CGA Announces New Process Safety Committee
In an email to its members, the Compressed Gas Association announced the formation of a new Process Safety Committee to address process safety concerns and gaps that affect the industrial gas industry.
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Six Things You Might Not Know About Hydrogen
October 8th is National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day. To celebrate, here are a few things you might not know about hydrogen and fuel cells.
Auguste Acquires Taylor-Wharton’s European Operations
Auguste Cryogenics SK s.r.o. has acquired Taylor-Wharton International’s European Operations, including a cryogenic pressure vessel manufacturing facility, Taylor-Wharton Slovakia s.r.o., and the related warehouse and office complex of Taylor-Wharton Germany GmbH. Auguste says all employees have been retained and that the facilities will continue to operate under the Taylor-Wharton brand...
XFEL Commissions New X-ray Laser
Engineers at European XFEL, a large international research facility with 11 European member countries, have begun commissioning a 3.4-km-long underground X-ray laser. When operational, the laser will generate extremely short and bright X-ray light flashes that will enable new views of the structure and fast processes of the nanocosmos. Applications...
2016 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics to David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz, three laureates who have used advanced topological methods to study unusual phases of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films. Thanks to their...
Spallation Neutron Source Marks a Decade of Research
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (CSA CSM) celebrated a decade of research at its Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) with an event on September 22. The SNS features a linear accelerator and accumulator ring. It sent the first protons to its one-of-a-kind mercury target in April 2006 and over the last decade...
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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....
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...
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...