Development of 1 L hr⁻¹ scale hydrogen liquefier using Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocooler Free

Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) have collaborated to develop a demonstration-scale hydrogen liquefier for future liquid hydrogen research in Korea. A 1 L hr−1 liquefaction rate, direct-cooling type hydrogen liquefier using a commercially available GM cryocooler has been designed, fabricated, and tested at KIST. The liquefier consists of a GM cryocooler, finned heat pipe, liquid nitrogen precooler, ortho-para hydrogen converter, and vacuum jacketed internal storage tank. The system successfully demonstrated more than 1 L hr-1 of hydrogen liquefaction rate from ambient temperature gas. A detailed design method, loss analysis, overview of component fabrication, and experimental results are discussed in this paper.