Tests of Cold Helium Compressors at Fermilab

Fermilab has tested two cold helium compressors for possible installation in the satellite refrigerator buildings of the Tevatron cryogenic system. Operating conditions required to obtain an overall Tevatron energy upgrade from 900 to 1000 GeV are (for each of 24 machines): 52 g/s mass flow rate, 0.7 atm inlet pressure, 1.4 atm exhaust pressure. Acceptable efficiency is in the 60% range. Both Creare, Inc. and Cryogenic Consultants, Inc. (CCI) have supplied units for evaluation. The Creare machine is a high speed centrifugal pump/compressor which yielded 60% adiabatic efficiency (including an approximately 20 watt heat leak) with a 1.0 atm inlet pressure and 55 g/s flow rate. Certain mechanical difficulties were present, chiefly the device’s inability to withstand two-phase flow. CCI supplied a reciprocating unit which, after initial testing and modification, achieved 59% efficiency with an approximate 35 watt heat leak at a 0.7 atm inlet pressure and 48 g/s flow rate. Although the device lacks the smooth, quiet operating characteristics of a turbomachine, it has endured mechanically throughout testing and is entirely insensitive to two-phase flow.