Herschel closes its eyes on the universe
ESA’s Herschel space observatory has exhausted its supply of liquid helium coolant, ending more than three years of pioneering observations of the cool Universe.
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Two new senior staff scientists appointed at SLAC
The leader of SLAC's involvement in the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search and an instrument scientist with the Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser have been appointed senior staff scientists at SLAC.
CGA announces the 5th edition of the Handbook of Compressed Gases
The fifth edition of the CGA's Handbook of Compressed Gases has been significantly revised with expanded content, updated regulatory and technical information, and color graphs and figures to meet the needs of today's compressed gas industry.
Cryogenic Dark Matter Search adds new intrigue with the latest result
Physicists operating an experiment located half a mile underground in Minnesota reported that they have found possible hints of dark-matter particles. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment has detected three events with the characteristics expected of dark matter particles, MIT graduate student Kevin McCarthy reported at the American Physical Society...
Teamwork celebrated at ITER Conductor Meeting
In pre-ITER times, the world production of niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) strands did not exceed 15 tons per year. Discovered in 1954, this intermetallic compound that exhibits a critical temperature of ~18 K and is able to withstand intense magnetic fields was used mainly in high field coils and nuclear magnetic resonance...
New “Ask the Experts” question: Problem sending LN2 through hoses – need to minimize heat leak
Help this person solve his problem with heat leak in two hoses of different lengths.
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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...
Magnets
From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. Particle physics uses accelerators to recreate the conditions of the early universe in an attempt to piece together the complex puzzle of how we got to where we are today. These huge machines are used...
Energy Storage
From “Superconductivity: Present and Future Applications” by the Coalition for the Commercial Application of Superconductors. With power lines increasingly congested and prone to instability, strategic injection of brief bursts of real power can play a crucial role in maintaining grid reliability. Small-scale Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems, based on...
Astronomy
ASTRONOMY IN SPACE by Peter V. Mason, retired, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology. Pmason@alumni.caltech.edu In thinking about the reasons to perform astronomy in space, we first consider the effect of the earth’s atmosphere. On a scale of decreasing energy, gamma rays, cosmic rays, X-rays and...
Cryocoolers
What is a Cryocooler? A mechanism that can extract heat from an object (cooler) and by doing so draw its temperature down below approximately 150 Kelvin (cryo). — (Courtesy Dr. Willy Gully) What is the difference between a Cryocooler and a Cryostat? A cryostat is any device designed to maintain...
Rotating shaft seal for liquid to gaseous hydrogen?
I am constructing a cryogenic generator for the Air Force. It operates at 15,000 rpm for Liquid Hydrogen. I need a rotating shaft seal that will work with liquid to gaseous hydrogen. Where can I source seals for this application?
Source to help with cryo-treating a Nickel-Aluminum-Bronze impeller?
I am a graduate student at Penn State University working on a cavitation resistance project via cryo-treating a Nickel-Aluminum-Bronze impeller.
Looking for technical papers on the effect of processing metals at liquid helium temperatures.
I am a metallurgical engineer looking for technical papers on the effect of processing metals at liquid helium temperatures. In anyone familiar with any work in this field?
Quantitative data on mechanical properties for AISI 4340 alloy steel
I have a potential client who is looking for quantitative data on mechanical properties, particularly fatigue properties, with and without cryogenic tempering at -300/-320 degrees F for AISI 4340 alloy steel. Can you point me in the right direction?