Ball Aerospace hybrid space cryocoolers

This paper describes the design, development, testing, and performance at Ball Aerospace of a long-life hybrid (combination of Stirling and Joule-Thomson [J-T] thermodynamic cycles) space cryocooler. Hybrid coolers are synergistic combinations of two thermodynamic cycles that combine advantages of each cycle to yield overall improved performance. Hybrid cooler performance advantages include: 1) load leveling of large heat loads; 2) remote cryogenic cooling with very low to negligible induced vibration and jitter; 3) very low redundant (off state) cooler penalties; 4) high power efficiency, especially at low temperatures; and 5) simplified system integration with capability to cross gimbals and no need for thermal straps or switches. Ball Aerospace is currently developing several different hybrid cooler systems. The 35 K hybrid cooler provides 2.0 W at 35 K and 8.5 W at 85 K with an emphasis on load leveling of high transient heat loads and remote, low vibration cooling. The 10 K hybrid cooler provides 200 mW at 10 K, 700 mW at 15 K, and 10.7 W at 85 K with an emphasis on power efficiency. In addition, Ball Aerospace built and tested a complete hybrid cooler that met the requirements of the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) cooler including providing 80 mW at 6 K and 100 mW at 18 K for a total system (28 V) power of 310 W.