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Study Sheds Light on the Peculiar ‘Normal’ Phase of High Temperature Superconductors

In a paper published in Science this month, a research team from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University reported on an experiment that probed the normal state of superconductors more accurately than ever before, discovering an abrupt shift in the behavior of electrons in which...

First Magnet Installed for the ALPS II Experiment at DESY

The international Any Light Particle Search (ALPS) II collaboration installed the first of 24 superconducting magnets in mid-October, marking the start of the installation of a unique particle physics experiment to look for dark matter. Located at DESY, the German research center in Hamburg, it is set to start taking...

CERN Council Appoints Fabiola Gianotti to Second Term of Office as CERN Director General

At its 195th session, the CERN Council selected Fabiola Gianotti, the organization’s director-general, for her second term of office. The appointment will be formalized at the December session of the Council, and Gianotti’s new five-year term will begin on January 1, 2021. This is the first time in CERN’s history...

Cryomech Breaks Ground on New Manufacturing Facility

Cryomech, Inc. (CSA CSM) recently broke ground on their new 76,000-square foot manufacturing facility in DeWitt NY. The custom designed building will provide space for continued growth and innovation in the cryogenics industry. Cryomech also plans to grow staff in both manufacturing and administration. According to the current build schedule,...

Fermilab, International Partners Break Ground on New Beamline for the World’s Most Advanced Neutrino Experiment

On November 14, the US Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM) joined with its international partners to break ground on a new beamline that will help scientists learn more about ghostly particles called neutrinos. The beamline is part of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), which will house...

Magnet Doubles Hydrogen Yield from Water Splitting

Using nothing more than a $10 magnet, José Ramón Galán-Mascarós and his researchers at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) in Spain have doubled the hydrogen output of a water-splitting electrolyzer. If the approach can be scaled up, it has the potential to slash the costs of producing...

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

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Information on how the emissivity of the panel changes with air fouling?

I work at a facility with a large thermal vacuum chamber. We are using both nitrogen and helium shrouds.

In search of a calculation for designing a cryostat

I am a final year physics student at the University of Birmingham, and as part of a group I am currently designing a cryostat. One of the calculations I need to make (very soon!) is how much heat will be conducted down the walls. All information I have found so...

Safety of ethylene glycol and pressurized oxygen

We are reviewing the product design of liquid filled differential level gauges and want to insure that they meet the industry requirements. The former license owner had authorized that a fill fluid of ethylene glycol (68%) and distilled water (32%) could be used for oxygen service up to 500 psi....

Heat flux in case of vacuum loss on cryogenic surfaces?

Is there anyone who has information about the heat flux in case of vacuum loss on cryogenic surfaces?

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