Light
Dark
Join CSA

ADVERTISEMENT

Latest in News
Image source: Taihan/SuperNode
News

Korean Cable Corp Signs Deal Next-Gen Superconductors

Image source: Taihan/SuperNodeA leading Korean cable company has signed a deal with an Irish firm to develop “next-generation” superconducting cables for the offshore wind industry. Taihan will work with Dublin-based SuperNode on the design and roll out of polymer-based transmission cables which promise to “significantly” enhance efficiency and simplify installation...
June 24, 2025
Modifying gas chromatography systems with cryogenic technologies Subscribe for newsletter updates Researchers at Monash University in Clayton, Australia, have developed a new 3D-printed device for gas chromatography (GC), demonstrating its effectiveness in carrying out multidimensional and enantioselective separations. GC has long been central to chemical analysis, particularly for mixtures of volatile compounds. However, its resolution can be insufficient for separating complex mixtures. Scientists have addressed this limitation with techniques such as multidimensional gas chromatography (MDGC) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC), which both require modulation devices. Thermal modulators, among the earliest developed, remain widely used. In this study, the researchers designed a stainless steel 3D-printed device to function as a cold trapping assembly when cooled with liquid CO₂. Its operational principle mirrors that of a longitudinally modulated cryogenic system (LMCS). Cryogenic technologies have precedent in chromatography, offering the capacity to remobilise trapped components, thereby enabling new analytical approaches. When integrated with GC, such devices allow analysts to apply advanced separation techniques. The team detailed the enclosure design and assessed its performance for collecting and rapidly remobilising volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Modulation period precision was evaluated, yielding a maximum error of 8 microseconds and an average variation of less than 1 nanosecond across 10,000 successive modulations. Using a C5–C9 alkane series, the system was shown to effectively trap analytes, with peaks achieving a full width at half height (FWHH) as low as 65 milliseconds. The maximum trapping time was determined using hexane, with the modulator retaining the compound for up to 9 seconds at 100 °C before breakthroughs occurred. The system was also used to investigate the enantioselective separation of limonene, a compound derived from citrus peel oils. Although only one chiral column was used, different column lengths (ranging from 20 cm to 5.0 m) were drawn through the modulator. These effectively acted as enantioselective second-dimension (2D) columns. Injected (R,S)-limonene enantiomers were collected simultaneously and then rapidly transferred to the 2D column. The 3D-printed modulator successfully trapped hexane, enabling modulation periods of up to 8 seconds. This was achieved at oven temperatures of up to 100 °C. While higher temperatures were not tested, the researchers suggest that hexane modulation beyond this point is likely feasible. Ultimately, the study demonstrated the feasibility of comprehensive two-dimensional GC using 3D-printed modulators with a tea tree oil sample. Although 2D retention times exceeded optimal limits for GC × GC under the conditions tested, the authors propose that further refinement of columns and methods could yield improved separation.
News

Modifying Gas Chromatography Systems with Cryogenic Technologies

Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria. Credit: Montash University, Australia Researchers at Monash University in Clayton, Australia, have developed a new 3D-printed device for gas chromatography (GC), demonstrating its effectiveness in carrying out multidimensional and enantioselective separations. GC has long been central to chemical analysis, particularly for mixtures of volatile compounds. However,...
June 24, 2025
ITER conference
News

Strong Project Execution and the Latest Big Lift with ITER

Just two months ago, in April, the first of nine vacuum vessel sectors had been lowered into the tokamak assembly pit. A second was inserted this week in a nighttime operation that ended just as the 36th ITER Council was getting started. Delegates were transported on site to witness the accomplishment...
June 24, 2025
AeroDelft First Student Team to Test Liquid Hydrogen Aircraft Propulsion System
News

AeroDelft First Student Team to Test Liquid Hydrogen Aircraft Propulsion System

AeroDelft, a fully student-run and student-owned non-profit foundation based in Delft, has become the first student team in the world to design, build, and test an electric aircraft propulsion system (powertrain) using liquid hydrogen as its energy source. The successful test was conducted in collaboration with TNO at their liquid...
June 24, 2025
News

Omniseal is Sealing the Future of Space Travel with Cryogenic Innovation

Omniseal® SPRING-ENERGIZED SEALS. Image Credit: Omniseal Solutions In the high-stakes world of space exploration, success can hinge on something as seemingly simple as a seal. Yet in the harsh, unforgiving conditions of space—from cryogenic temperatures to violent mechanical shocks—nothing is simple. That’s where advanced sealing technology, like the cryogenic solutions engineered by...
June 22, 2025
News

How AI Is Supporting Operations and Revolutionizing Research at ATLAS

. In the quest to solve fundamental mysteries about the universe, nuclear physics stands at the forefront, probing the very building blocks of matter and the forces that govern their interactions. At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, a prominent fixture in this exploration is the Argonne Tandem...
June 22, 2025

ADVERTISEMENT

Latest in Defining Cryogenics
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...
June 18, 2018
Defining Cryogenics

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,...
May 2, 2018
Defining Cryogenics

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...
March 6, 2018
Latest in Cryo Central
Cryo Central

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...
April 18, 2008
Cryo Central

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...
April 18, 2008
Cryo Central

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...
April 18, 2008
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...
April 18, 2008
Latest in Ask the Experts
Ask the Experts

Assistance with resolving a sealing problem?

We are fabricating piping components for refrigeration service. These components must be leak checked at 15 bar (218 psig). We are using a gas test media that is 25% helium and experiencing difficulty on maintaining a seal on the flanged connections. Do you know anyone or any references that could...
August 1, 2008
Ask the Experts

Cryogenic data on leather and nomex

Could anyone please help me out with the following cryogenics data: Leather — mechanical properties at 77 K or lower Nomex — thermal conductivity @ 4 to 50 K I lost the data I had some time ago and although this should be easily accessible, I can’t find any reference...
August 1, 2008