CSA Board Certifies Newly Elected Directors
At the August 14 CSA Board meeting held during the Applied Superconductivity Conference in Charlotte NC, the four directors recently elected by the society's membership were certified.
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Superconductivity: Will It Be Coming in from the Cold?
Dr. Paul Michael Grant assesses the application of superconductivity within the electric power sector, asking, "Is there a 'hot track' upward for both applications of today's superconductors and future transition temperatures beyond 200K as well?"
ASC Attendees Spend Event-Filled Week
This year’s Applied Superconductivity Conference, ASC14, hosted 1,523 attendees from 36 countries, with 791 papers submitted for peer review. Held at the Charlotte NC Convention Center, August 10-15, the event’s theme was “Race to Energy Efficiency,” incorporating the racecar theme of its proximity to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which...
Historical Retrospective: CSA’s Birth in the Early Days of the Space Age
We’ve always heard that CSA began in 1964 with the growing need for cryogenics in the burgeoning Space Age. We decided to take a look at the unfolding of this phenomenon in the pages of Cryogenic Technology, “the Journal of the Cryogenic Society of America,” Volume 1, 1964-1965.
ICEC25/ICMC2014 Held at University of Twente, the Netherlands
The 25th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference and International Cryogenic Materials Conference took place July 7-11 at the University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands.
The 18th International Cryocooler Conference
The 18th International Cryocooler Conference was held June 9-12 in Syracuse NY at the beautiful Syracuse University campus. Conference Chairman Rich Dausman and Co-chairman Dr. Chao Wang, both of Cryomech, Inc., hosted 161 attendees, including 11 students and six retirees, representing 14 different countries.
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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...
Magnets
From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...
Energy Storage
From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...
Astronomy
ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...
Cryocoolers
What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...
Manufacturers of cryogenic regenerator lead spheres?
Would you please suggest a few manufacturers that produce cryogenic regenerator lead spheres? The size we need is 0.15mm-0.2mm. I don’t have a lot of ideas for where to go to purchase them.
Assistance with resolving a sealing problem?
We are fabricating piping components for refrigeration service. These components must be leak checked at 15 bar (218 psig). We are using a gas test media that is 25% helium and experiencing difficulty on maintaining a seal on the flanged connections. Do you know anyone or any references that could...
Cryogenic data on leather and nomex
Could anyone please help me out with the following cryogenics data: Leather — mechanical properties at 77 K or lower Nomex — thermal conductivity @ 4 to 50 K I lost the data I had some time ago and although this should be easily accessible, I can’t find any reference...
Thermal expansion data for quartz at cryogenic temperatures (20 – 300 K).
I am looking for thermal expansion data for quartz at cryogenic temperatures (20 – 300 K). Does anyone have any such data?