Investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical argon in conical Hampson heat exchangers for a J-T cryocooler

The Hampson-type heat exchanger is critical for the rapid cooling of a conical J-T cryocooler, and its internal flow and heat transfer characteristics directly affect the performance of the conical cryocooler. The flow and heat transfer characteristics of supercritical argon are studied using a numerical model of a conical helical tube in this work. The simulated results show that supercritical argon flow in the conical helical tube is mainly influenced by the combined effect of variable thermophysical properties and the secondary flow produced by centrifugal force. The buoyancy has little impact on heat transfer. The heat transfer coefficient reaches its maximum at the pseudo-critical region. A more significant heat transfer coefficient and faster heat exchanger cooling rate can be achieved by increasing the mass flow rate and maintaining the fluid in the tube close to the pseudo-critical region. At a cone angle of 50°, the maximum total heat exchange quantity is observed. With a greater temperature drop per unit length, a stronger heat transfer effect can be achieved close to the outlet of the tube. Based on the numerical analyses, a new correlation for heat transfer is proposed.