and mechanocaloric (2) effects remain valid when "local thermodynamic equilibrium" exists. Also, the turbulence required for this supercritical state would result in frictional losses.…”

Section: Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid helium pumps for in-orbit transfer

Kittel

1987

Cryogenics

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Superfluid helium transfer flight demonstration using the thermomechanical effect

Cited by 20 publications

References 3 publications

Superfluid Liquid Helium Control for the Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer Balloon Payload

Superfluid Liquid Helium Control for the Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer Balloon Payload

The balloon-borne cryogenic telescope testbed mission: Bulk cryogen transfer at 40 km altitude

Liquid helium pumps for in-orbit transfer

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