Optimization of the orifice pulse tube Original Research Article

Optimization results are presented for the orifice pulse tube. First, the simplified case is treated in which the orifice volume is infinitely large and the regenerator volume is zero. It is found that all nondimensional quantities of interest depend in a simple way on the dimensionless frequency F and the ratio OC of the orifice conductance to the regenerator conductance. Explicit results are given for the enthalpy flux, the pressure amplitude, the mass flow rate amplitude, and the phase angle between pressure and mass flow rate as a function of F and OC. Three optimization constraints are considered: given amplitude of the driving pressure, given driving power, and given amplitude of the piston. The results are extended to the case of finite reservoir and regenerator volumes. An expression is derived for the loss due to a finite regenerator ineffectiveness.