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Remembering our Friend, Ray Radebaugh (1939-2026)

The cryogenics community lost one of its most influential figures with the passing of Ray Radebaugh in February 2026. Over a career spanning more than five decades, Radebaugh helped shape modern cryogenic engineering through pioneering research, devoted mentorship and an unwavering willingness to share knowledge. His work on cryocoolers, dilution...

Cryogenics in Motion: Spaceline Delivers Advanced Nitrogen Trailer for NASA Armstrong

Spaceline Technologies, a fluid system engineering and manufacturing company, has completed a cryogenic nitrogen transport and supply trailer for NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. This trailer is a mobile and standalone solution to provide pressure regulated nitrogen gas and liquid with flowrate and temperature control. Control of the trailer can...

Cryogenics and the Road to Superconducting Propulsion: Part I for Aircrafts

by Quan-Sheng Shu, cryospc.com and Jonathan Demko, Le Tourneau University Superconducting (SC) motors are pivotal for future transportation, offering power densities exceeding 20 kW/kg. Cooling philosophies diverge by architecture: partially superconducting aircraft designs (like NASA’s HEMM) utilize integrated mechanical cryocoolers for the rotor, whereas fully superconducting aircraft favor liquid hydrogen...

Pelican Wire Designs for Cryogenic and Extreme Energy Systems

As renewable energy, electrification and advanced research technologies continue to expand, the demands placed on wire and cable systems are evolving just as rapidly. Higher power densities, tighter system integration and increasingly extreme operating environments are pushing manufacturers beyond traditional commodity wire solutions. Caleb Lemmons, Business Development Manager at Pelican...

Meet the 2026 Young Professionals

This feature introduces outstanding young professionals (under 40 years of age) who are doing interesting things in cryogenics and superconductivity and who show promise of making a difference in their fields. Debuted in the 2006 issue, the feature has presented many young persons whom we are proud to see have...

Extraterrestrial Specifications for Cryogenic Fluid Production

by Wesley Johnson, NASA Glenn Research Center Here on our home planet, where we have been liquefying various “permanent gasses” since 1877 [1], most of us take it for granted that when we go out to buy a cryogenic liquid (or even a pure gas) we don’t have to write...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dilution Refrigerators

Dilution refrigerators are a common technique for reaching temperatures below 1K, particularly where continuous cooling at these temperatures is required. Helium exists in two stable isotopes: 4He and 3He. Naturally occurring 3He is extremely rare, constituting less than 1 part per million of helium gas. However, 3He can be manufactured,...

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards (ODH) are a significant safety issue in cryogenic facilities. ODH occurs when inert gases such as nitrogen, helium or argon displace room air and thus lower the percentage of oxygen in the space below that required for human life. OSHA defines an area as oxygen deficient if...

Kelvin Temperature Scale

The Kelvin temperature scale is the principal temperature scale used in cryogenics and science. The kelvin is also one of the seven base units in the Système International d’Unités (SI) and is the unit of thermodynamic temperature. Thermodynamic temperature is a fundamental physical quantity (like mass, length or electrical current)...

Latest in Cryo Central

Air Separation and Liquefaction

by Nils Tellier, PE, President, EPSIM Corporation (CSA CSM) nils@epsim.us All illustrations courtesy EPSIM Corporation Background History of Air Separation and Liquefaction This section builds on a rich history of methods to develop deep refrigeration and cryogenic liquefaction during the 19th Century. You are encouraged to read Cryo Central’s History...

Bose-Einstein Condensate

A Bose-Einstein condensate, first proposed in 1925 by Albert Einstein based on work done by Satyendra Nath Bose (the same Bose from whom the term boson is derived), is a super-cold state of matter in which almost all of the individual atoms have “condensed” down to the lowest possible quantum...

Cold Technology for Pest Control

While it does not reach temperatures cold enough to be called cryogenic, carbon dioxide snow is at the heart of a new way of dealing with unwanted pests. It utilizes a quick freezing process that takes advantage of the properties of carbon dioxide snow and has a number of benefits...

Cryogenic Finishing

The following 3 articles discuss the uses and procedures of various type of cryogenic finishing. 1) By Robin A. Rhodes, Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Cryogenic Deflashing is employed to remove undesired residual mold flash that remains on molded parts after they are removed or ejected from the...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Seeking recommendations for commercial sensors

I would like to measure vibrations in small LHe cryostats. Could anybody recommend commercial sensors which would be suitable for the purpose? I am interested in the frequency range between 1Hz and a couple of KHz, with particular attention to the low frequency side.

Estimating cost of carbon steel, pure helium storage tanks

In order to perform an indicative cost assessment of our helium cryogenic plant (still in the design phase), I need an estimation of the cost of carbon steel room temperature pure helium storage tanks. The storage pressure is 20 bar. Can anyone give me suggestions about how to estimate the...

Supplier of pressure sensor that works down to 4.2 K

In an actual experiment we would like to measure the static pressure in a cryostat in the range between one and four bar. Therefore we are looking for some (more or less) cheap pressure sensors that work in liquid helium in the pressure range up to five bar. Unfortunately all...

Looking for reference/textbook suggestions

Can you suggest some reference textbooks for practical thermodynamics applications in cryogenic fields? I need textbooks with cryogenics calculations and examples, dimensioning procedures, second principle applications in cryogenics, heat load calculations, cryogenic pump application, etc. Do such books exist? Does any similar source of information exist?

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