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DOE Earmarks $39 Million for Hydrogen Fuel Cell R&D

The US Department of Energy announced up to $39 million in available funding to support early stage R&D for innovative hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Concept papers are due May 7, 2018, and full applications will be due June 12, 2018.

MIT Spinoff Faces Challenges for its Planned Fusion Power Plant

Commonwealth Fusion Systems, an MIT spinoff based in Cambridge, aims to bring a fusion power plant online within 15 years—a timeline faster by decades than other fusion machines. The project will face a number of challenges, according to an analysis by IEEE, including fabricating and testing a new class of...

Keeping the LHC Cold

The Large Hadron Collider is colder than interstellar space thanks to its cryogenic cooling system, with liquid helium pulsing through sophisticated plumbing that runs both inside and outside of the machine.

Link Discovered Between Superconductivity and Periodic Table

Scientists from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Skoltech have discovered a general principle for calculating the superconductivity of hydrides based on the periodic table alone. The result, published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters came as the group explored the superconductivity of actinium hydrides.

EU Funds Research on “Cryosocieties”

The European Research Council has awarded a grant to researchers at Germany's Goethe University Frankfurt interested in understanding the social impacts of cryobiology. The research will focus on the freezing of umbilical cord blood as preparation for later regenerative therapies, the cryopreservation of egg cells for reproductive purposes and the...

New Capabilities at NSLS-II Set to Advance Materials Science

Scientists at NSLS-II's Hard X-ray Nanoprobe (HXN) beamline have demonstrated the beamline's ability to observe materials down to 10 nanometers, about one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. According to the team, this exceptionally high spatial resolution will enable scientists to "see" single molecules.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Stability

Stability refers to the ability of a device employing superconductors to remain in its superconducting state after part of the superconductor transitions back to its normal conducting state due to a disturbance. While the concept can apply to many superconducting devices—transmission lines, generators, motors, etc.—it is most commonly considered in...

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors

Cable-in-Conduit Conductors (CICC) are a common form of superconducting cable used in large-scale applications. There are several varieties of CICCs, but they all consist of many small, stabilized superconducting wires contained within a conduit through which a coolant (typically supercritical He II) flows. Figure 1 shows the cross section of...

Bayonet Coupling

A bayonet coupling is a demountable joint that allows for quick and easy connection and disconnection of cryogenic components, including transfer lines, cryostats, liquefiers and refrigerators. Bayonets provide a number of advantages, chief among them the ability to connect and disconnect the bayonets while components they connect are still at...

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

Any experience with Tungsten or Tantalum metal springs in a low temp environment?

I would like to use metal springs made of Tungsten or Tantalum in low temperature environment. Does anybody have any experience with such springs? More precisely, I would like to make compression springs by rolling tungsten or tantalum wire on a rod. I expect that, typically, the spring constant will...

Standards & specifications for pipe & tube couplings

I am interested in finding out more about cryogenic applications and what standards, specifications and test methods (ASTM, etc.) are required for qualification of pipe and tube couplings.

Looking for a test house to test the static coefficient of friction under cryogenic conditions

I am looking to find a test house that is capable of testing the static coefficient of friction under cryogenic conditions. We can be flexible on most of the test parameters, including the test coupon configuration, but we’re looking for a test house that can provide the following test environment:...

Approximating pressure changes over time in cryogenic cylinders

I am an Air Resources Engineer with the California Air Resources Board (CARB). My senior management has asked me to investigate approximating pressure changes over time in cryogenic cylinders that contain LNG. So far, I have taken a stab at the problem, seeking to take a back-of-the-envelope approach (as directed...

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