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Nottingham Initiates Cryogenic Hydrogen-Electric Flight Program

The University of Nottingham has kicked off a £5.3 million program of research to support the development, manufacture and testing of a revolutionary cryogenic hydrogen-electric propulsion system. The news was announced at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024 and is part of a pioneering £44 million project led by GKN Aerospace,...

Leon Cooper Dies at 94

Leon Cooper, who has died aged 94, helped to solve a problem that had stumped many of the greatest minds in twentieth-century physics. With his colleagues John Bardeen and Robert Schrieffer, he deciphered the dance of electrons that causes superconductivity, or the sudden drop in electrical resistance experienced by certain materials,...

Korean Scientists Achieve Unprecedented Real-Time Capture of Quantum Information

A research team led by Professor Jaedong Lee from the Department of Chemical Physics at DGIST (President Kunwoo Lee) has unveiled a groundbreaking quantum state and an innovative mechanism for extracting and manipulating quantum information through exciton and Floquet states. Collaborating with Professor Noejung Park from UNIST’s Department of Physics (President Chongrae...

Toyota Says It Has Solved the Boiloff Problem

The liquid hydrogen-fueled GR Corolla H2 Concept car. Photo: Toyota Source: Hydrogen Insight

Standex Bolsters Scientific Refrigeration With $6.2m CBS Cryogenic Deal

Standex International Corporation (SXI) has acquired Michigan-based advanced cryogenic equipment manufacturer Custom Biogenic Systems (CBS) for around $6.2m cash. Under terms of the deal, CBS will become part of SXI’s scientific business segment. CBS expertise includes the manufacturing of unique isothermal freezers with dry liquid nitrogen technology for the pharmaceutical and...

A Basic Science Breakthrough

A Yale-led team has found the strongest evidence yet of a novel type of superconducting material, a fundamental science breakthrough that may open the door to coaxing superconductivity — the flow of electric current without a loss of energy — in a new way. The discovery also lends tangible support...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Refrigerators and Liquefiers

Two of the most common terms used in cryogenics are “refrigerator” and “liquefier.” These terms describe similar and, as will be seen, in some cases identical components. A refrigerator provides cooling (that is, absorbs heat) at cryogenic temperatures. Refrigerators typically put a working fluid (such as helium) through one of...

Air Separation

Air separation is one of the largest, as well as earliest, industrial applications of cryogenics. In this process, cryogenic temperatures are used to separate air into its constituent gases: nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.3%). Trace gases such as krypton, neon, xenon and helium total far...

Coefficient of Performance and Figure of Merit

The coefficient of performance (COP) is used to describe the effectiveness of refrigerators, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The COP is defined as the amount of heat removed at the cryogenic operating temperature of the refrigerator divided by the amount of work that must be applied to remove the...

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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