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Connection of cryogenic fluid lines

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 Connection of cryogenic fluid lines
Jean-Louis Lizon*a, Patricia Fernandez Izquierdob, Renate Hinterschustera, Barbara Kleina
a
European Southern Observatory, K. Schwarzschildstr. 2, D85748 Garching bei München,
Germany; bInstituto de Astrofísica de Canarias,C/Vía Lactea s/n,38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

ABSTRACT

Connect tightly tubes used for the circulation of cryogenic fluids is a task that requires some thoughts and technical
experience. ESO is using intensively liquid nitrogen either to pre-cool large infrared instruments or to keep most of the
optical and some IR detectors at cryogenic operating temperature. A solid experience has been gained with many
applications for which solutions have been developed and improved over the years. The paper analyses the various types
of connection and presents technical solutions which have proven a good reliability.
Keywords: Cryogenics, liquid nitrogen, Infrared instrumentation

1. INTRODUCTION
The first part of the paper presents solutions for permanent connections. Even if in most of the cases, this task is
delegated to industrial partners, a good knowledge of the technologies helps achieving a suitable design. We expose
traditional welding and brazing but also most specific connection technique using shrink-fit.
A second part addresses the connections inside a cryostat but, connections that need to be occasionally open (for
integration, repair..). We will there explain how small modification of commercial solution can be done to adapt them to
these extreme conditions.
The last part is dedicated to the most complex type: the connection which are regularly manipulated (connection of LN2
supply lines). We will present the design of the ESO standard connection with a detailed report on the performances and
limitations. We are also presenting how a minor adaptations and modifications of this design have allowed to make a
rotating feed through for cryogenic fluid.

2. PERMANENT CONNECTIONS OF CRYOGENIC FLUID LINES

Most of the cryogenic lines are made from stainless steel tubes which need to be connected together. A large number of
these connections is definitive and then can be executed by welding. Also among the welding connections not all can be
treated in the same way. The easiest connection is between two materials of the same nature (Stainless steel/ stainless
steel, copper/copper..). This type of homogeneous connection (Fig.1) can easily be realised by Tungsten Inert gas (TIG)
also called Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding techniques. Nevertheless some rules have to be respected specially
concerning the thickness of the wall to be welded. In order to have an optimal fusion the two parts shall thermally react
in the same way. For this the two edges shall have the same thickness. In addition some centering shoulders can also
make much easier the positioning of the two components to be jointed. All these details need to be discussed with the
company that will carry out the work. In case of very thin walls like it is the case for bellows, it is recommended to
verify the experience of the welding workshop before. Cryogenic lines are generally tubes in which cryogenic fluids
circulate, therefore in most of the cases stainless steel tubes are used for this. Inside instruments these lines are connected
to heat exchangers or other devices which for thermal reasons are made out of other material having better thermal
characteristics.
Many heat exchangers are made out of copper but in order to save weight (generally a serious problem in most of
instruments) aluminium alloy might be an option for some components. At some stages, these components shall be
connected to the main lines and for this an heterogenous connection is required.

*jlizon@eso.org; jlizon@gmx.de; phone +49 171 727 5315

 Z Y

Figure 1. Example of connection of homogeneous materials.

If heterogeneous connections are more problematic to solve, there are a number of reliable solutions. Stainless steel /
copper is the easiest case where even welding is still possible with addition of external alloys like inconel (Fig. 2 left
side). Even simpler and as reliable brazing is more generally used for this connection (Fig. 2 right side). This technology
shall be applied with care by a specialised company, the size of the gap between the two parts is very important in order
to guaranty a perfect filling by capillarity. It is important also to always place the material with the highest coefficient of
thermal expansion outside. The reverse would submit the brazing joint to a damaging traction while cooling the
assembly.

Figure 2. Examples of connection of heterogenous material (welding, left; brazing, right).

Aluminium/stainless steel joints are more complex, for this neither welding nor brazing solutions are available. Some
special aluminium stainless steel transition joints are commercially available (Fig. 3), they have the disadvantage to be
rather bulky. Even if new technologies like explosion welding allow to make them more compact their implementation
might remain problematic. Another rather simple way to solve this problem in both cases (Aluminium and copper) of
heterogenous joints with stainless steel is a thermal shrink-fit technique. This technique has been used to fit small copper
heat exchangers with connection tubes out stainless steel. The various parts have to be manufactured carefully according
to the dimensions shown in figure 4.
 Figure 3. Aluminium stainless steel transition joints

Ø AH7 Ø A+(Ax0.3%) Ø Ak5

Venting slot
70° and groove

Figure 4. Thermal shrink press fit connection

3. OCCASIONALLY DISMOUNTABLE CONNECTIONS

The solutions shown before are extremely reliable, and generally tight for the complete life of the instrument (10 to 15
years with a total of 100 thermal cycles). They are all to be implemented with special equipment, by specialist and
cannot or only hardly be applied directly in situ in an instrument already equipped with sensitive components like
detector or optics. A solution that is easier to implement is required for the last connection inside the instrument. This
solution shall also allow periodic dismounting (original integration, maintenance operation..) and guaranty the reliability
and tightness. A number of commercially available solutions, only after small modifications and improvements, some of
them could be made operational for cryogenic environment.
For small diameters, up to 8mm, the two ferrules connection system from Swagelock (Fig. 5) offers a very reliable
solution. An absolute vacuum tightness, even after more than 10 openings is guaranteed with a minor modification of the
original parts. The two ferrules are coated with a 5µm of silver and the use of a well-defined procedure for closing
operations.
This procedure which has been used along more than 20 years on a number of connections starts with the original
closing. This original closing shall be carried out using a leak detector. The connector is first progressively tighten until
no leak can be detected. Then the nut is tighten 15° more. This will guaranty a vacuum tightness even during the first
phase of cooling where the various parts are subject to rather important thermal gradients. In case of a dismounting, the
angular position of the nut is recorded before the opening of the connection. While closing the connection back the nut
will be rotated around 5° more. This has proven to guaranty a tight connection for at least 10 opening operations.
 Nut

Silver coated
ferrules

Fitting body

Figure 5. Two ferules connection system from Swagelock.

For diameter larger than 8mm, the thermal is such that the reliability cannot be guarantied anymore. Small permanent
leaks appear generally after a few thermal cycles. Standard CF vacuum connections either with copper or aluminium
gaskets give better results. This type of connection nevertheless tends to still suffer from very small leaks during the first
hours of cooling probably due to a more rapid cooling of some components which release the effort on the knife edge.
The Kenol connector which is using on one side a flange with an annular relief to ensure the tightening on a soft material
(copper or aluminium) gasket provides a solution to this problem. Also with this connection used in its original
configuration (Fig. 6 left) a small leak opens at the beginning of the thermal cycle. A minimal degradation of the vacuum
in the cryostat (~2 10-6 mbar) is recorded every time the LN2 flow is stopped by closing the outlet valve (Fig. 6).

Figure 6. Two ferules connection system from Swagelock.

This problem can be solved with modification of clamping and sealing system of the Kenol connector (Fig. 7, right). The
sealing copper gasket is re-enforced by two indium washers and the two clamping nuts are replaced by two flanges kept
together with a set of six screws. A set of spring washers below each screw provide a constant clamping force higher
than 3000N. This modification ensures an absolute reliability of this connection even very fast cooling.
 Figure 7. Kenol connector (original, left; cryogenic adapted , right)

4. REGULARELY OPENED CONNECTIONS

This chapter addresses the technology used to connect a cryostat to the cryogenic fluid supply line. Depending on the environment and
on the conditions, the line could be either a very high thermal quality vacuum insulated line or a simple foam insulated line.
For periodic refilling of bath cryostat, as the operation is punctual and the transfer last only a few minutes a simple foam insulated line
is used Fig.8).

Figure 8. Connection of foam insulated simple lines. (1: LN2 supply line tube, 2: Outer protection, 3: Insulating foam, 4:
Connection nut, 5: Insulation connection, 6: Line end with knife-edge, 7: Hand wheel, 8: PTFE Sealing gasket, 9: Cryostat
inlet line, 10: Closing cap.)

In such case a very simple system is used, the transfer tube ends with a special adaptor fitted with a sort of “soft” knife-
edge. A PTFE gasket is used to ensure the sealing between the end of the transfer line and the cryostat inlet line. In order
to allow a manual connection and disconnection without any tool and without risk of burning, the connection nut is
extended by a larger hand wheel out of epoxy glass fibre material (G10 or equivalent). A closing cap using the same
interface can be used to protect the cryostat against moisture during operation.
Permanent transfer for continuous flow system, or transfer in laboratory under strong thermal stability requirements
require the use of vacuum thermal insulated lines. The connection of such lines is generally ensured by “bayonet system”
(Fig. 9) in order to minimise the thermal load and also reduce the influence on the outer skin of the line. The thermal
insulation between the room temperature connection and the 77K nitrogen tube is provided by the two thin and long
tubes: the outer tube of the line and the inner tube of receptacle. A small valve inside the receptacle allows to keep the
nitrogen inside the device disconnected as well as the operating pressure. This system, in its original form, is relying on
the sealing provided by the two O-rings. During operation the free cavity (represented in green colour in Fig. 9) between
the inner tube of the receptacle and the outer tube of the line is filled with nitrogen gas at the operating pressure of the
transfer system. This system has some limitations: when the receptacle is oriented such that the cold part is higher than
the warm side of the connection, some drops of liquid falls by gravity and cool down the connection. This create a cold
bridge with in most of the cases ice formation and might even lead to a permanent leak of LN2 after freezing of the two
O-rings.

Figure 2. Connection of vacuum insulating line with valve. (1: Receptacle, 2: Transfer line, 3: Valve, 4: Inner tube of the
receptacle, 5: Outer tube of the transfer line, 6: O-ring, room temperature seals)

In order to solve this problem the connection have been modified to be fitted with a cryogenic seal. The line ends with a
stainless steel insert in which a circular knife edge is machined. The valve is replaced by an insert ending with a PTFE
ring (one of the few materials keeping some elasticity at cryogenic temperature). The PTFE insert is build outside the
steel body such that its thermal shrinkage increases the tightness and also avoid it to get lost while disconnecting the line
at cryogenic temperature. This solution offers a very tight connection (Fig. 11) without any cold spot every where a
valve is not absolutely required. This connection with double sealing (cryogenic and room temperature seals) has been
implemented on the 24 cryostats of MUSE (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) where it has shown also an excellent
long term reliability even after a number of disconnections. Occasionally a small re-tightening of the connection nut
could be necessary to close some eventual remaining leaks.

Figure 3: Connection of vacuum insulated line with cryogenic seal

 Figure 4: Effect of the cryogenic seal (Left: without cryogenic seal, Right: with cryogenic seal)

5. SPECIAL APPLICATIONS OF THE VACUUM INSULATED CONNECTION

A few very important applications have been directly build around the main connection for vacuum insulated line
described above.
The first application is an adaptation of the system in order to allow a simple and reliable use of the valve only (Fig. 13).
The male connector in state to be screwed on a fixed receptacle is attached to a driving disk fitted with a set of helicoidal
slots. A 90 degrees rotation of the handle, attached to the driving disk, causes a 5 millimetres translation of the line. This
translation is enough to open and close the valve. This system, when installed between the first line section and the rest
of the line of a complex distribution system allows to insulate the installation during the exchange of the supply tank
without loosing the operating pressure.

Figure 5: Cryogenic line insulation valve

Activating the valve without a complete extraction of the line saves time but also guaranties a higher and longer
reliability of the connection. The O-rings which ensure the tightness would suffer from every complete extraction.
The second application was much more challenging and solves the critical issue of supplying rotating instruments with
liquid nitrogen. A large number of instruments are directly attached to the telescope and therefore (in case of modern
telescopes using Al/Az mount) rotating during observation. The supply with cryogenic fluid was a problem which could
be solved with long flexible lines at the cost of a higher consumption. This solution (Fig.12) is using the bayonet system
described previously. Instead of being connected to a fix receptacle the line is screwed on a special vacuum rotating joint
which is mounted on the body of the rotating part. A partial cryogenic seal is ensured by two spherical complementary
parts at the interface between the valve and the end of the transfer line. This system guaranties a reasonable operation
with a very low friction induced resulting in a maximum torque of 2N.m.

Figure 63. Rotating feed through (1: End of the line, 2: Friction part line spherical convex out of Vespel SP3, 3: Valve, 4:
Friction part valve side out of stainless steel, 5: Feed through body tubes, 6: Vacuum insulation, 7: Ferrofluidic vacuum
rotating feed through, 8: Vacuum tightness of the rotating feed on the body, 9: Rotating body, 10: NACO Cryostat, 11: LN2
Rotating feed through, 12: Liquid nitrogen supply tank)

This interface does not offer a fully hermetic sealing therefore the rotating feedthrough shall not be used with the line
connection (O’ring seals) lower than the valve. Despite this restriction, this has been used for many years on various
instrument like NACO the ESO near Infrared adaptive Optical camera (Fig 13 right side). A most elaborated version
including a complex self-aligning cryogenic sealing system has been developed but is not yet fully qualified.

AKNOWLEDGMENTS

All this development work would never have been possible without the support and trust from the ESO management and
the efficient funding of the various instrumentation projects.

REFERENCES

[1] http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/develop/integration/
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[4] Roelfsema, R., Alberts, P. Lizon, J.L, "X-Shooter near infra-red spectrograph cryogenic design” Proceedings of
SPIE Vol.7017, 701717 (2008).
[5] Omata, K., Tetsuo, N., "Automatic Pre-cooling System for Large Infrared Instruments” Proceedings of SPIE
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[6] Fox, W.E. “Transition fitting between aluminium and stainless steel components of cryogenic accelerators”.
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7735, 77352S-1 to 77352S-13 (2010).
[9] Lizon, J.L., “Liquid nitrogen pre-cooling of large infrared instrument at ESO”, Proc. SPIE 7739, 77393F-1 to
77393F-6 (2010).

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