In-flow measurement of the composition of a binary gas mixture

Abstract

Abstract The performance of many cryocoolers that utilize the Joule-Thomson effect can be improved by using a gas-mixture as the working fluid. This paper presents a measurement setup to characterize a sorption compressor operating with a binary mixture. The composition of the binary mixture delivered by the sorption compressor is determined in-flow by correlating the outputs of a Coriolis flow meter and a thermal mass-flow meter. Based on this method, the composition of a binary mixture was measured continuously with an error of ±0.02. Multiple sorption cycles with three different mixtures of ethane and nitrogen using the same compressor were measured, allowing for the observation of the dynamic desorption behavior of a mixture.