Thermal Investigation of Ni and Al foil when used as cryogenic insulation

Abstract: Controlling thermal environments today is a complex subject and even more so when thetemperatures are cryogenic. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the crycooler GryoTelGT from Sunpower Inc under di erent conditions such as with or without insulation.The materials that will be used as insulation are Ni and Al foil. The insulation willbe assembled using di erent confgurations to test the eÿciency of these when used inconjunction with the cryocooler.Multiple formations of foil were assembled ranging between 5-10 layers, using lids madefrom Ni and Al foil as well as 3D-printed PLA plastic. Tests were conducted with thecryocooler operating at di erent power levels and through use of a thermal load.This thesis provides results from the tests made with di erent foil confgurations andvaried power levels on the thermal load and the CryoTel cryocooler. The thesis concludesthat Ni and Al foil has a minor but consistent e ect on the temperature of the cold tipin this setting and that the largest contributing factor was the power level of the CryoTelcooler during operation as well as the operating temperature of the CryoTel body.