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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

Dilution Refrigerators

Dilution refrigerators are a common technique for reaching temperatures below 1K, particularly where continuous cooling at these temperatures is required. Helium exists in two stable isotopes: 4He and 3He. Naturally occurring 3He is extremely rare, constituting less than 1 part per million of helium gas. However, 3He can be manufactured,...

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards

Oxygen Deficiency Hazards (ODH) are a significant safety issue in cryogenic facilities. ODH occurs when inert gases such as nitrogen, helium or argon displace room air and thus lower the percentage of oxygen in the space below that required for human life. OSHA defines an area as oxygen deficient if...

Kelvin Temperature Scale

The Kelvin temperature scale is the principal temperature scale used in cryogenics and science. The kelvin is also one of the seven base units in the Système International d’Unités (SI) and is the unit of thermodynamic temperature. Thermodynamic temperature is a fundamental physical quantity (like mass, length or electrical current)...

Latest in Cryo Central

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...

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...

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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