Magentically actuated compressor
Abstract
A vibration free fluid compressor particularly adapted for Stirling cycle cryogenic refrigeration apparatus comprises a pair of identical opposing ferromagnetic pistons located in a housing and between a gas spring including a sealed volume of a working fluid such as gas under pressure. The gas compresses and expands in accordance with movement of the pistons to generate a compression wave which can be vented to other apparatus, for example, a displacer unit in a Stirling cycle engine. The pistons are urged outwardly due to the pressure of the gas; however, a fixed electromagnetic coil assembly located in the housing adjacent the pistons, is periodically energized to produce a magnetic field which interlinks the pistons in such a fashion that the pistons are mutually attracted to one another. The mass of the pistons, in conjunction with the compressed gas between them, form a naturally resonant system which, when the pistons are electromagnetically energized, produces an oscillating compression wave in the entrapped fluid medium.
- Publication:
-
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Report
- Pub Date:
- February 1985
- Bibcode:
- 1985nasa.rept.....E
- Keywords:
-
- Actuation;
- Compressors;
- Cryogenic Equipment;
- Magnetic Fields;
- Refrigerating Machinery;
- Stirling Cycle;
- Compression Waves;
- Oscillations;
- Patents;
- Pistons;
- Working Fluids;
- Engineering (General)