ADVERTISEMENT

The tokamak hall at Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ fusion energy facility in Devens, Massachusetts, will house the company’s SPARC reactor. Credit: Commonwealth Fusion Systems

How Advanced Materials Could Unleash Fusion Energy

by Prachi Patel Materials advances in the past decade have led to key breakthroughs in fusion energy. The past five years have seen the launch of numerous start-ups and a surge of investment into the long-sought clean energy source. Whether fusion becomes viable in the next decade depends on continued materials...
Infinite Helium flow path and heat diagram. Credit: Lake Shore Cryotronics

Getting Closer to Artemis II Rocket Completion with Newest Addition

NASA has integrated the Artemis II Orion stage adapter with the rest of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Built by NASA engineers at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the adapter connects the...
Flight Engineer Joe Acaba works in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on the International Space Station, setting up hardware for the Zero Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) experiment. Credit: NASA

NASA Aims to Keep Fuel Cool Under Pressure with Zero Boil-Off Experiment On NG-23

Flight Engineer Joe Acaba works in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module on the International Space Station, setting up hardware for the Zero Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) experiment. Credit: NASA Space missions rely on cryogenic fluids — extremely cold liquids like liquid hydrogen and oxygen — for both propulsion and life support...
Cryoport opens cryogenic logistics facility near Paris

Cryoport Opens cryogenic logistics facility near Paris

By Molly Burgesson Oct 03, 2025 Temperature-controlled supply chain solutions company Cryoport has opened a new facility in Louvres, France, with cryogenic capabilities to support the storage and transport of temperature-sensitive materials. The site was launched through subsidiary Cryoport Systems and is located near Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. It is...
Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Commonwealth Fusion Systems Signs PPA with Italian Energy Company Eni

By Zachary Skidmore Google-backed nuclear fusion firm Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Italian energy firm Eni for power from its ARC power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia. In July, CFS became one of the first fusion firms to sign a PPA with a...

New Entanglement Breakthrough Links Cores of Atoms, Brings Quantum Computers Closer

Quantum entanglement — once dismissed by Albert Einstein as “spooky action at a distance” — has long captured the public imagination and puzzled even seasoned scientists. But for today’s quantum practitioners, the reality is rather more mundane: entanglement is a kind of connection between particles that is the quintessential feature...

ADVERTISEMENT

Refrigerators and Liquefiers

Two of the most common terms used in cryogenics are “refrigerator” and “liquefier.” These terms describe similar and, as will be seen, in some cases identical components. A refrigerator provides cooling (that is, absorbs heat) at cryogenic temperatures. Refrigerators typically put a working fluid (such as helium) through one of...

Air Separation

Air separation is one of the largest, as well as earliest, industrial applications of cryogenics. In this process, cryogenic temperatures are used to separate air into its constituent gases: nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.3%). Trace gases such as krypton, neon, xenon and helium total far...

Coefficient of Performance and Figure of Merit

The coefficient of performance (COP) is used to describe the effectiveness of refrigerators, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The COP is defined as the amount of heat removed at the cryogenic operating temperature of the refrigerator divided by the amount of work that must be applied to remove the...

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...

Are there lists of existing biorepositories?

We are a relatively new Biorepository that was developed as part of a large breast cancer epidemiology study, and thus far we have accumulated DNA on over 8000 women along with extensive questionnaire, mammography, and case status data. I was wondering, are there lists of existing Biorepositories with their contents?...

Trying to design a system to store ammonia at -33°C

I am working on a project where we are trying to design a system to store ammonia at -33°C. In order to size the compressors to maintain the ammonia in the liquid state, I need to estimate the heat gained from the environment including the radiation from the sun and...