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Around the Labs – A Road Trip to Cryogenic Facilities

Cryogenics remains an integral part of research conducted at several Department of Energy National Labs, from novel cryostats used to cool telescope equipment to the dilution refrigerators driving nanoparticle studies. SLAC – Menlo Park CA The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, for example, is no stranger to cryogenics. Researchers there are...

Cryoport Signs Strategic Partnership Deal With Worthington Industries

Cryoport, Inc. has entered into a strategic partnership with Worthington Industries, bringing together two established cold chain companies. Cryoport provides logistics solutions for a range of industries including biopharma, animal health and reproductive medicine, while Worthington, through its recently-acquired CryoScience by Taylor Wharton product line, manufactures cold chain storage, transport...

Phase Transitions in the Extreme – Gallium Arsenide at 12mK

Researchers from Purdue University have demonstrated a phase transition that crosses two different phase categories, a result never observed before and one that could in time profoundly influence our understanding of matter and phases of matter. The transition from a topologically ordered to a broken symmetry phase was unexpected, and...

Bulk Storage and Shipping of Liquid Hydrogen is Hazardous

Hydrogen is very attractive as a green fuel because it burns in air to produce only water—and possibly some nitrogen oxides and hydrides—and therefore has a zero carbon footprint. As an energy store and fuel, liquid hydrogen has a high ratio of combustion energy per unit weight and is particularly...

Breakthrough Initiatives Announces Starshot, Its Light-Sail Starship of Tomorrow

Renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking and other distinguished researchers joined internet investor and science philanthropist Yuri Milner at One World Observatory to announce a new Breakthrough Initiatives project focused on space exploration and the search for life in the Universe. Called Starshot, the $100 million research and engineering program aims to...

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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...

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...