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

Young Professionals 2019: The Next Generation in Cryogenics Part 3

Young Professionals 2019 Part 3 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.

Fermilab Achieves World-Record Field Strength for Accelerator Magnet

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Fermilab (CSA CSM) have achieved the highest magnetic field strength ever recorded for an accelerator steering magnet, setting a world record of 14.1 teslas, with the magnet cooled to 4.5 kelvin or minus 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory held the previous record...

First Hydrogen-Powered Bus Deployed in France

A hydrogen-powered passenger bus has been deployed in France for the first time, a step toward the country’s goal of a 100% clean-fueled bus fleet. With a range of 300km, the bus will run between the towns of Versailles and Jouy-en-Josas in the Yvelines region, and refuel its hydrogen tank...

Quest Thermal Group MLI Enters Space

Quest Thermal Group’s integrated multilayer insulation (IMLI) is currently being used in space on the ISS with NASA's RRM3 flight experiment and on the NASA/Ball Aerospace GPIM spacecraft. The group is also currently designing IMLI for use on the Lucy spacecraft—scheduled to go to Jupiter's asteroids—and is expected to have...

Neutrino Energy to Power IoT Devices

In 2015, it was discovered that neutrinos have mass, so in theory, they can impact matter and give up some of their kinetic energy. Neutrino Energy Group is developing neutrino-based power generators by designing materials that can convert the kinetic energy of a neutrino into electricity. Such devices could be...

A Universal Symbol for Cryogenic Hazards

CSA was recently asked about a universal symbol to denote cryogenic hazards. Our contacts at NIST have helped answer those inquiries. While OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) does not provide a symbol, a cryogen “shipped” container would be labeled with the Gas Cylinder pictogram and a description of the...

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?

CATEGORIES