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Northrop Grumman to Acquire Orbital ATK for $9 Billion

Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced its plan to acquire Orbital ATK, Inc., a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, for approximately $7.8 billion plus the assumption of $1.4 billion in net debt. The boards of both companies have approved the agreement and the transaction is expected to close in...

CEC/ICMC 2017 Conference Recap

Nestled against the coast of lake Monona in Madison WI, over 700 scientists and engineers from around the world bustled around the meeting rooms of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Monona Terrace from July 9-13, 2017, for the 21st joint Cryogenic Engineering and International Cryogenic Materials Conferences.

Flaw Uncovered in Modern Cryogenic Two-phase Flow Modeling

An investigation into popular thermal/fluid design codes begun as an exercise in curiosity by engineers at NASA Glenn Research Center and the University of Florida has uncovered an interesting flaw in modern cryogenic two-phase flow modeling.

Liquid Air Energy Storage: How Cryogenics Can Support a Greener Grid

The LAES system charges using an industrial air liquefier based on the Claude cycle used on the front end of existing air separation units. Electricity from the grid is used to produce liquid air at close to ambient pressure, thus avoiding the excessive cost of containing a high-pressure fluid in...

VNR Advances New Process to Ensure Reliability of Space-Flight-Critical Fasteners

In October 1989, while investigating the crash landing of United Flight 232 in Sioux City, the NTSB located the fan disk from the plane’s number two engine in a cornfield near Alta, Iowa. It was in two pieces, ripped apart, the agency later determined, when an undetected metallurgical defect resulted...

Chart Acquires VCT Vogel

On September 1, Chart Industries, Inc. (CSA CSM) announced its acquisition of VCT Vogel GmbH, a German firm servicing cryogenic and other mobile gas tank equipment and trucks. Founded in 2001, VCT has established itself as a provider of truck-mounted drive and control systems for the operation of cryogenic pumps...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Transfer Lines

Transfer lines may in some real sense be thought of as the cryogenic fluid analogy of current leads. While current leads carry electrical power to where it’s required in a cryogenic system, transfer lines do the same with cryogenic fluids. Transfer lines range in complexity from very simple U-tubes containing...

Zero Boiloff

Zero Boil Off cryostats are those that contain liquid cryogens but are designed to eliminate or vastly reduce the boil off of the liquid. These cryostats combine some of the advantages of Cryogen-Free systems (e.g. ease of use and long operational lifetime) with the advantages associated with a reservoir of liquid...

Cryomodule

Cryomodule is a term that is most commonly used to refer to cryostats that contain superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. Such cavities are used to accelerate charged particle beams and are a major component of modern particle accelerators. Using the term cryomodule to refer to cryostats containing SRF cavities appears...

Latest in Cryo Central

Magnetic Levitation

From http://www.superconductors.org. Magnetic-levitation is an application where superconductors perform extremely well. Transport vehicles such as trains can be made to “float” on strong superconducting magnets, virtually eliminating friction between the train and its tracks. Not only would conventional electromagnets waste much of the electrical energy as heat, they would have...

Superconductivity

From Superpower website. History of Superconductivity Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by the Dutch physicist, Heike Kammerlingh Onnes when he was able to liquefy helium by cooling it to 4 Kelvin, or -452°F. This enabled him to cool other materials close to absolute zero and investigate their electrical properties. He...

Medical Applications of Cryogenics

Neutron Therapy Cryogenics is at the heart of nuclear accelerators. Accelerators such as Fermilab’s Tevatron make neutron therapy for cancer possible. From Fermilab Today 4/20/09: Fermilab currently offers neutron therapy. But staff at Fermilab designed and built the proton accelerator used by the nation’s first hospital-based treatment center to use...

Nuclear Physics

Al Zeller National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) at Michigan State University zeller@nscl.msu.edu Cryogenics has a long history in nuclear physics. The technology has its origins in the use of cold traps for maintaining a vacuum, which is required to prevent beam loss and for generating high voltages used in acceleration....

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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