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2nd International Conference on Cryogenics and Refrigeration Technologies

The city of Bucharest hosted the 2nd International Congress on Cryogenics and Refrigeration Technologies May 7-10, welcoming attendees with delicious food, pleasant parks, numerous museums and plenty of research and conversation.

Columbia Researchers Squeeze Light into Nanoscale Devices and Circuits

Columbia investigators have invented of a novel "home-built" cryogenic near-field optical microscope that has enabled them to directly image, for the first time, the propagation and dynamics of graphene plasmons at variable temperatures down to -250°C.

OPERA Presents Its Final Results on Neutrino Oscillations

In a paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the OPERA collaboration reports the observation of a total of 10 muon to tau-neutrino conversion events, demonstrating unambiguously that muon neutrinos oscillate into tau neutrinos on their way from CERN, where muon neutrinos were produced, to OPERA at the Gran...

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab Launches, Coldest Spot in Universe Now on ISS

NASA's Cold Atom Lab (CAL) facility was included in the cargo that launched to the International Space Station on the Orbital ATK CRS-9 mission. CAL produces clouds of atoms that are ten billion times colder than deep space, using lasers and magnetic forces to freeze the atoms until they are...

Canadian Researchers Working on Novel MRI for ISS

The Canadian Space Agency has awarded a research team at the University of Saskatchewan a contract to design and engineer an ankle-sized MRI device for the International Space Station. The device, according to the team, will ultimately monitor the bone health of astronauts during prolonged space trips, where weightless conditions...

Jlab Research Shows Protons under More Pressure Than Neutron Stars

Scientists at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (CSA CSM) recorded the first measurement of pressure distribution inside a proton and reported in journal Nature that inside every proton in every atom in the universe is a pressure cooker environment that surpasses the atom-crushing heart of a neutron star.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Refrigerators and Liquefiers

Two of the most common terms used in cryogenics are “refrigerator” and “liquefier.” These terms describe similar and, as will be seen, in some cases identical components. A refrigerator provides cooling (that is, absorbs heat) at cryogenic temperatures. Refrigerators typically put a working fluid (such as helium) through one of...

Air Separation

Air separation is one of the largest, as well as earliest, industrial applications of cryogenics. In this process, cryogenic temperatures are used to separate air into its constituent gases: nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.3%). Trace gases such as krypton, neon, xenon and helium total far...

Coefficient of Performance and Figure of Merit

The coefficient of performance (COP) is used to describe the effectiveness of refrigerators, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The COP is defined as the amount of heat removed at the cryogenic operating temperature of the refrigerator divided by the amount of work that must be applied to remove the...

Latest in Cryo Central

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...

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...

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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