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Preserving the Innocents: Biosample Storage at -190°C

by Julian Warhurst, julian.warhurst@brooks.com; John Fink, john.fink@brooks.com; Tiffany Holmes, tiffany.holmes@brooks.com; Matthew Albert, matthew.albert@brooks.com; Bruce Zandi, bruce.zandi@brooks.com It seems to be universally accepted that storing at -190°C in a liquid nitrogen (LN2 )vapor-phase freezer is the best technique for biosample preservation. Brooks Automation (CSA CSM) decided to explore this idea further,...

Scientists Prep for DUNE Neutrino Study

Over 150 physicists from around the world collided at The University of Texas at Arlington in early January to further collaboration on DUNE, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. The international project, scheduled for completion in the early 2020s, will shoot a neutrino beam from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (CSA CSM)...

Superconducting Radio Frequency Activities at CERN

CERN has a long history in superconducting radio frequency (SRF) technology. What started with a few SRF cavities in the 1980s has now become a major field of activity. Today CERN is not only running a variety of superconducting RF installations and projects but is also preparing for a new...

Next Generation Multilayer Insulation with Discrete Spacer Technology, Parts 1 and 2

Cryogenic thermal engineers are familiar with multilayer insulation (MLI), developed in the late 1950s as lightweight insulation for cryogenic propellants. MLI is used as high performance thermal insulation for launch vehicles, spacecraft, cryogenic tanks, dewars and spaceborne instruments. MLI operates in high vacuum, where its performance exceeds other insulations by...

SuperKEKB Commissioning Begins, Successful Storage of Beams in its Electron and Positron Rings Reported

After five years of large-scale upgrade work, Japan's High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) began test operations on SuperKEKB, an electron-positron colliding accelerator. SuperKEKB represents a major upgrade from the previous KEKB accelerator and is the culmination of years of construction that started in the second half of 2010. Commissioning...

James Webb “Telescope” Documentary Available to Stream

Discovery's "Telescope" documentary, highlighting the high-stakes mission to build NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, premiered on Feb. 20 and is now available for streaming on the TV channel's website. The Webb telescope, which is the scientific successor to—and 100 times more powerful than—Hubble, will peer back over 13.5 billion years...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Cold Compressors

A common way to provide cooling below the normal boiling point of helium (4.2K) is to reduce the pressure above the bath of liquid helium, thus also reducing the bath’s equilibrium saturation temperature. For example, to produce a 1.8K bath of liquid helium, the saturation pressure has to be reduced...

Kapitza Conductance

Kapitza conductance refers to the heat transfer between a solid surface and a fluid that covers that surface. Fundamentally, it describes the inherent difficulty in transferring energy from a solid to the fluid covering the solid surface. This phenomenon was first observed by P. L. Kapitza in 1941 while studying...

Thermosyphons

A thermosyphon (or thermosiphon) is a device that transfers heat via natural convection in a fluid. The natural convection is driven by gravity with the colder, denser fluid flowing downhill and the warmer, less dense fluid flowing back up. Thus, thermosyphons connect an object to be cooled with a reservoir...

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

TS diagram for helium

Where can I obtain a really big, nice TS diagram for helium ?

Reliability and mounting of electronic substrates at low temperatures

I am currently working on the design of a focal plane assembly to be implemented on a small satellite (4 EMCCD detectors) to be operated at -80°C (which is not really cryogenic and likely still considered boiling hot for most of you :-). As it is passively cooled, the assembly...

Are 3D drawings included in the sale of a cryogenic plant?

I have a question concerning the 3D drawings of a cryogenic plant. The integration of the 3D drawings of a plant with the 3D main model of a new laboratory or a new facility can be a complex work that takes a lot of time. I would like to know...

Looking for a source of LOX impact testing to ASTM D2512

I have been looking for a source of LOX impact testing to ASTM D2512. I am aware of NASA and White Sands, but am looking for a commercial entity doing the work. No luck so far, even calling a lot of the folks on the CSA website. Any referrals will...

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