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Hyundai Nexo Sets Hydrogen Fuel Cell Distance Record

Celebrity explorer Bertrand Piccard drove Hyundai’s Nexo SUV 484 miles across France in November, setting a new world record for the longest distance traveled in a hydrogen-powered vehicle on a single tank. Within the category of zero-emissions options, the hydrogen fuel cell is constantly being eclipsed by electric power. But...

Cryogenics Secures Volatile Car Batteries in Transit

Early in December, researchers from Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick UK, in collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover engineers, froze batteries with liquid nitrogen. Research suggests this would allow lithium car batteries—costly and dangerous to move—to be transported safely in a much cheaper and environmentally friendly way.

Electronic Map Reveals ‘Rules of the Road’ in Superconductor

In a study published in the American Physical Society journal Physical Review X (PRX) in early December, Rice University physicist Ming Yi and colleagues offer up a band structure map for iron selenide, a material that has long puzzled physicists because of its structural simplicity and behavioral complexity. The “roadmap,”...

Tour ITER in Virtual Reality

ITER, the world’s largest fusion tokamak, is currently under construction in southern France. Now, operational facilities are under construction including the First Plasma plant and tokamak building. The consortium, comprising representatives from 35 nations, has introduced an interactive worksite tour to keep the public informed on site progress and encourage...

European Space Agency Approves Record Budget To Meet New Challenges

European Space Agency (ESA) members approved a record $15.97 billion budget in late November in Seville, Spain, to secure Europe's position in space exploration as the United States and China press ahead. Funding will allow ESA a full series of programs and additional scientific work including increased Earth observation to...

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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...

Food Processing

Cryogenics and Food The industrial gas industry provides a host of products and services related to food. The various gases have useful and sometimes fascinating applications in food industry. “The food industry is not a homogenous industry. The needs of customers processing hamburger vs. poultry vs. strawberries vs. seafood, for...

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...