Cold Facts Digital – The go-to place for Cryogenics and Superconductivity

Once complete, ITER will run fusion experiments using five times as much plasma as the largest reactors in operation today.

5,500 Superconducting Wires Survive Intense Testing for World’s Largest Fusion Reactor

By Gayoung Lee Stakeholders around the world are vying to realize nuclear fusion—a fossil fuel alternative that promises maximum energy generation with minimal environmental risk. Behind the efforts to build the world’s largest fusion reactor is an equally gigantic global collaboration: ITER, which has just announced a major advance in its quest...

The Future Is Frozen: How Cryogenics Is Redefining Food Innovation

By Douglas Hoon By Douglas Hoon, CTO and Co-Founder, Cometeer, Inc Key takeaways: Once relegated to the cold backrooms of industrial storage, cryogenics is now stepping into the spotlight as one of the most promising frontiers in food innovation. Long seen as a basic preservation tool, freezing is being reimagined—not...

Curved SC magnets. Center: NIMMS gantry. Right: SC gantry with 360° rotation. Credit: Authors

50 Years of Cryogenic Magnet Technology in Biomedical Study and Use

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Recertification and retesting performed across trusted valve brands in the industry. Credit: Ratermann Manufacturing

Ratermann Keeps Valves and Industry Confidence Flowing

By Jocelyn Navarro, Ratermann Manufacturing For companies working with cryogenic and industrial gas systems, valve failure isn’t just a maintenance issue; it’s a safety risk. Pressure relief valves must operate with precision under intense thermal and mechanical stress. That’s why Ratermann Manufacturing has made valve recertification a central part of...

Infinite Helium flow path and heat diagram. Credit: Lake Shore Cryotronics

Lake Shore Reduces Helium Costs to Maximize Research Efficiency

By Rachael Floyd, Director of Product Management for Cryogenic Systems, Lake Shore Cryotronics The Rising Price of Helium Helium is a nonrenewable resource that is increasingly difficult to obtain reliably. Once released into the atmosphere, it is irretrievable. Limited availability and few sources of production are driving helium prices upward....

Fabrum’s patented pulse tube cryocooler. Credit: Olivia Ross

Fabrum Pioneers the Future of Clean Energy

By Fabrum Communications Team In a world increasingly focused on the pathway to decarbonization, hydrogen and natural gas are critical components in the global transition towards clean fuels. The technology associated with this transition is a major catalyst for driving change and delivering the sustainability outcomes that are required to...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

Latest in Cryo Central

Wind Tunnels

Dr. Robert Kilgore The development of the cryogenic wind tunnel is one of many significant breakthroughs in both cryogenics and wind-tunnel technology made during the past millennium. Interest in the development of high-speed commercial and military aircraft resulted in a review of problems of flow simulation in transonic wind tunnels...

History of Cryogenics

From the Fall 1999 issue of Cold Facts magazine Millennium Breakthroughs A variety of CSA members give different perspectives on the past millennium: What were the most significant breakthroughs in cryogenics during the past millennium? Prof. R.G. Scurlock, Kryos Technology, scurlock@soton.ac.uk (“Breakthrough” = way through obstacles — Oxford English Dictionary)...

Cryobiology

Andreas Sputtek Past President Society for Cryobiology sputtek@uke.uni-hamburg.de or http://www.sputtek.de/. The word cryobiology (from the Greek words “cryo” = cold, “bios” = life, and “logos” = science) literally signifies the science of life at low temperatures. In practice, this field comprises the study of any biological material or system (e.g.,...

Cryogenic Insulation

James E. Fesmire Cryogenics Test Laboratory NASA Kennedy Space Center james.e.fesmire@nasa.gov Introduction In today’s world, the use of cryogenics and low-temperature refrigeration is taking a more and more significant role. From the food industry, transportation, energy, and medical applications to the Space Shuttle, cryogenic liquids must be stored, handled, and...

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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