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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.

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...

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...

Magnetic Levitation

From http://www.superconductors.org. Magnetic-levitation is an application where superconductors perform extremely well. Transport vehicles such as trains can be made to “float” on strong superconducting magnets, virtually eliminating friction between the train and its tracks. Not only would conventional electromagnets waste much of the electrical energy as heat, they would have...

Superconductivity

From Superpower website. History of Superconductivity Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by the Dutch physicist, Heike Kammerlingh Onnes when he was able to liquefy helium by cooling it to 4 Kelvin, or -452°F. This enabled him to cool other materials close to absolute zero and investigate their electrical properties. He...

Medical Applications of Cryogenics

Neutron Therapy Cryogenics is at the heart of nuclear accelerators. Accelerators such as Fermilab’s Tevatron make neutron therapy for cancer possible. From Fermilab Today 4/20/09: Fermilab currently offers neutron therapy. But staff at Fermilab designed and built the proton accelerator used by the nation’s first hospital-based treatment center to use...

Nuclear Physics

Al Zeller National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) at Michigan State University zeller@nscl.msu.edu Cryogenics has a long history in nuclear physics. The technology has its origins in the use of cold traps for maintaining a vacuum, which is required to prevent beam loss and for generating high voltages used in acceleration....