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Saint-Gobain Seals Releases Special Technical White Paper Exploring Critical Factors of Seal Selection in Cryogenic Space Applications

Saint-Gobain Seals has released a special technical white paper for engineers and manufacturers in the space industry titled “Sealing Solutions in Critical Cryogenic Applications: Going Beyond Leakage Rate,” describing key as well as overlooked factors related to seal selection for core systems in extreme environments such as cryogenic fuel tanks...

Hydrogen Fuel Cell-powered Drone Sets New Flight Time Record

A new Guinness World Record for the longest multi-rotor flight time was achieved by South Korean company MetaVista (CSA CSM) using Intelligent Energy’s 800W fuel cell power. The quadcopter drone flew for 12 hours, 7 minutes and 5 seconds using liquid hydrogen to fuel the module.

Yale Experiment Features Quantum Physics in a Liquid

For the first time, Yale physicists using liquid helium directly observed quantum behavior within the vibrations of a liquid body. A great deal of ongoing research is currently devoted to discovering and exploiting quantum effects in the motion of macroscopic objects made of solids and gases, so this new experiment...

DOE Announces Graduate Student STEM Awards

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program announced 70 awards to be distributed to students at 52 universities in the US that focus on doctoral degrees in physical sciences. The aim of the awards program is to prepare graduate students for science, technology,...

Russian Physicists Obtain Data on Particle Self-organization in Ultracold Dusty Plasma

Physicists in Russia recently investigated the behavior of particles in dusty plasma at a temperature below 2 K, an experiment that revealed nanoclusters forming in the plasma and the synthesis of polymer fibers taking place at extremely low temperatures. According to the team, such results can be used to create...

Electron Camera at SLAC Films High-speed Molecular Movie

Researchers using an extremely fast electron camera at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have made the first high-definition “movie” of ring-shaped molecules breaking open in response to light.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dilution Refrigerators

Dilution refrigerators are a common technique for reaching temperatures below 1K, particularly where continuous cooling at these temperatures is required. Helium exists in two stable isotopes: 4He and 3He. Naturally occurring 3He is extremely rare, constituting less than 1 part per million of helium gas. However, 3He can be manufactured,...

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards (ODH) are a significant safety issue in cryogenic facilities. ODH occurs when inert gases such as nitrogen, helium or argon displace room air and thus lower the percentage of oxygen in the space below that required for human life. OSHA defines an area as oxygen deficient if...

Kelvin Temperature Scale

The Kelvin temperature scale is the principal temperature scale used in cryogenics and science. The kelvin is also one of the seven base units in the Système International d’Unités (SI) and is the unit of thermodynamic temperature. Thermodynamic temperature is a fundamental physical quantity (like mass, length or electrical current)...

Latest in Cryo Central

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...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Power usage: cryogenic systems vs. regular refrigerators

A recent project highlighted to me that closed cycle cryogenic cooling systems use far more electrical power to reduce temperatures by a few watts than regular refrigerators. I am sure it must be something to do with the extra difficulty of removing the heat from the liquid nitrogen or similar...

Redundancy strategies for mechanical -80C freezers

I was wondering what kind of redundancy strategies are people using for their mechanical -80C freezers? I am aware of the following. Please add if you are doing something different. 1) 1 Backup freezer for every 10 freezers – Empty and maintained at -80C at all times 2) Backup C02...

Safety guidelines for handling cryo vessels of nitrogen

I am looking for any safety guidelines for handling cryogenic vessels of nitrogen indoors and outdoors. I am especially interested in recommendations for area monitors to detect leaks, flow detection devices, etc.

Method to move components in a cryogenic environment

Does anyone know of a method with which to reliably move components in a cryogenic environment? We are interested in moving detectors in a cryogenically cooled (2K) vacuum chamber, which is contained within a larger cryostat/isolation vacuum with thermal shields. As the desired horizontal or vertical displacement is between 10...

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