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Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source Unravels Mummy, Leaves Linens Untouched

Northwestern University scientists and students are working to unravel the mysteries of a small female mummy, including how her body was prepared 1,900 years ago in Egypt, what items she may have been buried with, the quality of her bones and the composition of a foreign material present in her...

Niowave’s Electron Linacs Target New Projects

From the quaint neighborhood streets that run alongside its perimeter, Niowave, Inc. appears as unassuming as the converted local elementary school from which it operates. But inside, where water fountains and toilets still perch low to the ground and footsteps echo off hallway lockers, its employees have assumed the once...

Researchers Observe Four-dimensional Physics in Two Dimensions

Physicists from two research groups have announced techniques that allow materials in four-dimensional space to be studied in two-dimensional systems. Both experiments dealt with the quantum Hall effect, a phenomenon that has been at the root of three Nobel Prizes in physics.

Qatargas Begins Operations, Finalizing Integration of Qatar Petroleum and RasGas

Qatar Petroleum announced the official start of operations of Qatargas following the completion of its integration with RasGas, a process that began in December 2016. The announcement was made by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, president & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, during a press conference held at QP headquarters.

NASA Releases Logo For Upcoming 60th Anniversary

NASA will mark the 60th anniversary of its establishment as a US government agency on October 1, 2018. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed NASA’s founding legislation, the 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act, on July 29, 1958, though NASA celebrates its birthday on October 1, the day the agency opened...

Chart Acquires Skaff Cryogenics

Chart Industries, Inc. announced its acquisition of Skaff Cryogenics and Cryo-Lease, LLC in early January. The acquisition, according to Chart, expands the company's direct regional presence for service and aftermarket support in the Northeast United States.

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

Magnets

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...

Energy Storage

From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...

Astronomy

ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...

Cryocoolers

What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...

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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