Process Model and Capacity Upgrades of the CTI-4000 Liquid Helium Coldbox

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) is in the process of re-commissioning a vintage CTI-4000 liquid helium coldbox, initially supplied by CTI-Cryogenics/Sulzer to Los Alamos in 1979. The coldbox was originally designed as a liquid helium refrigerator with capacity of ∼1200 W at nominal 4-K. The process utilized LN2 precooling, in-series operation of two centrifugal gas bearing turboexpanders and final Joule-Thomson (J-T) expansion. At FNAL, the coldbox will be utilized as a liquefier to support 2-K operations. A process model was developed to aid in the upgrade decisions and used to determine the nominal capacity of the liquefier. Capacity upgrades are achieved by safely utilizing the internal LN2 precooler, the addition of a 3-inch reciprocating wet expansion engine and increasing the overall process pressure by recertifying two limiting pressure vessels to a higher MAWP.