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

A Half Century of Cryogenics and CSA

"1964 seems just like yesterday to me, yet it was 50 years ago. The Cryogenic Society of America was born that year, and I was just beginning my professional career in cryogenics." Dr. Ray Radebaugh reviews some of the industry's and CSA's major advances from 1964 to the present.

CSA Awards and Recognitions over the Years

CSA's first award was named for Robert W. Vance, who was one of the guiding lights who was present at the founding and kept the society going through some rough times.

Cryocoolers to Monitor Global Surface Temperatures from Space

The Cryocooler Development and Engineering Group at Airbus Defence and Space, formerly known as Astrium, has delivered the first of two space cryocooler systems, scheduled to launch in mid-2015 on the European Space Agency’s twin Sentinel 3 satellites.

The Rebirth of CSA

In 1984, 20 years after its founding, the Cryogenic Society of America was re-incorporated in the state of Illinois under new leadership. President Romuald (Ray) Szara explained the changes in a letter to the membership quoted in Vol. 1, No. 1 of the new CSA magazine, Cold Facts.

The Birth of CSA

The Cryogenic Society of America was founded in 1964. David Carse, the first national President of CSA, traced the “history” of the newly formed body in his article “Cryo Comment,” published in Volume 1, No. 1 of the society’s journal, Cryogenic Technology.

Report on World Congress of the ISC

The 17th World Congress of the International Society of Cryosurgery was held in Bali, Indonesia, last December. At the opening ceremony, Prof. Dr. Akmal Taher, Sp.U(K), Director General of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, welcomed the delegates. A total of 109 delegates from four continents attended...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Joule-Thomson Effect

The Joule-Thomson (JT) effect is a thermodynamic process that occurs when a fluid expands from high pressure to low pressure at constant enthalpy (an isenthalpic process). Such a process can be approximated in the real world by expanding a fluid from high pressure to low pressure across a valve. Under...

Current Leads

One of the challenges of using superconducting magnets is the connection of the magnet to a room temperature power supply. This is accomplished via current leads. The trick is that current leads should ideally have a low heat leak, since they connect room temperature to cryogenic temperature, while at the...

Multilayer Insulation

Multilayer insulation (also referred to as superinsulation) is a key component in the reduction of heat leak to cryogenic systems due to thermal radiation. MLI consists of a series of uncooled reflective surfaces placed in the vacuum space between two surfaces, one warmer than the other. Generally speaking, for ideal...

Latest in Cryo Central

Cryogenics in Space

Peter Kittel University of California-Berkeley pkittel@cal.berkeley.edu Space Cryogenics is the application of cryogenics to space missions. These applications fall into two broad areas, supporting space science missions and supporting the space transportation infrastructure. Science applications: The atmosphere is opaque to much of the electro-magnetic spectrum. In space, the absence of...

Cryosurgery

Review of Cryosurgery Boris Rubinsky, PhD Hebrew University School of Science and Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Engineering 78b Ross Building Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904 Israel rubinsky@cs.huji.ac.il as published in Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, August 2000, Vol. 2, pp. 157-187. Abstract: Cryosurgery is a surgical technique that employs freezing...

Liquefied Natural Gas

Liquefied Natural Gas as it relates to the Field of Cryogenics John W. Bonn VJ Systems, LLC johnbonn@vjsystems-lic.com Today the world is looking for a cleaner fuel and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plays a large part in achieving this goal. LNG in a liquid form is at -162°C (-259°F) and...

Food Processing

Cryogenics and Food The industrial gas industry provides a host of products and services related to food. The various gases have useful and sometimes fascinating applications in food industry. “The food industry is not a homogenous industry. The needs of customers processing hamburger vs. poultry vs. strawberries vs. seafood, for...

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