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

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.

The Future with Cryogenic Fluid Dynamics

The applications of cryogenic systems have expanded over the past 50 years into many areas of our lives. This article will discuss the likely impact of cryogenic fluid dynamics on future cryogenic systems, and hopefully inspire further research to support and expand the use of existing findings and to improve...

Discovery of Helium in Natural Gas: A Retrospective

A very interesting insight into the evolution of helium production and personal insights into the life and contributions of H. P. Cady was presented by his grandson, Dr. Ralph Cady Longsworth, retired from APD Cryogenics, in a paper entitled “100th anniversary of the discovery of helium in natural gas,” presented...

Young Faces: The Next Generation in Cryogenics, Part II

In our last issue, we debuted our third installment of Young Faces, featuring young professionals who are doing interesting things in cryogenics and superconductivity and who show promise of making a difference in their fields. Here is Part II of that story, with responses listed in order of receipt.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration

Reaching temperatures below 1K requires different techniques than the various helium gas cycles found in large scale refrigeration plants and small cryocoolers. One of these techniques is Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigeration (ADR). This technique takes advantage of the fact that the entropy of paramagnetic materials in a magnetic field is lower than...

Cryogen-Free

A cryogen is any fluid that operates at cryogenic temperatures (below roughly 150K – 120K). Using this definition, helium gas at 40K is a cryogen. Another more restrictive definition is to use cryogen to refer specifically to liquids at cryogenic temperatures. This is generally how it is used in the...

Cryostats and Cryocoolers

A cryostat is any device designed to maintain things (including fluids) at cryogenic temperatures. In general usage, cryostats tend to be passive devices rather than providing active cooling. In this usage, cryostats keep things cold by thermally isolating them from room temperature. This generally is accomplished by a combination of...

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?

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