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Helium Conservation by Diffusion Limited Purging of Liquid Hydrogen Tanks

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has developed an analytical model that predicts diffusion between two gases during piston purging of liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanks. This model helps explain dramatic helium savings seen in a recent Kennedy Space Center (KSC) purge, shows that undesired turbulent mixing occurred in Space...

ISRO’s CE20 Cryogenic Engine Achieves Milestone in Sea-Level Test

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced a significant breakthrough in propulsion technology as the CE20 cryogenic engine passed a critical sea-level test, marking a vital step forward for its future space missions. The test, conducted on November 29 at the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, demonstrated the...

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,...

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...

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...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

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...

Latest in Cryo Central

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...

Cryogenic Treatment of Materials

F.J. Diekman Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc. info@metal-wear.com Cryogenic Processing (also called cryogenic treatment, and incorrectly “cryogenic tempering”) is a process that uses cryogenic temperatures to modify materials to enhance their performance. Cryogenic Processing involves the slow reduction in temperature of the material to at least -300°F (-185°C) and holding the...

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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