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Nominations Open Now for Several IEEE Awards

IEEE Council on Superconductivity is currently accepting nominations for many awards, including its Wong Award, Swerdlow Award, Rosner Award and the IEEE Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions in the Field of Applied Superconductivity.

Dark Energy Survey Completes Six-year Mission

The Dark Energy Survey's scientific effort to map a portion of the sky in unprecedented detail has come to an end, but the work to learn more about the expansion of the universe has just begun.

DESY Introduces Astroparticle Physics Research Division

DESY is expanding exploration of the universe with a new research division for astroparticle physics. Such physics has developed rapidly in recent years, according to DESY, and the expansion means the agency will soon have four research divisions, including accelerators, photon science, particle physics and astroparticle physics.

SHI Cryogenics Releases Highest Capacity 4K Cryocooler

The SHI Cryogenics Group (CSA CSM) introduced a new Gifford-McMahon Cryocooler model in January, its highest-capacity 4K cryocooler to date. The advanced cryocooler extends SHI’s existing model range, units already recognized as reliable and versatile systems that feature high cooling capacities, compact designs and orientation-free operation.

Misaligned Stacks of Graphene are Stirring up Physics

An MIT team has turned graphene into a superconducting material that allows electricity to flow without resistance. The scientists achieved this feat by placing one sheet of graphene over another, rotating the other sheet to a special orientation and cooling the ensemble to a fraction of a degree above absolute...

Probing the Universe: SQUID Amplifiers for Next-Generation Large Focal Plane Array

Physicists around the world are using experiments to answer fundamental questions, including theoretical models and experimental evidence. The Simons Array is an example of one such experiment, used to observe Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, an afterglow from the universe created when it was just 380,000 years old.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Mixed Refrigerant Cycles

Most cryogenic refrigeration systems, both large scale systems and cryocoolers, use helium as a working fluid. There are a number of advantages to helium, not the least of which is that helium remains a fluid down to the lowest achievable temperatures. In order to freeze helium, pressures of over 20...

Fountain Pumps and He II Phase Separators

Helium II (He II), the second liquid phase of the 4He isotope described in this column in Cold Facts Spring 2010 (http://2csa.us/he2), can be modeled as consisting of two interpenetrating fluids. One, the superfluid component, has zero viscosity and entropy and the other, the normal fluid component, has nonzero viscosity...

Turboexpanders

A vital technology in the refrigerators and liquefiers described in Cold Facts Volume 31 Number 3 is that of turboexpanders. These devices are rotating machines in which the process fluid (e.g., helium) does work against the turboexpander while moving from high pressure to a lower pressure and thus is cooled....

Latest in Cryo Central

Cryogenic Treatment of Materials

F.J. Diekman Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc. info@metal-wear.com Cryogenic Processing (also called cryogenic treatment, and incorrectly “cryogenic tempering”) is a process that uses cryogenic temperatures to modify materials to enhance their performance. Cryogenic Processing involves the slow reduction in temperature of the material to at least -300°F (-185°C) and holding the...

Cryogenics in Space

Peter Kittel University of California-Berkeley pkittel@cal.berkeley.edu Space Cryogenics is the application of cryogenics to space missions. These applications fall into two broad areas, supporting space science missions and supporting the space transportation infrastructure. Science applications: The atmosphere is opaque to much of the electro-magnetic spectrum. In space, the absence of...

Cryosurgery

Review of Cryosurgery Boris Rubinsky, PhD Hebrew University School of Science and Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Engineering 78b Ross Building Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904 Israel rubinsky@cs.huji.ac.il as published in Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, August 2000, Vol. 2, pp. 157-187. Abstract: Cryosurgery is a surgical technique that employs freezing...

Liquefied Natural Gas

Liquefied Natural Gas as it relates to the Field of Cryogenics John W. Bonn VJ Systems, LLC johnbonn@vjsystems-lic.com Today the world is looking for a cleaner fuel and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plays a large part in achieving this goal. LNG in a liquid form is at -162°C (-259°F) and...

Latest in Ask the Experts

An Issue of Pressure and Flow Rate in a Supply Tank

Please help solve this problem: A supply tank requires a vaporizer to generate sufficient pressure to pump stored fluid up into a vehicle or tank. The available head is limited as the tank level falls and it is important to minimize the system pressure drop to maintain the desired flow...

Using MLI on VJ Line Joints or Cryo Storage Tanks

When installing Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) blankets on VJ line joints or cryo storage tanks should they be wrapped and tied down tight or loose? These are usually pre-cut to size. Also should they have an access hole at the point of where the molecular sieve is installed to help...

Separated layers of ice over a pipe

I want to know that why there are different layers of ice over a pipe carrying a cryogenic fluid, each layer separated with clear marks / lines? What do these layers signify?

Using nitrogen as a cryogen

Is it possible to achieve -200˚C using nitrogen as a cryogen?

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