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

Booster 19 Rolls out to Masseys for Cryogenic Proof Testing

written by Ryan Weber Following Booster 18’s failure during a pressure test, SpaceX went ahead and set a new record for stacking a booster in the Starship Program, to try and get Block 3 and the program at large back on track. And this weekend, crews rolled Booster 19 out to...

Provaris Delivers on First Phase LCO2 Tank Engineering and Design

By Dominic Ellison Australian hydrogen and carbon dioxide storage and transport firm Provaris Energy has completed the phase-one delivery of an LCO2 tank front end engineering and design (FEED) program. The programme included detailed engineering and material and weld testing of a 25,000 cbm LCO2 low-pressure tank and class approval with...

New Partnership with Druck set for Major Breakthrough in Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

The University of Bath has entered a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Druck, a Crane Company business, to develop the world’s first flight-certified cryogenic hydrogen pressure sensor, helping pave the way for net-zero aviation. Hydrogen is one of the most promising solutions to decarbonising air travel, with aviation currently accounting...

In Memoriam: Dr. Ray Radebaugh

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Ray Radebaugh. Ray was a pioneer, mentor, and friend whose influence on cryogenics spanned more than five decades and touched nearly every corner of our field. Ray’s passion for engineering began early. Growing up in Mishawaka, Indiana, he learned...

New Cryogenic Vacuum Chamber Cuts Noise for Quantum Ion Trapping

by John Toon, Georgia Institute of Technology Even very slight environmental noise, such as microscopic vibrations or magnetic field fluctuations a hundred times smaller than Earth’s magnetic field, can be catastrophic for quantum computing experiments with trapped ions. To address that challenge, researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)...

Remembering Bruce P. Strauss, a Steward of the Superconductivity Community

The superconductivity community has lost one of its most devoted stewards with the passing of Bruce P. Strauss, whose career spanned more than five decades and whose influence reached far beyond his own technical work. Bruce was not only a contributor to applied superconductivity; he was a builder of the...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Mixed Refrigerant Cycles

Most cryogenic refrigeration systems, both large scale systems and cryocoolers, use helium as a working fluid. There are a number of advantages to helium, not the least of which is that helium remains a fluid down to the lowest achievable temperatures. In order to freeze helium, pressures of over 20...

Fountain Pumps and He II Phase Separators

Helium II (He II), the second liquid phase of the 4He isotope described in this column in Cold Facts Spring 2010 (http://2csa.us/he2), can be modeled as consisting of two interpenetrating fluids. One, the superfluid component, has zero viscosity and entropy and the other, the normal fluid component, has nonzero viscosity...

Turboexpanders

A vital technology in the refrigerators and liquefiers described in Cold Facts Volume 31 Number 3 is that of turboexpanders. These devices are rotating machines in which the process fluid (e.g., helium) does work against the turboexpander while moving from high pressure to a lower pressure and thus is cooled....

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?

CATEGORIES