Cold Facts Digital – The go-to place for Cryogenics and Superconductivity

SC study’s reported successes and failures provide valuable data

In their paper "Exploration of new superconductors and functional materials, and fabrication of superconducting tapes and wires of iron pnictides" published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, researchers report on four years of extensive research on around 1,000 materials, with detailed insights learned from the new superconducting materials discovered...

LHC arrives at the next energy frontier

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is collecting data again for the first time in two years. After powering back on in April and seeing its first record-energy collisions in May, the LHC began colliding particles at a steady rate to provide data for research on June 3. During Run II,...

GTI’s David Carroll assumes presidency of IGU

On June 5, David Carroll, Gas Technology Institute (GTI) president and CEO, assumed the additional role of president of the International Gas Union (IGU) for a three-year term at the closing ceremony of the World Gas Conference in Paris. With the growth of natural gas in the global energy landscape,...

Protons in LHC collide at record-breaking 13 TeV

On May 20, protons collided in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a record-breaking energy of 13 TeV for the first time. CERN has released images showing the protons colliding and sending showers of particles through the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb detectors.

CUORE experiment will study neutrinos with world’s coldest detector

Researchers at Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy are using the world's coldest detector to find an incredibly rare neutrino decay process. To conduct the experiment, the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE), the team will create the single coldest cubic meter in the universe in order to search...

Discovery of new state of matter could lead to higher temperature superconductors

An international research team led by Kosmas Prassides of Tohoku University has reported the discovery of a new state of matter that could lead to higher temperature superconductors. This new state of matter, called the Jahn-Teller metal, was discovered during the study of the superconducting pairing mechanism in a new...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Regenerators

Regenerators or regenerative heat exchangers are a key component of cryocoolers such as pulse tube cryocoolers (Cold Facts, August 2014). Regenerator performance greatly affects the coefficient of performance of cryocoolers. Improvements in regenerator design and, in particular, regenerator materials have been an important factor in the improvement of the performance...

Pulse Tube Cryocoolers

The development of pulse tube cryocoolers has been a significant topic of research and development over the past 20 or so years. Pulse tube cryocoolers have a number of advantages over other types of cryocoolers and are now available commercially. In order to understand pulse tube cryocoolers, it’s best to...

Thermal Expansion

Thermal expansion refers to the change in size (length or volume) that a material undergoes as its temperature changes. In cryogenic systems this effect can be quite large and must be allowed for in the design. In isotropic materials, which include most engineering materials, the thermal expansion is the same...

Latest in Cryo Central

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...

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?

CATEGORIES