Fabrum have existing cryocooler products based on a patented pressure wave generator technology driving pulse tubes to deliver industrially useful cooling power for liquefying a range of gases including oxygen, nitrogen, natural gas and hydrogen. There is strong motivation and an identified path to improve these products to deliver significantly more cooling power. A higher capacity cryocooler will deliver greater value to end users by delivering more cooling power for less capital and operating expenditure.
This is increasingly important as some key emerging applications for cryocooler technology will require several units operating in parallel. An example of one of these applications is mixed gas separation, where future low-cost green hydrogen production will benefit hugely from a final purification stage to suit end-use applications that require high purity. Cryogenic separation is a convenient and cost-effective means of achieving this separation, but to do so at scale will require several units.
The objective of this research project is to develop a fundamental understanding of the entire system design to enable the implementation of an optimized free piston Stirling cold head integration into the pressure wave generator. A successful prototype would be one that delivers a significant improvement in cooling power and efficiency whilst retaining the low maintenance advantage inherent in the PWG/pulse tube cryocooler.
There are several fundamental hurdles to a successful outcome such as developing a representative computational model of the Stirling cycle to enable modelled optimization to minimize physical iteration and detailed design and understanding of the free piston arrangement so that a manufacturable design can be achieved that can be started up from ambient temperature and ramped to the target operating temperature whilst avoiding damaging transient conditions.
The key anticipated outcome from this research will be a detailed understanding of Stirling cold head design and implementation to enhance the performance of Fabrum’s unique flagship cryocooler in a broad range of impactful applications. This development is poised to contribute greatly to emerging markets in mixed gas separation, liquefaction and boil-off mitigation – particularly in expanding LNG and hydrogen applications.
Supervisors
First Supervisor:
Second Supervisor:Alan Caughley
Key qualifications and skills
Modelling of heat and mass transfer processes
Thermodynamical analysis
Mechanical engineering design
Machine dynamics
Does the project come with funding
UC Connect Doctoral Scholarship - stipend and tuition fees are covered
How to apply
Applications must be made through the UC Scholarships portal here:
Final date for receiving applications
30 September 2025
Keywords
Heat transfer; thermodynamics; fluid dynamics
