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Remembering Helen Edwards

Helen Edwards, distinguished and highly regarded scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM), died on June 21 at the age of 80. Edwards was the leader in the design, construction, commissioning and operation of the Tevatron collider. In recent years she made significant contributions to the development of high-gradient,...

Brookhaven Powers Magnet Idle for Eight Years

A team of physicists and engineers at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory has completed preliminary tests of a 20-ton cylindrical magnet that could form the heart of an upgraded particle detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The goal was to see if the superconducting solenoid...

Cryogenic Systems, from LHC to FCC

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) features one of the largest cryogenic systems in the world. Cryogenics plays an indispensable role in applied superconductivity, and the development of cryogenics for accelerators has allowed researchers to efficiently cool both the high-field magnets presently used at the LHC and also those being developed...

Zika Fear Heats Up, Cure Sought in Cold

North America is welcoming summer and with it the increased fear of a pronounced expansion of Zika from its southern neighbors. In April, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held a summit to formulate an action plan against the virus and shortly thereafter began issuing statements, including...

A Cryogenic Valve Primer

It is remarkable but true that we’ve used valves to control the flow of liquids for thousands of years. The city of Pompeii’s water system, for example, utilized quarter-turn style valves that were in principle very similar to those in use today. Cryogenic valves, while unique, are similar to these...

Air Liquide Designing Cryogenic System for ITER

Air Liquide has substantial expertise in designing, fabricating and installing large capacity gas liquefaction and refrigeration systems. Its engineers have completed major cryogenic installations, for example, at CERN and KSTAR (the South Korean Tokamak) and are now working on ITER, providing the project with a centralized helium cryogenic plant and...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration

Reaching temperatures below 1K requires different techniques than the various helium gas cycles found in large scale refrigeration plants and small cryocoolers. One of these techniques is Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration (ADR). This technique takes advantage of the fact that the entropy of paramagnetic materials in a magnetic field is lower than...

Cryogen-Free

A cryogen is any fluid that operates at cryogenic temperatures (below roughly 150K – 120K). Using this definition, helium gas at 40K is a cryogen. Another more restrictive definition is to use cryogen to refer specifically to liquids at cryogenic temperatures. This is generally how it is used in the...

Cryostats and Cryocoolers

A cryostat is any device designed to maintain things (including fluids) at cryogenic temperatures. In general usage, cryostats tend to be passive devices rather than providing active cooling. In this usage, cryostats keep things cold by thermally isolating them from room temperature. This generally is accomplished by a combination of...

Latest in Cryo Central

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...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Looking for process to freeze large volumes of plastics and rubber

I’m looking for a process to freeze large volumes of plastics and rubber prior to submitting this mass of material to a grinding process that reduces it to a powder. Any thoughts? Any known processes which I can visit? Any known technologies? Can you refer me to other resources for...

Sealant Adhesive KAE 89?

Can you give me contact details for the manufacturer of a “sealant Adhesive” KAE 89? It is a vapor stop, used on insulation covering LNG carrying conduits. This is a suggested alternative to Foster 90-66. Do you have details of any other alternative products for this application?

Data for thermal conductivity for phenoloc high pressure laminate NEMA CE grade

Can you provide data or information on how to obtain data for thermal conductivity for phenolic high pressure laminate NEMA CE grade, at low temperatures (4 Kelvin to 100 Kelvin)?

Definition or max temp which defines “cryogenic”?

Please help me with a definition: I am calculating material and fabrication costs for a quote for a hydrocarbon meter station.

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