GMT refrigerant-based cooling system and design considerations

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) uses four glycol-based cooling fluids as well as a refrigerant to provide cooling for telescope heat sources. The refrigerant’s evaporative characteristic has the benefit of mitigating the risk of catastrophic leaks inherent in using glycol-based fluids. It is valuable to study the benefits and disadvantages of expanding refrigerant use towards a large-scale implementation that could potentially replace all telescope glycol-based cooling. GMTO is working with M3 Engineering to complete a refrigerant trade study to determine if consolidation of cooling resources is feasible, and if a practical limit exists to expanding the use of refrigerant to cool more telescope heat sources.