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JSC’s historic vacuum chamber ready to test Hubble’s successor

An upgrade eight years in the making is complete, and Johnson Space Center is now home to the only vacuum chamber in the world that is large enough and cold enough to provide a space-like environment for the James Webb Space Telescope.

Fermilab physicists rework plans for LBNE

On August 28, officials from Fermilab presented their revised plan for the first stage of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) to a federal advisory panel.

X-rays reveal spin waves in two-dimensional high-temperature superconductors

Physicists working at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institute have revealed key quantum characteristics of high-temperature superconductors, demonstrating new experimental methods and breaking fundamental ground on these mysterious materials.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd to manufacture ITER Cryostat

The ITER cryostat will be the largest high-vacuum pressure chamber ever built. On August 17, a contract for the manufacturing of the 3,800-ton steel structure was signed with the Indian company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Ltd.

OSHA cites Plains Gas Solutions for violations after explosion and fire

The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Plains Gas Solutions LLC in Eunice, Louisiana, for one willful and seven serious violations involving OSHA's process safety management standards following an explosion and fire that severely burned a worker.

INOXCVA gains $45m investment

Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) has invested INR 2,500m (US$45 million) for a minority stake in Inox India Limited (INOXCVA), a leading global manufacturer of cryogenic storage and transportation equipment.

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Helium II

Helium II (He II) refers to the second liquid phase of the most abundant helium isotope (4He). Helium II is also referred to as superfluid helium. Helium II occurs once the temperature of the liquid helium drops below 2.17K. The phase transition between the first liquid phase of Helium (referred...

Latest in Cryo Central

Magnetic Levitation

From http://www.superconductors.org. Magnetic-levitation is an application where superconductors perform extremely well. Transport vehicles such as trains can be made to “float” on strong superconducting magnets, virtually eliminating friction between the train and its tracks. Not only would conventional electromagnets waste much of the electrical energy as heat, they would have...

Superconductivity

From Superpower website. History of Superconductivity Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by the Dutch physicist, Heike Kammerlingh Onnes when he was able to liquefy helium by cooling it to 4 Kelvin, or -452°F. This enabled him to cool other materials close to absolute zero and investigate their electrical properties. He...

Medical Applications of Cryogenics

Neutron Therapy Cryogenics is at the heart of nuclear accelerators. Accelerators such as Fermilab’s Tevatron make neutron therapy for cancer possible. From Fermilab Today 4/20/09: Fermilab currently offers neutron therapy. But staff at Fermilab designed and built the proton accelerator used by the nation’s first hospital-based treatment center to use...

Nuclear Physics

Al Zeller National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) at Michigan State University zeller@nscl.msu.edu Cryogenics has a long history in nuclear physics. The technology has its origins in the use of cold traps for maintaining a vacuum, which is required to prevent beam loss and for generating high voltages used in acceleration....

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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