Cold Facts Digital – The go-to place for Cryogenics and Superconductivity

NASA Awards Funding to Support Professional Development Programs for STEM Educators

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland has awarded approximately $125,000 to schools and organizations to launch professional development programs for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educators. The award is intended to strengthen STEM programs for K-12 teachers across Ohio through the use of NASA content. The grant also includes...

Quantum Data Takes a Ride on Sound Waves

Yale scientists have created a device that uses sound waves to store quantum information and convert it from one form to another, all inside a single integrated chip. The device allows a superconducting artificial atom, or qubit, to exchange energy and quantum information with a high-frequency bulk acoustic wave resonator....

FCC and the Superconducting Magnets of the Future

Physicists at CERN are counting on new magnets, ones capable of generating fields of 16 Tesla or more, to increase the energy of its future circular colliders. To achieve these levels, researchers working on CERN's Future Circular Collider (FCC) study have developed a test station known as FRESCA2, a dipole...

Injecting New Life into the LHC

CERN launched the LHC Injectors Upgrade (LIU) project in 2010 to prepare its accelerator complex for the immense challenges of the HL-LHC. Now, in a report appearing in CERN Courier, engineers from the project have provided a status update. In addition to enabling the necessary proton and ion injector chains...

Concrete Applications for Accelerator Science

Particle accelerators are a lot more than simply the engines of particle physics research, according to scientists working on the Accelerator Application Development and Demonstration (A2D2) project at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM). Electron beams generated by linear accelerators have all kinds of practical uses, the researchers say, such...

UK commits $88 Million to LBNF/DUNE Project

The United States and United Kingdom have entered into the first-ever umbrella science agreement between the two countries, a move that will see the UK contribute $88 million to the LBNF/DUNE project hosted at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab, CSA CSM). The funding makes the UK the largest country investing...

Latest in 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...

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,...

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...

Latest in 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...

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...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Power usage: cryogenic systems vs. regular refrigerators

A recent project highlighted to me that closed cycle cryogenic cooling systems use far more electrical power to reduce temperatures by a few watts than regular refrigerators. I am sure it must be something to do with the extra difficulty of removing the heat from the liquid nitrogen or similar...

Redundancy strategies for mechanical -80C freezers

I was wondering what kind of redundancy strategies are people using for their mechanical -80C freezers? I am aware of the following. Please add if you are doing something different. 1) 1 Backup freezer for every 10 freezers – Empty and maintained at -80C at all times 2) Backup C02...

Safety guidelines for handling cryo vessels of nitrogen

I am looking for any safety guidelines for handling cryogenic vessels of nitrogen indoors and outdoors. I am especially interested in recommendations for area monitors to detect leaks, flow detection devices, etc.

Method to move components in a cryogenic environment

Does anyone know of a method with which to reliably move components in a cryogenic environment? We are interested in moving detectors in a cryogenically cooled (2K) vacuum chamber, which is contained within a larger cryostat/isolation vacuum with thermal shields. As the desired horizontal or vertical displacement is between 10...

CATEGORIES