NGAS MULTI-STAGE COAXIAL HIGH EFFICIENCY COOLER (HEC)

This paper presents the performance data of the single and two‐stage High Efficiency Cooler (HEC) tested with coaxial cold heads. The single stage coaxial cold head has been optimized to operate at temperatures of 40 K and above. The two‐stage parallel cold head configuration has been optimized to operate at 30 K and above and provides a long‐life, low mass and efficient two‐stage version of the Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) flight qualified single stage HEC cooler. The HEC pulse tube cryocoolers are the latest generation of flight coolers with heritage to the 12 Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) coolers currently on orbit with 2 operating for more than 11.5 years.This paper presents the performance data of the one and two‐stage versions of this cooler under a wide range of heat rejection temperature, cold head temperature and input power.